<HTML>*** Topo crept down the corridor, instinctively keeping to the floor where it met the wall. He had been wandering around like this for hours, ever since he had been caught by morning. Although his mind remained, his were-blood was dormant and he was once more trapped in the body of a simple mouse.          Not that he minded it for the most part. It was just a thrice damned nuisance right now. He was cold, he was hungry and he was stuck as a creature half the size of a human hand. He sneezed violently. He was sure to get a massive cold out of this adventure. Suppressing a shiver at the chill he continued on his way.          He scurried around a corner trying to keep to the darkness as much as possible. Hearing a slight noise he froze, his ears seeking the source of the sound. All of a sudden the entire passage shook and was filled with roar of a tremendous explosion. A door set into the wall of the corridor blew outwards and a cloud of smoke billowed out.          Topo was torn between investigating and leaving as fast as his legs would carry him. Then the clash of steel on steel came from the inside the room. His choice was either to investigate and hopefully follow the other keepers to a place of safety, or continue wandering these freezing corridors.     Drawing up what courage he could he dashed towards the door. A battle was raging inside. The room had apparently been taken as a barracks by the lutins. The explosion had wiped many of them out, shown by the scorched and blackened bodies that littered the room. A team of keepers of all shapes and sizes was there finishing the job, from appearances it seemed they still had their work cut out for them.          Topo heard the pounding of booted feet running down the hall and taking a deep breath he plunged into the room just as a group of soldiers joined the fray, against the keepers.          "All of you, come this way!" A red haired girl shouted as she launched herself into battle, followed closely by a fox morph, who dropped his bow and swept out a short sword.          Topo's only thought was of the opening she had come from. He saw to his amazement that it was being guarded by a tiny dragon, no bigger than a house cat. That thought itself frightened the mouse to no end. A dragon of that size would find a mouse a tempting appetizer indeed. But his choice was to either go back into the halls or try and sneak past the watchful dragon.          He would have chuckled if he could have. He had to cross the room first and that meant leaving the wall behind. Clenching his tiny teeth tightly the rodent launched himself away from the wall, sprinting towards the door.          He dodged past a booted foot and continued his headlong drive for the passage. He was nearing the Keepers now. The battle growing more furious by the moment as the Keepers edged their way towards the escape route as quickly as they could while defending themselves against so many.          He was almost past the main tangle of legs when a kick sent him spiraling across the room. He landed with a startled squeak of pain, his entire body aching, He tried to drag himself to his feet but his legs wouldn't hold him. Then he felt a cold hand close on his body and he gave himself up for lost.      ***          David slashed again with his dagger, raking a lutin across the face, splitting the ugly leering expression in two before using a kick to send him spinning back out of the fight. Resheathing his blade, he once more swung his staff in a whistling arc. It smashed into the shield of a human soldier and the force of the blow bore him backwards.          David reversed the weapon and brought the other end up underneath the soldiers chin. The man's teeth came together with a painfully metallic click as he was lifted off his feet and thrown backwards.          He was almost past the main tangle of legs when a kick sent him spiraling across the room. He landed with a startled squeak of pain, his entire body aching, He tried to drag himself to his feet but his legs wouldn't hold him. Then he felt a cold hand close on his body and he gave himself up for lost.      ***          David slashed again with his dagger, raking a lutin across the face, splitting the ugly leering expression in two before using a kick to send him spinning back out of the fight. Resheathing his blade, he once more swung his staff in a whistling arc. It smashed into the shield of a human soldier and the force of the blow bore him backwards.          David reversed the weapon and brought the other end up underneath the soldiers chin. The man's teeth came together with a painfully metallic click as he was lifted off his feet and thrown backwards.          He noticed that Weyden had also finished off his attacker and was turning towards the main fray once more. David was about to join him when he heard a pitiful squeak near his feet. Looking down he saw a tiny mouse lying on it's side, struggling to regain its feet.          Reaching down he gently picked up the weakly struggling animal. He turned the tiny face towards him hoping the seeing that he wasn't a lutin might calm the creature. " I don't know if your a keeper or not, but I'm not going to leave even an animal in the middle of this carnage." He spoke softly trying to comfort the animal as he gently opened his small pouch and set the creature inside.          * * *     Topo shook his head clearing his eyes until he could see once more. For a moment he didn't know where he was. Then he remembered the giant armored hand and the shiny black face of his rescuer. He now rested in the man's pouch, among a few small items that he evidently found useful. The walls of the pouch were soft, but enough room was kept open by the contents that Topo wasn't crushed or stifled. And the upper flap was left slightly open so he had no reason to worry about suffocating.          The man was still in the fight however and the quickly changing motions as he dodged and weaved were starting to make Topo a little seasick. To take his mind off the fact that his life was still in deadly peril he took to examining the objects inside the container with him.          A small steel ball covered in strange writing. A long round tube of unmarked silver that had a strange glimmer to one polished end as if it was shining in a shaft of sunlight. He decided to not ask for any more trouble by investigating that occurrence.          A small golden disc on a chain caught his attention and he wriggled his way over to it. The object was a thin round medallion no bigger than Topo's outstretched arms could reach. On the surface were many strange and beautiful designs, but one design in particular caught the mouse's attention, he leaned forward for a closer look. As his pointed nose touched the design engraved on the metal of the disc it glowed briefly and Topo felt a wave a warmth run through his body, dispelling the shivers he had until then forgotten.          He jerked backwards and the glow faded, as did the heat. Wishing desperately to be warm once more Topo repeated his earlier motion and the medal glowed once more. Curling up making sure to keep in contact with the object at all times he laid his head down and drifted into sleep.          So exhausted was he that not even the battle or the fact that his safety was by no means assured to be a lasting one held any sway over him. As he drifted into sleep his last thought was a hope that the rocking would quiet down soon.          * * *          Topo slept for what seemed like hours. As he reluctantly fought his way back to consciousness he realized that his wish had been granted. All was still and silent. He strained hard listening for sounds. He heard the sound of breathing and nothing else. He found that the breathing was his own as he slowly and shakily got to his feet.          Then the bag rocked slightly and was suddenly flooded with light as the flap was pulled up. He saw a black hand descending on him. A bit startled, and in any event not fully awake yet, Topo took a step backwards and stepped into the coiling loops of the chain that attached to the medallion. With a squeak he slipped and his hind legs became entangled in the thin golden chain.          The hand closed over his tiny body and he felt himself slowly lifted up into the light. Topo clenched his tiny claws ineffectually against the insect's smooth carapace. " I don't suppose you are actually a Keeper?" The ant asked. Topo was still to exhausted to react intelligently, and all he wanted to do now was sleep. " Thought not." The ant said in a bemused voice. He tiredly struggled to his feet.          The man slowly carried the small rodent over to an open door. " Well my little friend, This is the best place for any little fuzzy mammal to be right now." The insect spoke softly as he stepped into an unlit room, the bone-crushing fatigue plain in his voice. He gently untangled the snarled loops of metal from the mouse's hindquarters and dropped it back into the pouch.          He then knelt and slowly, with surprising gentleness set the rodent down on a small pad of folded cloth set in an empty corner, behind a cask of something fragrant. Blinking furiously at the sudden darkness, Topo came to realize that he was on the floor of what looked to be a storeroom of some kind. The smell of grains and other edible things caused his shrunken and long neglected stomach to growl furiously, for the moment displacing his need to sleep.          "You should be able to keep yourself entertained in here I think." The ant spoke quietly as he lightly caressed Topo's furry head with a fingertip. " Just please, don't eat it all. We may have need of these supplies for sometime." With a muffled groan the insect hauled himself back to his feet and padded out of the storeroom, softly closing the door behind him, leaving Topo in the pleasant darkness.          After slowly stretching himself and finding that besides a few bruises and a general soreness he was all right. Topo made a bee-line for the nearest open sack of grain. Climbing nimbly up it side the rodent perched on the edge and made his first meal since he couldn't remember when. Never had uncooked grain tasted so good. When he was finally sated he tiredly dropped back to the floor and scurried back to the corner and the nice comfortable bed that the insect had left him. Nosing the top fold of the cloth up he crawled in between the layers and lying down with only the very tip of his nose left outside he once more fell deeply asleep.      ** Fox moved with as much speed as he could, while remaining stealthy, which wasn't very fast. The claws on his toes had a tendency to click when he went above a fast walk. He tried to keep it quiet, but found that it was almost impossible; it was the price he paid for moving without shoes. It took a few minutes, but he managed to catch up with the next assassin. Slowing once he saw him, he moved as silently as he could. When he was only a few feet away, he slowed his pace further, creeping up on the lone figure, dagger held at the ready. He must have done something wrong, because his target spun around with swift, sudden unexpectedness. His hands latched onto Fox's arms, jerking him forward as the man rolled back, throwing Fox over him and down the hall. Fox's dagger went skittering off on the stones, but he already had another one in his paws as he rolled through the fall, and up into a crouch. The two glared at each other over the short distance. Each one judging the other, as they both shifted their weight from side to side. Fox wasn't sure how long he could stay in this standoff. He still had three more to go; the human, on the other hand, could keep this up as long as he wanted. So Fox acted first, faking forward, then jumping back. The human reacted fast, twisting around to block the fake attack, but in the same move lunging at where Fox should be. Yet Fox was a few feet to the opposite side, his feint drawing the assassin into an exposed lunge. He grabbed the assassin's arm and twisted it hard, causing the human to lose his  own weapon, which went clattering noisily across the floor as the pair wrestled in relative silence, their exertions revealed only through muted grunts and growls. The human spun around, twisting Fox's arm back, while wrapping his own around his neck. Fox gasped at the suddenness of the movie, trying to claw at the man on his back with little luck. The human was physically stronger, and not years out of practice as Fox was, his moves were distressingly swift and sure, the arm around the librarian's throat muscularly solid as it pressed against his windpipe.  Gasping, Fox resorted to more forceful methods-- he threw his back against the wall. The human gasped, the sharp sound of his head connecting with the stone wall filled the corridor. His grip relaxed around Fox's throat, but instead of moving away Fox reached for the assassin's belt, and pulled the man's own short sword. Drawing it up under his shoulder, he slammed it into the human's chest. Putting his weight on the sword's hilt, he pulled it down, cutting through the man's chest plate with a snap, and burying it in his gut. Rolling away from the body, Fox gasped. Two down, three to go... if he didn't get sick first. He held back his bile, taking a few breaths to calm himself. The smell of blood was much stronger than he remembered it ever being. An enhancement brought on by the Keep no doubt. At that moment he didn't appreciate it. Standing, he turned towards the body, intending to retrieve his dagger. At least that was the plan... instead, he found himself face to face with the assassin's leader. She smiled, her eyes sparkling as she summoned a light. He winced slightly at the suddenness of the spell, but tried not to show it. "You killed two of my men," she said in an accusing tone of voice, that was yet somehow playful. She stepped closer, until she was an arm's length away from him, confident that he wouldn't attack her. She was right; for now. Fox wanted this confrontation to play out before he attacked her. He shrugged his shoulders, his tail flicking back and forth.  "Not that you care," he commented, in a stern, harsh tone. She flinched like she had been hit. "I'm hurt, really I am. I do care about them... but your little game has provided me with more money." He snorted. "Always money! I see you haven't changed at all.  You still gloat to people when you should be killing them." She tapped the bottom of his muzzle with a blade. "I'm not your normal killer, my dear animal. I have class, style--" "And an ego the size of Mt. Kara," Fox quipped, with a smile. That brought her up short, more than his initial comment. "How dare you speak to me like that," she protested. Her reply lacked force, but clearly carried her indignation that anyone would even talk like that to her. So much so that she lowered her dagger to chest level. Fox laughed. "What, you don't remember your husband?" he asked with a smile. Her face fell, "Kell, is that you?" she asked in soft wonder. "In the fur, Ki, and I'm Fox now." She swore. "How dare you call yourself my husband," she said with a growl, "you never showed up at the wedding!" He waved his paw down the hallway. "I got waylaid." She snorted, stepping back, dagger in hand. "Damn it, what are you? The horse-king's private killer?" "Nope," he said with a slight bow, producing a dagger of his own. "I'm the librarian." Ki laughed, but it was short, and ended quickly. "I always knew you had a soft heart." Fox shrugged, flicking his ears as well. "People change." She nodded, "Yes people do! I take it you're not going to join me, you're going to protect the Keep." She wasn't asking a question of him, she was stating the obvious. He nodded. "Damn it, that means I'm going to have to kill you. And you look so good in fur," she said with another laugh. "Or me, you," Fox answered, "It's just like they always said, isn't it? One of us will not survive this encounter." She took a step back, glancing down the hallway. "A question first-- do you still love me?" He nodded. "Of course. But you're here to kill the Duke, and I just can't let that happen. I'm sorry it has to be this way." "So am I," she answered, shaking her head slightly, turning out her magical light as she did so. ***   End part 40</HTML>