The Voyages of the Penelope and the Yydryl

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" You must be freakin' jokin'..." Nenothtu exclaimed as the huge Scimitar sword swished over
his head, the contraption seemed to be one-big killing machine "... THIS - is a fairground
ride?" he shouted over the noise.

The tent that housed the multi-layered mechanism had signs adorning the dirty canvas
proclaiming that the best Wizards in land had attempted to beat Jasmine's might and the
bravest of the Cul Knights had tried their hand at her womanly-fury.
Obviously -for advertising reasons, all had failed.

'Jasmine's Ardour Will Crush The Strong And Devour The Brave...' The legend announced
on a badly-painted sign at the door '...Her Protective Beasts Will Devour The Hesitant!'
"They sure seem like they're over-selling it" Boy In A Dress had said as the group had
ambled up to the Marquee.

The hermaphrodite now knew he was wrong.

As Neno squatted in the small space at the entrance and looked over the wood, metal
and leather gizmo, he pondered if some hammer-happy maniac hadn't been employed
by the Fairground owners.

Nails... nails, blades and thongs spun, spat and whipped everywhere, 'Jasmine' lashed
out at every angle and it seemed, every second.

"This looks like Norm Abram's work" Boy In A Dress called with a cupped hand and for his
strange statement, received strange looks of puzzlement.
Nenothtu moved at the last instant and the six-inch barbed nail slammed into the dried
-mud ground where he had been crouching, "the bitch knows you're here!" BIAD urged
with a smile.

Silo glanced back at the small wooden container that had accepted the coin-token and
wondered if she should have checked behind the tent-flaps first, 'too-late now' she
thought as she nibbled her bottom lip.

'WHOOSH!' a wooden beam swept out at the Man/Girl and Silo, being at the actual entrance
didn't seem to matter to this monster -it seemed. BIAD jerked the fair-haired girl beside him
back out into the darkening surroundings. "That was close" BIAD said seriously.
The kneeling GunMan shuffled out into the cooler air and noticed that when the tent-flap
dropped back into place, the sound was almost gone.

The Bogel called Jepp came out from the shadow of a Toss-A-Bottle' kiosk and took his
position next to his 'Devil-Mon' BIAD patted his head with affection.

"The way I see it..." Nenothtu said softly -and dug out a cigar after checking no windows
showed on this side of the Tower. "...To reach our goal, somebody has to get through the
the small spaces inbetween the beams and get to the far-end, ah' reckon this thing wasn't
built fur kids -so it's do-or-die"

Silo13 and Nenothtu both looked at BIAD... even Jepp looked up at him and somewhere
under that black weird wig, the Man/girl arrived at the conclusion a vote had just taken place.
"In these heels?" BIAD said lamely and the tall Vandal smiled at his friend's humour.
"You'll do fine... watch out for anything that looks like the 'Splitter' "Neno said and showed
content features in the glow of igniting cigar.

Thanks for the advice" BIAD said sarcastically and Neno touched the brim of his hat and
showing his famous lop-sided grin, he responded with "You're welcome!"

"Go-gettem Tiger" Silo whispered and slapped BIAD on the rump, the red-dressed Man/Girl
with the 'O'shaped lips watched the GunMan, the girl-from-the-stars and the stoop-
shouldered Bogel step away to sit on a Faux-carraige of some sort on a child's ride.

The Moon offered some pale light to the solitary figure with the weak smile as he stared
at the closed flaps. Inside waited a mechanised Jasmine -all claws and teeth... waiting,
watching... wanting.
Boy In A Dress pulled on the hem of said-dress and stepped through the canvas doorway
wearing his best smile.

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Before our bare-legged hero...? is that the correct wording? I really don't know!
Anyway, before our bare-legged hero enters the tent full of whirling swords, bruising
lengths of timber and other dismembering equipment, we should look at how Boy In A
Dress changed his perception of the machine called Jasmine -that waited for his entrance.

As BIAD looked up at the artificial Moon that struggled to lay out it's 'borrowed' light on
the many tents and amusements, he saw himself going to meet a woman.

A woman -who like a spider that Boy In A Dress once heard about, would rip her suitor
apart after consummation and the Man/Girl wagered that dear 'Jasmine' would enjoy
parting 'Boy' from his 'Dress' with great relish.

"Such are the loves in my life" BIAD said aloofly to himself and placed a high-heeled foot
into Jasmine's boudior.

Jasmine was big... big and noisy.

A trellis-framework of wooden beams of about six-inches thick stood seven-feet high
and around eight-feet wide and one would look on the basic structure of a barred cage.
A way in or entrance would be up to the individual, spaces appreared and dissappeared
as cogs and levers prepared deadly deeds for Jasmine's visitors.

"Er... your boyfriend's back" BIAD said politely and ducked as a ball of spikes shot out at
where the Hermaphrodite's wig-wrapped head had been a second ago. A connected chain
pulled the lethal orb back towards the churning apparatus and was lost among the mechanic
mayhem.

BIAD ducked right and flung himself through a foot-gap into a space where a drive-belt
trundled upwards, the Man/girl scanned for the next part of his route as he spoke again to his
beau.

"Would you love me...?" he thrust himself forward as a toothed-disc swept into the space
and passing the drive-belt, buried itself in a gnarled upright where BIAD had leaned back on.

BIAD dropped flat as a splintered-covered wooden stake swung back and forward above him.
"... would you set my table...?" he grunted and as the stake reached the apex of it's arc, he
reached up and pulled himself onto a tiny platform of inch-wide planks.

The chain in front of face tightened and he guessed he couldn't tarry here.

"...and would you lay with me...?" he hissed and fell backwards hitting a horizontal beam
as the chain flicked out a fist-sized fish hook, the metal gleamed as it passed his right foot.

BIAD lifted his legs, revealing the cause of Nenothtu's many complaints and struggled to do
a hand-stand in the confined space, the back of his knees felt a higher beam and with a
wheeze, he hauled himself higher.

The noise was deafening now and BIAD wondered if this wily woman was getting annoyed
at his intrusion, the on-coming Scimitar that had threatened his friend earlier -answered his
query.

BIAD sucked in his stomach as the wicked-looking blade thrust once, twice and a third time
at Jasmine's invader, with a stifled breath, he pulled himself further into the machine.

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The faint gas-lit torches spluttered at either side of the Marquee and as
Boy In A Dress struggled to get into another confined space, he quessed
the illumination would only come on when somebody entered the tent.

That meant a monitoring device of some sort.

The thin cord ran diagonally past BIAD and dropped into a leather tube
to descend further, the Man/Girl peered through a eight-inch space down
towards another drivebelt.

The cord went through a metal loop and down again, dropping into the dirt
and darkness.
BIAD glimpsed the cord again as it left Jasmine's frame and a smile reached
his lips as he saw the corner of a sheet of sacking showing through the dust
at the entrance.

"You have a pressure-mat, my lovely?" BIAD asked felt the low ache in his
shoulder, the long-barbed nail was slowly pressing it's way into the hermaphrodite's
skin as the wooden board it was attached to -lowered itself further.
BIAD moved like lightening and felt the pointed metal bend under his force,
"the perks of being a Devil-Mon" -he hissed and banged his head on a cross-member.

"Pride before the fall, BIAD" Proffessor Shaw had always warned and the Man/Girl
shook the dizziness away -knee-elbowing forward toward Jasmine's rear.

A Buzz-saw blade rushed past and BIAD avoided it easily.

Two leather straps with glass pierced through the hide tightened and loosened
as he crawled over them. Timing was the key for that one.

It seemed Jasmine's Scimitar sword had a penchant for Boy In A Dress and
appeared again. Apart from the point lifting BIAD's dress hem and bringing a
draught, the blade again -missed it's mark.

The Man/Girl beared right and then left and finally, a flat platform gave BIAD
a place to rest.
Then he saw his Girlfriend's prize.

A bowl -not dissimilar from the wooden container in the previous tent, sat
on a stone plinth with -what seemed a hundren sharp tines flashing above
it.

Like spider-legs, the arced pointed rods swooped up-and-down, creating a
hand-shredding fence around the receptacle. the mechanism to make the
prongs move lay inside the stone plinth and BIAD could see dark slots where
the slender hooks came from. Another larger hole showed further down.

The token and the note lay dead-centre in the bowl.

BIAD scanned the area and saw no other dangers and yet, many of Neno's
rules and disciplines had rubbed off on BIAD, so he checked once more.

'The bitch had a secret!' the hermaphrodite thought to himself with a smile.
There across the far-side of the tent, a bundle of unused lengths of wood
rested.

The staves stood on their ends against a crate that had a dried paint-pot
on it's lid and to a passerby, the scene looked like the creator of this manical
machine -had just slipped out for an early supper.
The harpoon-like spike that waited in the staves' shadows told another story.

Somehow -and BIAD still had to work that one out, the valiant soul that made
it this far, plucks out the the token and slip of paper and as his trembling
hand clenches his prize, a razor-sharp blade is cannoned from the both sides
of the tent and turns our hero-of-the-hour into a collander.

A high-heeled foot alighted the dusty earth and Boy In A Dress watched the
pile of wood and it's surroundings for signs of trip-wires.
"So you let me in and take me as I snatch your cherished prize, huh?" BIAD
whispered and took a step towards the plinth, the raucous din of the main
machine seemed to quieten.

"I have loved you and I have found there is another" the Man/Girl said
dramatically and glanced again at the Harpoon.
The tickle of spiderweb-like lace on BIAD's shin brought a smile to those
bright-red lips and just before he was about to lean down to examine the
thin wire, Proffessor Shaw's words echoed again.

The second line... more slender than the one at his calf, ran at ninety-degrees
further on and BIAD guessed that to avoid the first, an intruder would step
on this second cord of death and the game would be over.

That cord reached a Builder's tool box and then went left towards the rear of
the stone plinth, BIAD guessed another spear resided in the dark hole half-way
down

"Tut-tut, Jasmine... you were to set your Beasts on me?" the grinning wig-wearing
being said and stood to his full hieght.
"Thin line.. who'd have thought it, heh?" he hissed at the clutching tines and
again, the smile shone through.

"THIN AS THIS?!" BIAD roared and the long strands of hair that had saved his
life many times, stretched and swooped from his head in one movement to
grab the two objects in the centre of the bowl.
Then Jasmine stopped.

Apart from the odd-fart of escaping air somewhere in the labyrinth of blades
and drivebelts, the tent was quiet.

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Continued.

A few minutes later, Boy In A Dress stepped out from the canvas tentflaps
and was met by the approaching Nenothtu, Silo and Jepp.
The coin-shaped token flicked from BIAD's red-nailed thumb and was caught
by Silo as the Man/Girl passed.
Neno gave a puzzled look at his friend as he sat down on the child's ride.
"What?" he said sounding exasperated "what happened?"

BIAD leaned back and after slipping through the space between a bright-yellow
duck and a grinning Bollow, he gathered himself, pulled down his dress hem
and sat upright.
"Women!" BIAD announced and crossed his legs with a poorly-performed
haughty manner.

Silo and Nenothtu looked at each other and shaking their heads, peered at
the Fairground coin.

The Hall Of Mirth.

~*~ House of Mirrors ~*~

‘Neno, I know we’re supposed to be looking for this Splitter thing, but, I must admit I’ve no clue what it is or how to look for it...’

Neno didn’t move, didn’t give any indication he’d even heard her.

Silo sighed and went back to sit on the iron bench beside BIAD. Talking to Neno’s back was hopeless. He’d been staring from attraction to attraction in a long drawn out building for a fourth of an hour now giving no indication where his thoughts were taking him, or to take them.

‘Sslar got your tongue?’ BIAD chuckled then shrugged ruefully when Neno didn’t answer him either.

‘It’s the Meera.’ Jepp grumbled as he climbed up on the bench beside them.

‘The what?’ BIAD and Silo asked in unison.

‘The ‘ous a Meeras.’ Jepp repeated shooting his cuffs in the direction of Neno and beyond.

‘Meeras? What are you going on about lil’man?’ Silo tried to whip the huge cigar from Jepp’s mouth but Jepp was quicker and moved along the bench until he was well out of Silo's reach giving her a wicked grin while sucking fervently on the soggy cigar. Ever since Neno had gifted the stogie to the Boggle Jepp had been using it more like a pacifier than a proper smoke mumbling unintelligibly around it at ever turn.

‘Just lookee fo’ yosef, just beon’ da Neno.’ Jepp turned his attention from Silo back to his cigar his lips smacking happily his eyes squeezed shut in bliss.

BIAD and Silo exchanged glances and leaving Jepp behind joined Neno on the boardwalk sandwiching the gunman between them. As the artificial moon cast it’s artificial light the structure sticking at odd ends from the others took on a glow reflected it back at them illuminating what they’d not seen before.

The three stood facing the trio in the mirrors taking in their reflections as one might view a stranger only moments before an introduction. Critical, appraising, with open eyes and many biases they remained still - first appraising their own reflections - then that of their friends. Neno’s eyes in particular glowed bright as if with fever. When he spoke it came out as a bark settling into a growl deep in his throat.

‘Your up next Silo.’ He cleared his throat swinging his foot back and forth across the gravel making his boot sing.

‘Yes, it is my turn isn’t it.’ Silo agreed softly speaking to the Neno in the mirror.

‘Hmmmm-hmmmm,’ He replied, his lips wrapped around a new cigar his hand cupped around a flaring match he’d struck with his thumb. The match in the reflection glowed brighter and dropped to the ground to be snuffed out with his boot long after the match at his feet. Time there, he thought, hadn’t the same measure he recognized. The fact unnerved him.

Watching the flame BIAD opened his red painted mouth to speak and abruptly closed it again. Silo felt a shiver crawl up her spine ending at the tips of her fingers making them tingle.

‘Before you go...’ Neno began squinting at her one eye open one eye closed.

‘Yes?’ She asked her brows joining.

‘Why’d ya never go to look for yer...your...’ Neno stopped. His weathered cheeks roughed with the flame of embarrassment.

Silo took pity on the gunman. ‘Because I thought they, the other Silo‘s, were in the Tower.’ She smiled sadly and turned back to the hodgepodge building glowing with soft blue neon light. ‘But I was wrong. They’re in there,’ she paled and read, ‘The House of Mirrors.’ The marquee of broken bulbs and missing panes spelled out.

‘Jut wot I said, da ‘ous a Meeras.’ Jepp piped up from beside her making her flinch.

Neno gripped his cigar between his teeth and nodded once. BIAD, his skin white against ripe red lips his black hair near to standing on end took a step forward and wrung his hands thrice before placing the fairground coin into Silo’s outstretched hand.

‘Good luck.’ BIAD called but Silo had already slipped inside the cockeyed building and didn’t hear his words at all.

~*~ Slight of Hand ~*~

Neno’s hand shot out and grasped BIAD by the wrists forcing his hands palms up. The fairground coin slipped from BIAD’s long lacquered fingers. The gunman deftly caught the coin before it hit the gravel.

‘Wha’d she go in there with?’ Neno grunted and cursed under his breath.

‘The nickel,’ The Boy in a Dress replied badly knowing there as no help for it.

‘So we’ll be going in after her now?’ Neno pocketed the fairground coin absentmindedly patting BIAD’s hands.

‘How should I know?’ BIAD’s hair shivered angrily it’s silken strands rustling audibly.

Turning back to BIAD Neno let out with a roar. ‘Well if you don’t then who in the hell does?’ Neno’s frustration was too much. Spitting his cigar to the ground he stomped on it before Jepp could intervene.

‘Neno. This isn’t easy for any of us,’ BIAD coughed and laughed feebly, ’I don’t think it’s supposed to be.’ He finished gently.

All his opinion earned him from Neno was a fevered stare.

~ * ~ Cont. ~ * ~

~*~ Wait for It... ~*~

Pulling the door shut behind her Silo listened to the tumblers grind then lock into place.

The room was round and bathed in blue as if it were flooded with water. A soft translucent mist crept along the floor like waves of sea foam coming to lap at her feet. A few steps to the center of the room and turning Silo let her breath out slowly as she counted. 12 mirrors circled round her each a little taller than her height and only just as wide. The faces staring back were so like her own but Silo easily picked out the subtle differences in the Others. All had lavender hair and eyes their second set of eyes extended atop their stalks bent forward examining and taking Silo in just as she did to them in return.

‘I am Silo. The first Self Integrated Life Organism. Welcome my sister, my daughter.’ The voice spoke soundlessly. Silo’s heart caught, thudded hard then stopped altogether before bursting into a rapid flutter like something caught in her chest was trying desperately to escape. Silo1 smiled and raised her hands as if in a blessing then lowered them again.

Silo turned to the mirror on the right. The next Silo-in-the-glass spoke the same words as the first, indicating it’s number in the sequence of lives that ended with her, Silo13. After listening to each of the Others Silo felt those who had come before her waiting for her to speak. She had so many questions but none more important than the one that brought her to them.

‘I’m here for the Splitter.’ She started awkwardly watching their second eyes high on their stalks bob gently. ‘The Neno is outside. We‘re here for the...’ Before she could finish she was thrown violently to the floor. The rough wooden planks under her continued to roll and jerk, the mirrors rattled in their stands, the faces in the mirrors registering fright and alarm.

‘Please!’ Silo yelled over a horrific roaring that started in her ears, ‘Neno’s here, so is BIAD! We came here to try and save... To try and... We need the Splitter!’ She screamed, afraid now.

The mist swirling around her body held her in place thickening like paste soggy and heavy. When the first mirror fell Silo raised her hands over her head as shards of the shattered glass rained down like fire and ice. The second mirror tottered and as the floor continued bucking Silo watched in terror as it too fell smashing into millions of glittering pieces.

‘Stop it!’ Silo screamed each time another mirror toppled and smashed the broken glass like knives exploding outwards slashing her hands, her wrists, her face, every bit of skin exposed became nicked, cut and dripped with blood until the floor ran with it. The final mirror began to sway, the face trapped inside frightened, her lavender eyes wide and imploring.

‘Wait for it Silo. Just...wait!’ A tiny voice spoke gently cutting through the deafening noise continuing to explode in her head. Hands pressed to her ears Silo watched the last mirror, the face inside now serene and resolved tip to the right and shatter before it even hit the floor.

Blood and glass shards swirled around where she huddled crouched at the center of the whirlwind. Memories that burned her eyes and senses manifest in the twirling mist. She saw the Yydryl, Ship’s Center. She saw Swarg and wanted to join him in the chaos of winds. Consciousness grayed but Silo hung on chanting. ‘The Splitter‘ became her mantra keeping her from giving in to be sucked into the memories and the winds that would cut her to shreds. She had no fear, no pain, only the thought. Get the Splitter for Neno.

Then, she saw him. Sprawled over her stomach naked and bloody a thick cord strung between them intact, pulsing, the smell of blood and birth strong in her nostrils. Neno the gunman shrunk to a tiny infant, just born. She reached for him but a pair of thickly haired hands took him away. Another smell, something earthy and pungent, musky and warm. The swift cut of a knife and mother and child were no longer one. A single cry in the night. Neno.

Tears flowed with blood, mirrored glass and thickening mist. The whirlwind of motion tripled it’s speed into a blinding blur of blue spinning faster and faster. Rearing up over Silo the howling in her head matched the howling in the room and finally against her will Silo started to spin. Unable to stop Silo screamed for Neno and gave herself up. Raising her arms, opening her hands Silo leaned towards the torrent.

With a small ‘thud’ the nickel dropped from her hand to the floor and rolled a few feet in front of Silo where it lay unmoving, time out of time, between her and the killing winds. Like a finger searching in the dark the tail of the tornado scratched at the floorboards feeling for the nickel. Finding the little plug it hovered, touched down on the smooth oval surface once...and in a nanosecond of blinding light the nickel opened, sucked in the tornado whole and it was gone. With a simple stuttering ‘pop’ it was done.

Moments later the small circle rose slowly up on it’s side and began to spin, faster and faster only to wind itself down again before falling back flat to the floor.

Silo, her head ringing, her body torn and bloodied climbed to her knees. Around her 12 identical Silos climbed to their knees. Silo reached out for the nickel. Twelve identical hands reached towards the middle of the room. The mirrors were back. They, were not.

‘Wait for it...’ The tiny voice sounded deep inside her a quiet balm after the storm.

Silo did what she was told. She scooped the coin into her palm and waited.

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"You eventually came" the voice said and the words sounded if called through a puddle
of mud, a liquid-sound Silo thought and turned around.
The mirrors showed through the shape that smoked and misted in it's form, the bulbous
head and black eyes told Silo who the 'ghost-like' figure was.

"Before you call out to your friends..." The Dark Lord said softly "... I have an accord I wish
to offer to you" Silo had turned towards the door, but the easy-toned voice made her falter.

The reflections stopped their turnings a fraction after Silo13 and that strange feeling came
over her again, but this time, she slipped the nickel into her pocket.
"I know what you want... and I can make it happen. All this..." a taloned hand waved from
the fog-thin long sleeve "... all this can be just a dream and you can again, be with the Yydryl"

The lilac-haired girl with drying blood on her forearms and scratches on her pert nose, turned
her body to face the spirit-form of The Dark Lord.
"What d..do want with me?" Silo stuttered and again, the wee-small voice inside spoke.
'be careful... very careful' came the advice.

The form became more solid and Silo could see the many-small tentacles around the mouth
of this stranger. "I wish for nothing my girl, nothing... but I feel your pain and your loneliness.
I merely want to help you... and through you -your friends" The voice of The Dark Lord was
soothing and kind, a Grandmother's voice -Silo thought, or The Ship's voice, she corrected.

"You okay in there?" came Boy In A Dress' tones from behind the door and Silo whirled to
see if the Man/Girl would enter. The atmosphere in the 'Crazy House' changed in an instant
and Silo felt a creeping cold enter the room, the way a seamist seeps under a Lighthouse
door.

"Silo...?" the voice begged "... Silo, the compromise...? will you take it?"

The door handle on the leaning door turned slowly as Silo stared back at The Dark Lord.
"I will call once more on you and ask again -my Dear... if you refuse my offer, then I can't be
responsible for the outcome... all will fall" the tall figure said solomnly and faded back into
roiling mist, the 'Silo' girls in the sheets of glass stared back at Silo.

BIAD pushed the stubbon door open and peeked through the space made. "Did you find
the Splitter?" he said with a small smile.
Silo breathed in deeply and glanced down at her stretching blood-streaked bodice, slivers
of mirror dropped from her hair and disappeared into thin-air as it fell, the red stains faded
back to dirty white. A slight shake of the head showed a negative.
The 'other' Silos did the same.

"Whatever the test, it looks like you succeeded in doing it" the hermaphrodite whispered and
ran a hand down the side of the quiet girl's hair, he stepped passed her and reached for a slip
of paper laying on the worn-floorboards.

'THE CORN CIRCLE' the wrinkled ticket proclaimed, 'DARE YOU TAKE THE CONTRACT?' it dared
and BIAD's lip turned up at the side. "Another damned contest and let's hope it's the last" he
said with a resigned tone.

Silo13 glanced once more at the many reflections of herself and fled 'The House Of Mirth'
BIAD shrugged and followed his friend out into the night.

~*~ I know... ~*~

Following BIAD from the dark into the light Silo had to shield her eyes. In the few moments BIAD had been inside the Hall of Mirrors the artificial moon had fallen from it’s zenith giving way to the hot ball of fire they could only call the sun.

‘How long were we in there?’ Silo asked trying not to look at Neno glad for the reason to cover her eyes.

Neno sensed the difference in the girl and wanted to know why. Standing between her and the sun he blocked the rays with his body feeling her shiver when he pulled her hands away from her eyes.

‘You were in there a long time. Too long.’ Neno eyes held a mixture of emotions that reminded Silo of the whirlwind and mirrors but she didn’t look away.

‘What happened in there?’ Neno commanded, but gently.

‘I know.’ Two words that would change them forever. ‘I know’ was all she could say while twisting her wrists in an attempt to extricated herself from his grasp.

The cold black center of the gunman's’ eyes dilated until all she saw was black. She couldn’t stand it anymore. Wrenching away from Neno Silo turned back to the Hall of Mirrors but the memories were already fading. There was something she should tell them, both of them, Neno and BIAD, something important. The Dark Lord? But as soon as remembered his horrible writhing face the memory was erased and replaced with the vision of a tiny babe.

Fingering the nickel in her pocket Silo walked to BIAD and leaned against his shoulder. ‘The Corn Circle?’ She read aloud from the scrap of paper still clutched in BIAD’S hand.

For reasons the gunman might never understand Silo and BIAD burst into laughter as they continued on their way.

As they walked along, neno pondered the simple words "I know" as he visually poked and prodded the surroundings, always looking for dangers or lurkers. "Knows what?" he wondered. He guessed, from the recognition and an odd gleam in her eye that Silo knew the facts around his origin now, but he wasn't sure. She hadn't elaborated, and he was reluctant to elaborate on it himself, for fear that he'd guessed wrongly what it was that she "knew".

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Old Ben Griffith was a hermit. He lived in the woods way up in the mountains near where the Carpenters had a large tract of unused land that had reverted back to wilderness over the past several generations. Ben came into town maybe twice a year, some years only once, and traded furs and forest products for a few staples that he couldn't get up in the wilderness on his own. Never "food" but odds and ends like a few pounds of coffee or a bag of salt, a few pounds of cured tobacco, that sort of thing. He never bought much at one time, since he came in on foot, and left the same way, carrying his purchases.

As young Freddy Carpenter, the boy who would eventually come to be known simply as "nenothtu" had grown, he'd developed a taste for the wilderness himself, and had demonstrated absolutely no aptitude for the mercantile trade that was the Carpenter's bread and butter. More often than not, he was nowhere to be found, and would come dragging in late. At first the Carpenters questioned the activity, thinking he was up to no good, some sort of foolishness that teenagers are wont to pursue, and so they questioned him about his whereabouts. He always said simply "I been in the woods", and left it at that. Over time, when there were no visits from the sheriff to indicate otherwise, they had just accepted that he was being honest about it, if not very verbose.

Those trips to the woods got longer and longer, until eventually Freddy was gone more than he was home, and would some times be "out in the woods" days at a time. Frank Carpenter, Freddy's uncle and Big Jim's brother and partner in the store, had discovered that Freddy was spending time in an old cabin on the "home place" as they called it, and had cleaned the place up and made some improvements, and so was content to let it go as it went. At least the boy wasn't sleeping out in the rain.

Freddy had taken to visiting Old Ben on his forays into the woods. he was fascinated with the notion that a man could live out there by himself for months on end, and was curious as to how that was accomplished. He'd "check in" on Old Ben, ostensibly to see how he was doing and whether he needed anything from the store, but the visits always turned into long discussions. In the exchange, Ben got someone to talk to, and Freddy gained knowledge that would later prove vital to him, but at the time seemed to be just a satisfaction of his curiosity.

During one such conversation, Freddy said to Ben "Folks down in the town claim yer crazy, Ben, and a throughly dangerous man. They say ain't no body but a crazy man could live like this, up here by his lonesome."

"Yeah, well, they say yer an orphan too, boy. Izzat right? You an orphan? seems to me yer folks take purty good care of you to be dead. Can't b'lieve everything, Freddy."

Freddy got serious. "I dunno iffen I'm an orfing er not, Ben. I'm a 'foundling' - they jus' found me wanderin' in the woods when I wuz little. Ain't nobody knows where I came from, or if my real folks'r dead. I might be an orfing, fer all I know, so it might be right. What about you, then, are ye crazy er dangerous?"

Ben snorted and grinned "Yup. I'm probbly 'dangerous' - 'least I have been upon occasion, and I might be crazy, but I don't cotton to livin' in an ant hill like y'all do down there. It 'pears to me that town folks are the crazy ones, livin' all hooved up on top of one another like that. It might be that 'crazy' is jus' in the eye of the beholder."

Freddy looked at him somewhat skeptically. "How'n'a hell er you a 'danger', Ben? You ain't even got a gun but that rusty old doorstop over there, an' ye ain't got no bullets even fer that!"

Ben worked his jaw and spit tobacco into the fireplace before replying. "You ever come here and not eat?"

"Nossir, I ain't".

"Did it ever occur to you that I had to kill them deer and such, and that they didn't just jump into the smokehouse all voluntary-like?"

Freddy, for the first time, considered that like it was a new revelation. "Uh... I reckon I hadn't thought much about it... so how ya kill 'em an' ya ain't got no firepower?"

Ben grinned and snorted and just said "Sonny, walk with me. Yer about to learn a whole new way of gettin' by!" - and that's just what Freddy did. He learned from Ben how to make bows and arrows, how to stalk, how to make "deadfall" traps, and all manner of things that were arcane to the uninitiated 'civilized' folks. He learned how to make spears and spear throwers. Ben insisted on that, saying that it took too long to make a bow and make it right, and there might be circumstance where you had to eat NOW rather than a year from now. The spear thrower filled that gap, being easier and quicker to make, but harder to use. Freddy learned from old Ben what plants, fruits, berries and nuts you could eat, and where and how to find them.

Over the next couple of years, young Freddy-to-become-nenothtu learned how to live in a harsh environment using only what he could get FROM that same envirnoment. Eventually, it got to where he could go into the woods with empty pockets and no shoe strings, and still manage to stay fat and sassy. He didn't know it in the beginning, but learned over time that old Ben really WAS a throughly dangerous man, even as an OLD man. Ben was a product of the Vandalian Clan Wars, as nenothtu eventually would also be. He lived by himself in the wilderness because he'd gotten weary of the killing, and just wanted to be left alone.

Living long enough to get weary of killing can often mean that one is very, very good at it. Otherwise he doesn't live to "retirement". Old Ben had been a long time "retired".

One June day when Freddy was 17 years old, he went to visit Old Ben Griffith again. He found 7 bodies laying around Old Ben's cabin, and Old Ben himself was nowhere to be found. Freddy never saw his friend again. Ben had simply disappeared. To protect Ben in case he still lived and ever returned, Freddy drug all 7 bodies and deposited them in a sinkhole, the remnants of a collapsed cave where they would never be found. He needn't have bothered. the bodies were previously Taggarts before they'd been turned into corpses, and the Taggart Clan was on the warpath.

After completing the chore of hiding the corpses, Freddy returned home to see if Old Ben had checked in, but he would never know. The Taggart Clan had beat him there, and both the house and the store were smoking ruins, his parents dead. Freddy saw red, and would not stop seeing it for a very long time. In that instant, Freddy became "nenothtu". He went hunting for Taggarts, and didn't stop hunting until there weren't any left on Earth to find. It took several months to find them all, but find them all he did, and the entire Clan ceased to exist... just more victims of the Clan Wars.

Freddy-nenothtu had become a throughly dangerous man in his own right, even though he was yet a boy. He didn't even bother to hide those bodies. Nenothtu had always wondered what had become of Old Ben, but he never found out. Curiously, some few of the Taggarts just woke up dead, and nenothtu had nothing to do with those deaths. No one ever knew who got 'em, but neno never saw Ben again.

Of course, after "taking care of" the Taggarts, nenothtu thought he might be more comfortable elsewhere, and left Vandalia for good. No point in leading the authorities on a merry and life-long chase.

====================================================================

Snapping out of his reverie of recollection, neno had to wonder - had Silo stumbled across the mystery of his origin, and now knew that he wasn't an "orfing" at all? Was that what Silo now knew?

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The day had broken and a 'V'-shaped group of Carrigan Geese flew out towards the
cornfields for a early breakfast as the four tired people stepped up to the last Marquee
on the Fairground site, the Midway was far behind them now and Nenothtu guessed they
were nearer the South-side of Tall Town.

Jepp was snoozing on Boy In A Dress' back and Silo would yawn frequently as they made
their way to the scrolled and brightly painted sign of 'The Corn Circle' , they were even
rewarded with a show of dull-blinking lights around the tent entrance.

"This is the one, I suppose" Silo mumbled and squinted her eyes as she looked up at the corn
ornament above the doorway.
Whoever the owners of this Lost Carnival were, they had at least spent a little time and effort
in garnering their wares, the large decoration in front of Nenothtu, BIAD, Silo13 and Jepp told
of long hours of winding cornstalks.

"Is that supposed to be me?" the Man/Girl asked and pointed a long red-nailed finger at the
straw mannequin on the left, the figure holding the baby with lilac tufts protuding from the
spiral-head was obviously Silo.

The 'Boy In A Dress' Corn Doll had been stained in a way that showed a red dress and black
hair and BIAD offered a small grin to the creator of the cereal-shape, vanity was always one
of the hermaphrodite's weaknesses.
"Hmmm... no shoes" BIAD said to himself.

The model in the centre of the large wreath of corn was definitely Nenothtu. Though a top
hat seemed to be jammed on it's head -instead of the 'Western-style wear Neno sported, the
thin-line of a cruel mouth gave it away, BIAD had stood on tip-toes to scrutinise the leaves
that saved the Corn-Sham's embarrassment and saw dark-green Alder-like leaves with yellow
spots about them... 'poisonous' thought BIAD and gave his friend a glance.

The right-hand side Corn-Mother carried a small spiral that indicated a baby and the mother's
head was festooned with lilac-tipped corn ears, Silo blushed slightly at the image and the
visions she had seen in The House Of Mirth slipped though her mind like a Steelhead through
a fisherman's fingers.

Silo and Neno looked at each other, but said nothing.
Jepp broke the tension with "so where am I?" the lazy tones of a wakening Bogel and Boy In A
Dress shook his wig-wrapped head in mock-dismay. "You see that lazy lump on the back of
the effigy of me...? well, that's you!" she snipped and dumped the poor creature on the
damp grass.

"Remember what the sign said, Neno..." BIAD whispered and ignored Jepp's grumblings
behind him. "...'Place your wager and fortune will favour the bravest of Culs'"
Nenothtu looked into the freak-face of his friend and tossed an easy grin, "You just keep
an eye out for those Squid-heads... I have a feeling we're being played" the statement was
followed with a wink.

Silo cleared her throat and reached for the GunMan's hand, "let's get it done, my son"
she said and then hurriedly at the tall Vandal's puzzled expression "... er, I mean my
man.. my hero" and showed an embarrassed smile.

The lilac-haired girl from the stars and the Killer from the deep woods of Vandalia stepped
through the tent flaps like Adam and Eve must have looked when they stepped out of Eden.

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The place was a dump-site, old neon signs, garrish boards with scantly-clad Cul women
showing far more than ankle and a huge clown-head that would laugh silently for eternity.
In the centre of all this debris, stood a huge wheel with strange carvings on it's face, a large
arrow pointed off to the left.
The leaning sign above stated the wheel was 'The Corn Circle'

"They could've cleaned up the place" Nenothtu said sarcastically and picked up a wooden
box with 'Pay Here' printed on it.
Silo surveyed the piles of Fairground remains and without looking, she dropped the plugged
nickel into the container in Neno's hand.

The Wheel began to turn at the same time the Pipe-organ music began and Neno dropped
low with the pistol already in his hand. Silo went right and pulled her knife from it's sheath.
Unknown to the two wary visitors, the tune was 'Shenandoah' and the warbling notes came
from behind one of the large hoardings.

Nenothtu stepped between the rubbish and broken facades to see where the noise was
coming from, Silo followed and watched their wake for any sort of trap.

The machine that emitted the music stood alone at the rear of the tent and the sentry-
like musicians that blew, banged and strummed on the front of the contraption all seemed
to belong to a long-forgotten battalion that graced battlefields and war-zones with their
upbeat melodies.

The tune changed and a mixture of songs brayed out as Nenothtu and Silo stood transfixed
at the small models urging the music from their instruments.

When the voice came, Nenothtu was a second away from drilling bullets through the shiny
varnished heads of the orchestra, the tone indicated it was also automatic and the tension
in the GunMan's wrist eased.

Silo stepped forward and actually touched the sitting doll with the pencil-moustache
and splayed cymbals. The figure ignored the beautiful woman and kept wth the beat.
"Roll Up, Roll up and take your chance on the Circle Of Corn. All life is adorned on
the all-knowing disc of Nature and all luck resides there too" the man's voice indicated a
jovial note and there seemed to be veiled urge to dare the listener.

"... Take your choice of musket and see what Mother as in store for yooooooo..."
The voice faltered and dropped to a rumble and the thigh-tapping music also waned, the
tent seemed to lose some light as well.

Nenothtu swung the pistol around and scanned the humps and bumps of unwanted
Carny-props, shadows threatened everywhere.

Then Silo turned to the tall Vandal and fished out the crumpled ticket that Boy In A Dress
had picked up in the Hall of Mirth -from her skirt pocket, a thumb ironed out the wrinkles.
'Pick Off The Items Offered And Show Your Mettle To Your Sweetheart!' Silo said and
looked up to Nenothtu for an explanation.

The ceramic disc flew from a slit in the Pipe-Organ machine and Nenothtu tracked the
object until it was safetly past the Main-support of the tent, then it shattered as his bullet
found it's target.

Neno was still in his stance when another plate-like disc spun across the Marquee, this time
low and faster. The paintings of Maidens and Farm-Hands tending the soil were strewn about
the Pipe Organ machine and this second-plate had appeared from a smiling girl's basket.

The upgraded pistol traced the disc, passed it and then turned it to dust, Neno's eyes were
as one with his gun.

Silo13 moved back towards the automatic music-machine and as Nenothtu adjusted his
stance to make sure his view of any flying objects wouldn't be jeopardised, the Girl-From-
The-Core heard the faint voice.

Whatever it was that had broken the calliope -a ball of a mouse-nest or rain dripping through
a rent in the canvas, it hadn't quite taken away the voice of the BandLeader.

A boomerang-shaped target swooped from the mouth of a laughing farmer -who waited high
up on the Organ Player , the ruddy-painted cheeks told of outdoor living.
It flew around the tent and arced it's way back to where it had come from. Neno sliced it
neatly in two before it got there.

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Silo leaned close to where three trumpet players stood in their perfectly creased trousers
and heard the cracked words.
"Place your bet on the wheel... Place your bet on the wheel... Place..." the stutter echoed
and after putting her hand up to ask Neno to stay where he was, she hurried back to the
spinning Circle Of Corn and seeing the coloured-ended hatpins in a tray below it.
She stabbed the slender spike into the passing section with men-fighting-monsters.

Three discs went in three different directions as the Corn Circle began to spin faster, the long
arrow clicked everytime the hatpin passed it.

"One..." Neno fired from the hip and took out the first plate, he turned and straighten his
arm -as if pointing. "Two..." he hissed as the disc disintegrated and then showed a trick that
only a few Pistoleers have ever tried.
Without looking, Neno thrust the pistol behind his back, aimed the barrel upwards and
instantly fired, the ceramic disc that was just above his head became dust and rained down
on the GunMan's hat.

"Three" Nenothtu said softly and glanced at the pistol, he hadn't loaded since Chooma's
'talking-lathe' had upgraded it, but he felt that he should had least -give a token-gesture.
Deft fingers pulled bullets from his belt and slipped them into the waiting barrel, Neno's
eyes never left the tent-space above him.

The Circle of Corn slowed and after five more 'clicks' the hatpin came to rest next to the long
arrow-shaped pointer, Silo guessed they had won.
"Take your pri..." the BandLeader's voice gave-up-the-ghost and a small'clunk' came from
inside the Pipe-Organ, a ticket spat out of the far-left model's trumpet.

Neno stepped over and plucked it from the mud-packed ground and sawdust, Silo watched
from around the creaking wheel.
"The word of Jenovah turns for eternity above , wisdom calls to the true" the tall man read
aloud and looked to Silo for any idea of what the enigmatic words meant.
Silo sighed and nearing Neno, she took the ticket and re-read it.

A plume of smoke showed that Neno was content no more plates would soar through
the tent and as the cigar embers glowed, he walked over to look at the large 'Circle Of
Corn'

The images that adorned the wheel of cereal were horrific. Headless Culs being eaten
by giant Dragons, Bat-like humanoids sitting on a large grey Tower and a slithering plant
that gobbled down children.
Nenothtu noted that all this occurred in just in one section alone, the other partitions
told of hardships and persecution. "All the fun of the Fair" muttered the GunMan and blew
cigar fumes up towards the contest's title high up.

Silo13 came around the large wheel with her eyes running across the words again and again.
Then the Vandalian let his lop-sided smile surface and the lilac-haired girl double-glanced
at his features, "what...?" she snipped and repeated the word.

Neno's cool gaze met Silo's puzzled expression and after blowing smoke from the side of
his mouth, he whsipered "read it out again... but this time slowly"
Silo cleared her throat and placed the token high.

"The word of..." Silo began, but Nenothtu interrupted "the word... the word. What words
are here in this tent?" the tone was playfully mocking.
Silo looked around and said "well, er... there's the billboards, this ticket and, and oh, yes
-the 'Pay Here' words" her eyes sought a response.

"Very good, but you've missed some.. go on wiv' the legend" Neno said with a smug
smile.
The furrowed brow of Silo stayed as she read on.

"... turns for eternity above..." she mouthed the words and looked up immediately,
the arched brows slipped away as she saw what Nenothtu was meaning.

There above the wheel, the sign stating 'The Corn Circle' resided and if one looked
hard enough, the 'C' on the word 'circle' had strange indentations on it, if one peered
further, one could see some-sort of trigger arched around it.

"The word that turns above" Neno said softly and placed an arm around his Mother
-Silo. "We've found the Splitter" she agreed.

~*~ Back on the Yydryl ~*~

‘Ok. Here’s the scoop,’ CindyMars slurred, chin resting on her palms her fingers cupped around her head ready to press against her ears. ‘We have to...to do something about those...things out there.‘ She stated the obvious wondering why her tongue was going one way when she wanted it to go in another. Closing one eye in a drunk’s exaggeration Cindy counted two empty Carbiox whiskey bottles between her and her handyman who gave her a naughty one eyed stare right back.

The threat outside the door all but forgotten CindyMars tucked in her chin, scowled, and shook her head. ‘Ernie,’ she sighed sobering a bit, ‘just what in the hell are you doin'?’

‘Given’ ya the ol' one eyed stare right back Mam.‘ His voice rasp like the gravel on a country road, ‘I thought maybe it was some kind’e ritual or somethin’ ‘mportant like.’ He winked and sat up straight a grin hidden behind the mouse nest of a beard.

Another ear piercing scream cut through the barricaded door to ricochet around the room. CindyMars covered her ears and scrunched her eyes tight against the sound burying her head in her arms. When the noise fell off to a low moaning CindyMars opened her eyes slowly wondering why Ernie seemed unaffected by the sound. The ringing in her ears and pain in her head confused her and left her question wanting.

CindyMars got to her feet unsteadily walking stiff legged to the door ready to check on the creature in the hall. Three steps from her chair the room began to spin, the lights behind her eyes blinked out and she began to fall. Ernie, catching her up in his arms laid her gently down on one of the many couches ringing the walls of the Swamp. Placing his thumb and forefinger to either side of her temples he bowed his own head and watched the worry fall from CindyMars face.

‘Chocolate...cake...’ CindyMars mumbled in her sleep and turning over on her side began snoring peacefully.

Satisfied Ernie straightened to his full height an odd gleam in his eye spanking his hands together in anticipation.

‘If there’s anything I like? It’s a Ship full of zombies!’

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"If there's anything I like -it's a Tower full of zombies" Nenothtu said with a grin and
re-set his holster. Silo frowned and reminded him that they were subjects of Y'lrang's
father and it was only The Dark Lord that had made them that way.

Neno snorted and continued to watch Jepp struggle with the bonds that held the
Splitter. Boy In A Dress' hair held the Bogel up to the 'Corn Circle' sign and the little
man didn't seem to be enjoying it.

"When we get in there, it may pay us not have that contraption with us..." Silo said
coldly "... we'd have done the dirty-work for... him" she finished and wrung her hands.

Nenothtu sighed and folded his arms -whilst leaning against the clown's head.
"Probbly send thur Bogel back with it... huh?" he suggested and Silo merely shrugged.
Jepp pulled once more on the corn-matting and the crescent-shaped device fell from
it's perch, the Bogel grabbed at it, but the Splitter fell... and landed safely in the GunMan's
hands.

"It doesn't look much" Neno mumbled and turned it over to see the underside.
The Splitter was black with several coloured buttons on it. a trigger-like handle curved
around -what would be considered the front and a grey line wrapped around the 'hand'
areas. Neno looked closer.

The ends of the crescent were smooth and the whole thing seemed to be made of a type
of plastic, and then it squirmed.
The Vandal dropped the machine and a look of surprise was offered to Silo13.
"Did you see that...? It moved" Neno hissed and glanced over to where BIAD was
comforting Jepp with a head-pat. Silo glanced too and then back to The Splitter, the black
object just lay there on the straw and packed earth.

Boy In A Dress sidled up and looked at his two friends with a puzzled expression, then
stepped forward and picked the machine up... and it squirmed again.
BIAD leapt into Neno's arms and showed a mock look of horror, the Man/Girl's ass hitting
the Tent-floor was faster than the leap and Silo clapped her hands with the tension-relieving
merriment.

Neno merely shook his head as BIAD rearranged his dress and as he rose, he plucked the
Splitter from the ground again.

"I asked Tibbs about this..." BIAD said and tossed it from one red-nailed hand to the other
"... it's a living thing... a machine that lives" he said with confidence and both Silo and
Nenothtu knew that the Boy In A Dress hadn't a clue what he was talking about.

With a slight beckoning, the eyeless creature lobbed the Splitter at Neno's out-stretched
hand and they all left the Marquee.

Tall Town's Tower awaited.

~*~ Dinner is... ~*~

‘Is he getting any better?’ Dag asked Carpet, Adam resting on a pile of boughs Dag’s overcoat a pillow under his head.

‘No Las, he isna, but he‘s holding...’ Carpet replied softly the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes prompting him to add, ‘At least he’s not getting ana worse.’

Carpet was beginning to talk like Adam she thought cringing, wondering if the Milli-Being even realized it himself and what it could mean. Forgetting herself Dag lay a hand on Adam’s shoulder recoiling back in disgust. Even through his shirt his flesh was so cold, his skin felt so...dead. Forcing herself to smooth the hair out of his eyes Dag looked away unable to abide his lifeless stare. Wondering bleakly if her love would be strong enough Dag hung her head and glad to be away went to sit with her back up against the rough barked tree where Muckles and Tibbs perched.

‘He’ll be fine youngin’ quit your worrying an go git yourself somethin‘ to eat.’ Mucklebones cackled from above Dag, her gnarled hand intertwined with Tibbs’es who blushed furiously when attention was drawn to himself and the old hag in the dirty poncho.

‘Yes Mam.’ Dag answered leaving them alone to join Chumley who’d been diligently tending the roasted deer.

‘You hungry?’ Chumley burped wiping his tentacles across his jerkin. The smears of grease around his mouth proved the Regalian had already been sampling the meat.

‘Yes, Chumley, I am thank you.’ She smiled and sat on a log he’d pulled up to the fire.

‘I get you a nice piece little Dag.’ His fat sausage lips gleamed a hideous smile.

‘Thank you,‘ She repeated reminding herself Chumley rarely offered his smile and for that she should feel comforted despite the sight making her feel terribly queasy.

Watching the Regalian worry over the meat Dag wondered how long they’d have to wait for the others to return. Mucklebones and her potions or no Dag wanted to get Adam back to Carpet’s Ship where he’d promised Adam would gain a full recovery - if they arrived in time.

‘Chumley.’ Dag picked at a blade of something green and growing from a hole in the log. ‘That little Sprint we came in. What happened to it?’

‘I dunno. A good little Sprint would go home.’ Chumley smiled again. Sawing desperately Chumley succeeded in cutting a huge slab of smoking meat from the deer, dropped it, swore around a burnt tentacle stuffed in his mouth, picked up the meat in a broad green leaf torn from a nearby plant and passed it to Dag dirt and all.

‘Thank you Chumley.’ Dag smiled up with tears in her eyes but made no attempt to try the deer. That they were stranded robbed her of the last bit of hope she had, for Adam, for herself.

‘You’ll be eatin’ that meat and be thankful for it Missy!’ Muckles commanded from the tree, ‘Ya don’t know where your next meal will come from.‘ She finished in a rabble of dark giggles.

‘I hope it’s Ship.’ Dag sighed and doing as she was told wiped off a piece of the hot meat put it to her mouth and ate.

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The Light-Flayer called Vreth laid the cords carefully across the Hall and after flicking a loop
straight, the being in the black tunic reached for the pads that would be placed on The Dark
Lord's brow.

"Now... bring the Cul closer" Vreth said reverently and the two guards pushed the cowering
male forward, an urging with the 'toned-down' Burn-Bars made the dirt-smeared old man fall
at the feet of The Dark Intruder.

"You are fortunate, my friend... you are involved in a great event" the last of the true Flayers
said calmly, the minion with the thin wires made sure his Master could see the prone Cul -as
he placed the small cushions of gauze on The Dark Lord's large forehead.

The Hall was quiet for a few moments as the oval-shaped 'doorway' was checked once more
and the Quazi-Caller that hummed softly near The Dark Lord's throne -blinked as it should.
Vreth sucked in some air and made a small prayer to himself, the experiment had worked
twice and the results of those two tests -now stood watching with their beady hawk-like
eyes.

Graham and Poll waited silently for their colleagues to arrive through the temporary vent
and showed no emotion, Vreth was still unsure of their loyalty.

"As one journey begins... another ends..." The Dark Lord whispered and with the nearest
to a kindly smile that the he could muster, the rippling tentacles and the reaching taloned
hand beckoned the terrified slave to stand up.

The machine near the throne buzzed and clicked as The Dark Lord leaned forward and took
hold of the Cul's hand, a fatherly touch -Vreth thought nervously. The elderly eyes of the
bruised and battered slave searched for compassion in the oily orbs of the one who had
fooled their King, but the old man's reflection in The Dark Lord's eyes merely reached out
to accept it's fate and all hope was lost.

Graham ruffled his wing-feathers in anticipation at their Point Commander's arrival,
Poll was a trusted comrade but Graham believed his leading abilities weren't even worth
carrion.
Graham of course, had never told Poll this and instead, treated his friend to a small snap
of beak. In Ophi-circles, this was seen has a sign of excitement.

Then The Dark Lord clutched the old Cul to him and the lights on the console went crazy.
The dark-blue of the Hall dulled for a few seconds as the power surged towards the tip
of the Tower and the poor old man looked over the shoulder of The Dark Lord and saw
something that only belonged in nightmares.

Ignoring the sticky mucus-like substance dripping from the tyrant's bulbous head, he stared
wide-eyed at the Rip-to-another-world.
The doorway was alive. The frame shivered and flinched and as Vreth struggled in the dim
light to adjust the machine's dials and switches, the Cul thought of his Father's Equill that
had ploughed the fields for fifty summers. In the early morning of the 'Sleep' season, the
beast's huge muscles would quiver and throb -just as the scene before him was doing.

The old man called Daylor whispered for Jenovah's mercy and closed his eyes.

The oval-doorway bloated and a dirty-green bubble inflated and relaxed as if the realm
on the otherside was breathing and the two Sentrys stepped away from Vreth's
attempts to reach the Ophi Buzzards.

Poll and Graham flexed their wings wide ready for the arrival of their Commander and
caused the Guards to lose their nerve.
The strange 'hellish'-like atmosphere and the two feathered Demons brandishing their
feathers was too much for them and they fled the Hall.

The Dark Lord ignored the cowards and held the old man at arms length.
"My Kingdom come and Thy WILL be done" the Octopi-mouth murmered to the convulsing
Cul.

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Death leaned close to the wheezing man watching the Television set and pondered on
whether to wait for the commercials. 'As Good As It Gets' was showing and The Last Sentinel
always enjoyed the acting abilities of the main character.

"...WILL be done" he heard from the across the void and in an instant, the TV viewer's
struggling breath eased and clearing his throat, he reached for another bottle of beer.
A reprieve.

Death looked out of Daylor's terrified eyes and saw the being that had caused all of his
latest troubles.
As the black-shrouded Death took the dying Cul's soul and placed it in his pocket, he
stared at The Dark Lord's squid-like features.
"So... you're the one who banes me?" Daylor's lips pronounced during the flashing
of the Hall-lights and the roar coming from the Doorway.

The husk that once steered his Father's prize-animal to Second-place at the Carbiox
Ploughman's-Line competition and danced all evening with Troola at the Town-Fair,
dropped without dignity from The Dark Lord's oily claws.

The Ophi V-Point Commander stepped from the smoking and shaking Doorway and
ignoring the ugly-brute that sat at the throne, he walked on hooked-nailed feet to his
Ophi comrades. "All is well?" Callan cawed and watched as his two Sky-Killers stood
to attention.

Poll snapped his head down once and reported.
"This planet is ripe with our wants, Sire... We await your orders"

The seven-foot tall Callan ducked his hooked beak in response and turned to look at
The Dark Lord, the machine called the Quazi-Caller was now wheezing -not unlike the human
TV-viewer before, Vreth knew he had a long day of repairing ahead of him.

"Hail -The Dark Lord and hail his conquests" the Commander called and stepped over
the ruined remains of Daylor.
Unknowing to all in the room, the Cul's eyes watched with a cold intensity at the passing
figure and without sound, Death hushed "Oh yes... All will Fall"

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Caspak glanced at the monitor and shook his head in disgust, he knew what the Ophi's
plan would be and also he knew how little his Ruler listened to him these days.

The Flayer played his tentacles across his hand as he slumped at the viewing-console,
the Buzzard that was talking to The Dark Lord... and Caspak rarely had the volumn turned
up... looked like a major-player in the plan to bring about the Big-Rip and Caspak sighed
and looked back at the ancient book on his desk.

The Tower had been equipped with the best techology from all the galaxies that had
been conquered. In fact, the current facilities would rival The Black Atlantis itself and
yet, the sterilty of it all unerved Caspak.

For him, low-lighting from candle-Lamps and the texture of gnarled desks, a high ceiling
with surrounding library shelves strewn with old books served his needs and due to his
odd wants, fellow-Light Flayers seldom visited.

The screen went black with a flick of a switch and the Caspak ambled over to The Cuspar True
and began again, his readings.

The words and images etched on it's pages bewitched him, never before had such knowledge
been held in one tome. The Light Flayer sighed again and pondered where the other book
resided and he guessed The Vantine Del Pudria was mouldering in some root-cellar in a
delapidated farmhouse outside Uktena, or was home to a family of mice under the tons of
wrecked machines back near the Pyramid.

They had been lucky. The Guards that had investigated a Sky-Hook failing had never been
found, but a book among the rubble -had been. The search party had also grabbed a stray
Gray as well and under less-than-gentle persuasion, Culp had told them about the Neo.

The dying alien had been kind enough to offer details of the Outremer's company and
Caspak relished meeting the famous time-traveller called 'Tibbs'

The Light Flayer that had brokered the famous deal with Culp's race scratched his blow-hole
and read on.