<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 12 (filtered medium)"><style></style></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1> <o:p></o:p>In this part things get weird!<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p>**********<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p> The pair stood off to one side and stared in amazement at the world around them.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> The forest with its overgrown ruins was no more. Nothing more than a confused and oddly pleasant memory. In front of them and all around them were the tall stone and brick buildings of a prosperous Suielman city. The plaster over the bricks was bright and white and the stone lined streets were clean and well swept. But although the buildings were amazing what truly dazzled them were the people. The streets were filled with men, women and children moving about. Some were walking, some talking and still others moving among the stores and buildings on daily errands. All of them were dressed in clothing of a style that had fallen out of use when the empire collapsed under invading lutins over five centuries before. The two living Keepers were in a world that had been dead for centuries.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> Stealth turned to speak with Nestorius and stopped. He stood there for a moment unable to speak. Where the black furred lion morph had been was now a stranger. This man was the same height as Nestorius but was dressed in a tunic and pants both of blue and edged with an intricate design in silver. A small, gold and silver emblem was on the front of his tunic. On the belt at his hip was something the Metamor mage had never carried; a simple short sword. "Nest? Is that you?"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> The stranger nodded and the voice that spoke clearly belonged to his leonine friend. "Yes." The man bowed. "My apologies. I should have warned you."He reached into a pocket and pulled out a mirror. "You had best take a look at yourself."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> With some trepidation Stealth took the mirror and looked into it. The figure that looked back at him was not the cheetah morph he was. Instead a brown haired man with a face weathered by time and the elements looked back at him. Gone was the brown, black and green covered leather armor he had been wearing. Instead he now had on chainmail armor that looked a little worn and battered. Strapped to his back was a large bow and a quiver filled with arrows. A leather strap ran diagonally down his chest running over his right shoulder and down to his belt. On it were two, dull brass badges about the size of the palm of his hand. Dangling from a brass and leather belt was a short sword of a design he had not seen before. Next to that was something he did recognize; his dagger.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "I'm human again!" Stealth exclaimed. Then he cursed loudly. "But I'm not myself. Who am I? What happened?"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "We are in Camulodunum," the mage answered calmly. "Shortly before it's fall in 150."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "So," Stealth asked nervously. In front of him a man dressed in a plain gray tunic and leading as donkey laden with large bolts of cloth. "Are we dead? Or did we travel back in time?'<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> The mage slowly shook his head. "I am uncertain of exactly what is happening but we are still alive."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "Then what is all this?" Stealth waved his arm at the strange people around them.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "We are witnessing the ruins as the ghosts trapped here see it," Nestorius explained.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "What?" Stealth blinked and looked at the mage.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> The stranger who was Nestorius nodded his head. "All the ghosts here were trapped when the city was destroyed. They have been reliving the last few days before their deaths over and over."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "And now we're in it too," Stealth said. "Reliving the last days of the city."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> The mage watched as a merchant and his donkey slowly made their way down the road. "Yes. We've been given the privilege of seeing this place as it was over six centuries ago."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> Stealth let his eyes wander as he examined a shop close to them. There an older man was busily crafting pots from clay. "I'm sure this is exciting but we both know how this ends. How long till all this," he said and waved her arms at the city around them. "Gets destroyed and everyone killed. Again."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "I believe we have about one to two days before Camaludunum falls again," Nestorius answered. His gazed followed where Stealth was looking and he watching the craftsman working a lump of clay on a potter's wheel. "But I cannot be certain."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> A woman wearing a simple gray dress walked up to the potter and the two spoke quietly. "What happens if we're still here when that ends comes?" Stealth asked.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> The mage was silent for a moment. "I'm not sure," he said softly.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> Stealth looked at the long dead world around him that looked all too alive. "Let's not stay and find out."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "Agreed. As much as I would dearly love to explore and record everything here we need to find Edmund as quickly as possible," Nestorius said.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "So where do we start?" Stealth looked around. "Where is he?"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "Edmund thinks he is an officer in the Vigilis so we need to look for him in the Vigilis Argunta Comandio. The Vigilis headquarters."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "Didn't we visit those ruins a while back?" Stealth asked.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> Nestorius nodded his head slowly. "Indeed we did. It will be fascinating to compare the ruins of what exists now with the reality of what once was."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> Stealth looked at the strange body that covered his own. "Who am I?"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> Nestorius peered at his companion for a moment. "I believe you are a Immunis Decanus Exploritie."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> He looked at the strange clothes on the strange body that was now his. "And what does that mean?"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "Decanus Exploritie means you are a experienced scout sergeant," Nestorius explained. "Immununis means you are immune to regular fatigue and guard duty."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> Stealth looked at the strange clothing and armor he was wearing. "You could tell all that from what I have on?"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "Yes," the mage answered. "I have been studying the Seuilman as of late." He pointed to the brass badges on his chest strap. "Two means you are a Decanus or sergeant. One would mean you are a Veternai. None would make you a Milos or a Tiros. The bow on your back makes you either a scout or an archer. The chainmail armor is too heavy for a Sagittaria so that leaves only a Exploritie."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> Stealth looked at his clothing and weapons. "You realized all that by just looking at me? You remembered all that information?"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "When I was sixteen," the mage explained. "I attempted a simple summoning in class but mispronounced the seventh word in the fourth tranverbative phrase. Instead of summoning a simple, fire spirit I summoned a fire hound." The mage was quiet for a moment. "I was burned over 40% of my body and spent six months recovering. It took a dozen mages over an hour to finally defeat the creature." He rubbed the back of his left hand and looked at it. Examining a wound that had been physically healed for decades. "What went wrong? I left out one letter. The one good thing it taught me was the need to know every detail. To remember everything."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> The scout peered at the mage intently. "And what are you?"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> I am wearing the deep blue of a Vigilis," his companion explained. "The silver edging marks me as a Tribune Artus. Roughly equal to a major."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "You said a Decanus is the same as a sergeant," Stealth said slowly. "So the same rank as I am back at Metamor."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "Now that's important," Nestorius commented.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "What does it mean?"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> The mage shrugged. "I don't know. Yet."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "Betutius! Foslius!" A voice called out. "Hold a moment please."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> Both of them turned in the direction of the voice.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> The man approaching them was stocky but well muscled. His black hair was cut short and the brown eyes below were filled with caution and doubt. On his left cheek was tattooed two blue lines and on the right two blue ones. He was wearing a shirt of chainmail armor that matches his pants. A sword with a long, straight blade rested in a sheath that hung from his belt. In his left hand was a round shield. Painted onto the front of the shield was a gold greyhound running on the bottom half of the shield with a white crescent moon on top. This was an officer of the 23rd Artinea, Exploritium, an Auxilia unit. Once the Auxilia units had been considered inferior to the legions, merely meant to supplement the true soldiers in the legions. But centuries of working and fighting side by side had erased the differences. And Auxilia was now merely a title meant to invoke memories of past glories. "Betutius, Foslius, you've returned."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "I think that is us," Stealth muttered under his breath.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "I am glad that you have returned unharmed," the officer said and looked at Stealth. "How did your mission go?"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> Stealth was at a loss for words for a moment. "It went well enough. I got back alive."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "I see," the man commented slowly. Unhappy with the answer. "So, are the rumors of the massing Lutins are true," the man asked nervously.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> The man who was Nestorius simply nodded. "They are true but we've defeated them before. We'll do so again."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> The officer gave a forced smile. "I'm glad you came back safe. Good day to you sir." Then he turned and walked away.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> Nest watched the auxiliary leave and then paced back and forth. "We appear human to them. We are seeing the same illusion they are." Stealth turned his gaze down, to the mage's back, there he could see a jet black tail darting about, completely unobstructed by the ancient robes they were protruding. "Our Seuilman illusion isn't perfect and our real bodies can poke through." Nest rubbed his nose, "fur and muzzle, our human selves are concealed to us?" The cheetah Immunis nodded, "Until such time as you shave and lose weight."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> Nest nodded his head. "Of course this brings up another question. If our Seuilman clothes aren't physical to us then how can we stand in buildings that don't exist anymore, hold <o:p></o:p>weapons that don't exist, etc."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "Well," Stealth said slowly. "All this," he waved his hands about. "Is part of this whole recreation or story. And since we are in it we can interact with all of it."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "That doesn't explain how we can interact with people who are dead and move about in a city destroyed for over five centuries," the mage asked.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> Stealth shook his head. "That isn't important right now. What matters is how do we get out and back to our own time."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "Of how I do not know," The mage answered. "Until then it is best we go along with the illusion placed on us. They do allow us to move about unhindered."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "All right," the scout answered reluctantly. "What's my title again?"<o:p></o:p> "Immunis Decanus Exploritie." came the answer from the figure who might be Nestorius.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "Could that name be any longer?" Stealth asked sarcastically.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> Nest gave a short growl of laughter. "The Seuilman did have a love of long and grandiose titles."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> Suddenly Stealth felt a warmth and a tingling sensation from his hip. Looking down he saw that the hilt of the dagger that hung there was glowing a light blue. He drew the dagger out and examined it.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> The weapon rested easily in his paw while he reflected, waited and watched. He turned it over and over. The gold and black marble glistened in the light and the whole blade glowed with a blue light. Stealth had found the weapon in the ruins some months before and carried it with him since. But he had barely given it a second thought. The weapon had shown no magic or powers till now.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> He stared at the dagger for a long moment unsure of what to do or say.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "Is that the dagger you found in the ruins?" Nestorius asked. The mage was looking at the weapon but keeping a respectful distance.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> Stealth simply nodded in answer without taking his eyes off the dagger.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "Has it ever done this before?" The mage kept examining the weapon but got no closer.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "No, never. Neither in the ruins nor out of them. It did change my armor into something completely different. I never considered it to have any other purpose."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "Well," the mage said slowly. "It seems we have discovered another one."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "Are there other powers?" The scout asked nervously.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "Undoubtedly," the mage answered. "I can study the blade in detail when we escape here."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "If we escape." Stealth looked at the mage for a moment and then back at the blade. "Edmund had said I was fated to find the dagger," Stealth said slowly. He held the dagger up at eye level. "I don't believe in fate. But I do believe something is happening here and somehow we're all involved." <o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "Indeed," Nestorius said calmly. "It seems someone or something is guiding us."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> The scout leaned closer to his friend. "Who?"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> Nestorius shrugged and shook his head. "I do not know. The more we learn, the more I understand how little we truly know."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> Stealth, still holding the dagger in his hands turned and was rewarded with the glow of the blade growing brighter. He stopped moving and turned back in the direction he had come and the light dimmed.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "Interesting," the mage commented. "It seems the blade is guiding us towards something or someplace."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "Where?"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> Both looked in the direction to magic blade was pointing but all they saw was the city with its hustle and bustle.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "One way to find out," the mage answered. "To follow it and discover for ourselves but first we must find Edmund."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "Where is Ed now?" Stealth asked.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p>*******************<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p> The trip through the city had a surreal feel to it. They found themselves moving through a city alive with people and yet one they knew had been dead for centuries. Stealth looked at a pair men busy replacing a damaged door. He examined them closely but no matter how hard he looked at the men still seemed to be alive. Like people he had seen at Metamor a thousand times before. One part of his mind knew they were dead and yet another part just couldn't accept that fact. "This is creepy. They don't look dead."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "In this place and time they aren't," Nest explained.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> Stealth stopped and looked at his friend. "Are we dead?"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> The mage came to a halt next to his friend. "No. I do not understand the mechanics involved but somehow our world of the living and their past has crossed."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "That makes no sense," Stealth commented. "How can that be happening?"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "Stealth," Nestorius said in clipped terms. "I do not know but it is obviously happening. All we can do right now is move along with this world until I can understand truly what is happening."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> The two travelers continued moving through the ghostly city. Up ahead a massive building filled the opposite side of the plaza. It was at least two stories tall and topped with a half dozen domes. The stone had once been bright white but with time had weathered to a dull gray. People hustled in and out of the massive doorway leading inside. Above and around the doorway a score of marble statues stood guard. They were as gray and weathered as the stone walls they were on.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> The pair walked through the large opening as the stone figures glared at them. The interior was filled with booths and stalls that ran the entire length of the building which seemed to stretch for over three hundred yards. The market was alive with people. Every booth was filled with people of all ages and types buying, selling or just talking.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "I've never been in a market this big before," Stealth commented.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "I'll admit to not seeing one this large in a long time," Nestorius commented. "Except as a ruin in the forest or desert. I knew the valley was a lot more heavily populated in this time than in our own but I never truly realized how much more."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> The two passed a stall selling fish that had only just arrived from Ceasarath having been pulled from the Mare Animarum just that morning.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> Nest stopped suddenly in front of a stall selling all manner of fruits. "Oh!" he exclaimed. The mage pointed to one of the bins that was piled high with an odd fruit. It was a tan colored sphere about a foot in diameter and covered with a large but thankfully dull thorns.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> Stealth stared at the odd piece of plant matter. "What is it? It reminds me of a porcupine."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "It's called a Durian," Nestorius explained. "And they grow in the far south. On the southern continent."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "How did it get this far north?"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "One off the benefits of a continent spanning empire," the mage responded. "Is an excellent transportation system. They could transport fruit halfway across the continent and have it arrive still fresh."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> Nestorius reached into a pouch on his belt and produced as small coin. He handed it to the woman and plucked two of the odd fruit out of the bin. He handed one to his friend.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "All right," Stealth slowly took the fruit. He looked at the durian as if he expected it to explode or shoot spines into his hand. "How do you eat it?"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> Nestorius took a knife from his belt and deftly cut the fruit in half avoiding the spines. Upon splitting the fruit in half he laid bare the tan colored flesh inside. It also brought out the powerful smell.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "That smell," Stealth started to say and paused. "Is indescribable. It reminds me of Herbert."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> Nest looked up from the fruit and at his companion. "Who is Herbert?"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "Not a who. He is a what," Stealth commented. Then he started gesturing with his hands. "He's a . . . . I mean . . . " He paused for a moment. "I still don't know what he is but his favorite food is month old garbage, sewage and anything else you find in a midden."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> Nestorius closed his eyes and waved a hand in front of him. "I do not want any more details." He sniffed one half of the fruit. "You don't like that smell?"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> Stealth scowled. "You LIKE that smell?" he asked incredulously.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> The mage sniffed the fruit again. "It's an odd smell but yes I like it." He cut a square of the fleshy inside and impaled a square of the fruit onto the point of his blade. "Now try it."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> Stealthy gently removed the offered fruit square from the blade and reluctantly popped it into his mouth. The feline keeper slowly chewed the food for a moment then swallowed.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "Well?" Nest asked and leaned closer. "What do you think?"<o:p></o:p> "Eh," Stealth answered and shrugged.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p> "That's what I thought as well," Nest laughed.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p></div></body></html>