"Can we trust that owl thing?" Boog asked, staring at the expansive desert before him. He and the others, along with the fox and lizard known as Elenia and Grig, stood before the temple Aragol had seen in his vision. It was of incredible size with four gigantic pyramids standing at its four corners. A high staircase led up to the temple itself, which consisted of many great columns shaped into various Moharan races supporting the edges of the temple's peaked roof. They had finished climbing the stairs and could see the desert span all around them, along with the towering pyramids representing the four wind directions. Two massive doors with carvings of all manner of animal life stood closed, barring access to the huge temple.

"Yzara is trustworthy enough, for a Holaarian," answered Elenia. She watched Grig walk up to the doors and place his scaly hands on their surface. "Can you open it?"

"I am a master of healing magic, Elenia," replied Grig, "I am not skilled with opening enchanted doors. I believe we will just have to wait for Yzara to return."

"What was she doing with Celestia anyway?" Graham asked Grig, his face and jaw fully healed. "Did she really push her off the eagle?"

"She believes your friend is a key to saving us from Nilepyt, the snake titan," Elenia said. "I think what she was doing was training her."

"That's some hardcore training," Victoria stated. She had wondered what the owl woman saw in Celestia and how she could believe she could fly but Victoria remembered brief flashes of the nightmare she had gone through in Valthumar's mansion. Celestia had been different then. She had wings, black hair, clawed hands, and flew with skill and amazing agility. Had she seen a vision of what she could truly become or was it nothing more than a nightmare? She had never spoken to anyone of what she had seen and wondered if she should bring it up now. She glanced back at the temple and decided that now was not the time. They had more important matters to attend to.

Karmen, refreshed and healthy once more, studied the doors, tracing the outlines of the animal reliefs on their golden surfaces. She grabbed the handle and pulled but the door didn't move at all. It felt as if it was fused to the ground. She turned around and looked at Boog. "Can you walk through?"

He nodded. "I can try." He walked up the door, turned ethereal, and marched on.

And slammed right into it.

"Hmmm," Karmen said thoughtfully, "I didn't think it would work anyway."

Boog frowned as he rubbed his bruised nose. "What? You knew this would happen?"

"I had a suspicion."

"So how are we getting in there?" Victoria asked as she looked up at the faces of the columns, expertly carved and incredibly lifelike. "The anchor's in there..."

A loud bang made Victoria jump and she looked to her right to see Boog slamming his brass-enforced knuckles at the door with all his might. His powerful strikes made the ground shake but the doors never budged or even showed a mark. After tiring himself he stood back and growled in frustration.

"It looks like Elenia is right," Elmar said as he approached the doors and studied them closely. "We're going to have to wait."

Casandra, still aching from her near-death experience, eyed the temple as she rubbed her chest, her healed wounds itching. She sensed something ominous coming from deep below. She felt cold when she tried to focus on it and wondered if it was the anchor. She had never felt that way around the other anchors. This was only the third one, though, so it was possible its corruption was so deep compared to the first two that she could feel it within herself. Whatever the case, it made her unwell and she wondered if perhaps she should have stayed in her recovery bed.

"I see them!" Victoria cried out, pointing in the distance. "There's Celestia on her eagle and there's that owl girl...thing."

"Yzara," Elenia corrected with a snarl.

"Ok, well sorry!" Victoria said with a roll of her eyes. "Yzara then!"

Graham eyed Celestia on her eagle with a furrowed brow. "Are you guys sure that's Celestia? It doesn't look like her..."

Aragol unsheathed Dragon's End and narrowed his eyes. "She wears her dress but she most certainly isn't Celestia."

Boog turned on Elenia and Grig. "What are you guys planning? Are you trying to trick us? What did you do with Celestia?"

"Calm yourself!" Elenia shouted back. "We know nothing of Yzara's plans. If you want answers ask her when she gets here!"

Boog glared at her. "I'm not getting fooled again..."

"Something is wrong," Casandra said, putting a hand to her head.

"Yeah, that bird did something with Celestia!" Boog growled, watching what was supposed to be Celestia approach. "I'll find out what, though."

"No!" Casandra exclaimed. "It's not them! It's us! There is something below us and it is growing in power. It's....it's coming up!"

"Is it the anchor?" Aragol asked with concern. "Are we too late to cleanse it?"

Casandra eyed him with wide eyes. "I don't know. It feels...different."

A moment later the ground began to rumble and the entire temple started to tremble and shudder. Celestia and Yzara were forgotten and those standing in front of the temple glanced about, wondering what was happening.

"Nilepyt!" Grig shouted. "We are too late! It's coming!" He hurried down the stairs. "Get on your eagles before it breaks through!"

Not wanting to find out if he was wrong they hurried after him, reaching the eagles waiting for them at the base of the temple. They were agitated and nervous but loyal enough to wait for them. Once everyone was aboard their respective eagles the birds were more than eager to take wing and gain altitude.

Aragol, clutching the leather handle-strap tightly as Victoria clutched his waist in a vice-like grip, glanced back at the temple. Dust clouds showered down from its roof and cracks were forming along the columns. He could hear the rumble even as his eagle climbed higher and higher. He saw Celestia's eagle and Yzara follow them high into the sky. They were thousands of feet above when the Temple of Rankoor toppled over and crumbled. It was then that the source of the rumbling revealed itself.

Cracking through the temple's base and the ground around it was a reptilian head of unimaginable size. Each of the four pyramids around the temple were about two hundred yards apart from one another but this head was even wider. It rose up from the sand like a spike, shoving aside the four pyramids as if they were mere stones. The head resembled that of a three-eyed serpent with bony ridges and protrusions jutting out of it, giving it a fearsome and terrible appearance. Its eyes were white and had no pupils and the fangs lining its jaws were about the size of one of the cube-like homes within Akamar. It rose higher and higher and the eagles raced to get high enough to avoid it but it never seemed to end its ascent. It reached miles into the sky before it let out a rumbling roar from its gaping maw and dropped to the ground, creating a shockwave so powerful it flattened nearby sand dunes. It then began to slither ahead, still pulling out the rest of its extensive body from the hole that had once been the Temple of Rancoor.

Aragol gazed ahead, spotting the small dot at the horizon that was Akamar. "It's heading for the city!"

"What do we do?" Victoria asked from behind him, terror in her voice. "What happened to the anchor? Did it destroy it?"

Aragol closed his eyes for a moment in deep thought. Victoria watched him, wondering what he was doing. When she saw his face pale she dreaded what he had to say. He looked at her, his pupils tiny. She had never seen him like this and it frightened her to the core.

"That thing is the anchor!"

****

"Are you just going to leave us in here forever?" Victor asked the one-eyed hyena standing outside his cell. "We were just doing our jobs. We aren't after any of you animal people."

The hyena cackled. "Animal people? You hairless ones were the animals! You ruined this planet. You destroyed it with your machines and your so-called technology. You imagined yourselves more important than anything else and it cost you your extinction. The gods sent their demons against you and you all perished. The world was given to us animals and we rose to power, as it should have always been."

"Look, hyena," Victor said, growing quite annoyed with its overblown pride, "I'm not from here and I don't give a damn about your history or what happened to the humans on this world. I just want to know why you have us here in the first place."

"The King is busy and will decide what to do with you in due time. Until then you are here, where I can savour the thought of sinking my teeth in more ape-flesh!"

Victor, with speed born of intense training, lunged ahead, grabbed the hyena's leather armour and pulled him to the bars, pinning him against them. "You just said we were extinct. So how could you even know what humans taste like, you lying sack of shit? Back in my world there are tribes of humans that hunt down and feast on hyena meat. They consider you a pest and don't even blink when they cut open one of your kind's throats. They enjoy it!" Victor had no idea if any of that was true but it felt good to say and the hyena's one good eye did widen in what he hoped was fear.

The guard wrenched itself from his grasp and jabbed a clawed finger into his chest. "I could kill you now, hairless one!"

"You'd anger your king like that?"

The hyena growled and walked away, positioning himself at the end of the hall.

In the cell across from Victor's was Angela, her face pressed against the bars and smiling wide at him. "Victor, you rascal! You're so brave! You're making me so hot right now!"

Victor raised his eyebrows at her in surprise. "Excuse me?"

Angela gave him an exaggerated wink. "You know what I mean, hot stuff. I wish I was in your cell with you right now. I would mmmmm....well, I'd—"

"Angela, I'm flattered, but really, enough... We should try to find a way out of these things."

"There's no way!" she said to him, her eyes huge. "I tried everything! Seth can't even make his hands go on fire; that's why he's pouting in the corner here. There's something weird about these jail cells. They make you feel funny...and not the good kind of funny!"

Victor glanced behind him at the crumpled body of Durn. It hadn't moved since they had been roughly deposited in their cells and he wondered if the man was actually dead. His face was disgusting to look at and he wondered where his mask was. He had seen the fox remove it and watched Durn fall as if killed. He surmised that the mask was a sort of power source and with it removed the man could do nothing but lay there, as if dead. He looked at Angela again.

"Is everyone else here too?" he asked her.

She put a finger to her lip and thought for a moment. "Ummm...I think I heard Athena complaining further down the hall. I saw Atlas in the cell next to you but he hasn't said anything. I even tried calling to him but he doesn't answer. I don't think he likes me, which is sad because I didn't do anything to him to make him not like me. His muscles are yummy, though, and I just want to be friends with him!"

"I am here," said a sensual voice that brought tingles all over Victor's body. He looked out of his cell to find Minara standing at the bars of hers, which was to the left of Angela's. Behind her was Alvan sitting on the ground with his arms over his chest like a moody child.

"How do you think we can get out of here?" he asked her.

She shrugged one of her perfectly curved shoulders as she looked at him with her half-lidded eyes. "I tried to bend the will of one of the guards but apparently I am undesirable to their kind. Alvan, who says he can use the power of shadows around him to phase through solid objects, is unable to do anything. I believe these cells are enchanted to dispel any abilities of any sort, be they magical or natural. Alvan also tried bending the bars with his mind but only received a severe headache. These...animals have potent magic."

"So we're stuck here?"

"For the moment it appears that way."

Victor sighed.

"Well that sucks!" Angela cried in frustration. "I don't even know if my Aury Baby is ok." She shoved her lips as far out of the bars as she could and with a deep breath cried out, "Aury! Where are you?! Are you ok?!"

"Silence!" one of the guards ordered from down the hall.

"You silence! Come here and say that to me, you stupid pig!"

The sound of stomping feet told Victor that Angela would have her wish granted. He watched from his cell as the large bipedal warthog approached Angela's cell and smacked its bars with his axe.

"You, be quiet!" he grunted at her. "No talking!"

"Or what?" he heard Angela ask. "You'll hurt me? Go ahead! I like pain!"

Victor then saw the warthog step back suddenly as he gasped in surprise. Glancing around his body Victor's eyes widened as he saw more of Angela than he had wished. Her backside was bare and she was waving her cheeks about, as if waiting for a smack. Victor caught himself staring for a little longer than he had wanted to. He heard a jingling sound and his eyes caught movement to his right. The warthog had backed away almost up to his cell and his ring of keys was within sight.

And within reach.

Victor leapt for them and grabbed the ring with both hands. He yanked it toward him, hoping to wrench it free but found it securely fastened to the guard's belt. He pulled with all his might as the guard turned around to deal with him, its attention diverted from Angela's display of butt cheeks to the great tug coming from his belt. He pulled the ring back toward him but Victor didn't let go.

"Frag!" the guard called out. "This one has my keys!"

Victor heard the other guard approach and gave the ring another mighty tug, hoping to break it, but it held tightly. Pressing the pig against the bars, he pulled and heaved but the ring or the belt did not break. The warthog, angered and frustrated, pulled back with great strength and Victor lost his footing. He slipped and went slamming against the bars with tremendous force as the warthog guard tripped and backed into Angela's cell door. Victor struggled to hold on to consciousness as he heard the hyena guard cackling with glee. He wanted to hit him but he could barely stand up. He heard a sudden commotion coming from above and an unfamiliar voice at the end of the hall called for the guards to come up at once. They didn't hesitate to leave and Victor went to his knees and put his head between them, slowly recovering from his pounding headache.

"Oooooh Victoooooor," Angela called.

"Not now, Angela," he mumbled, his head still between his knees.

"But it's important!"

"Just...give me a few seconds..."

He heard the sound of something metal unlatching and the creak of rusty hinges and footsteps approaching his cell. Wondering if his mind was playing tricks on him he looked up and made a cry of surprise when Angela's face was pressed against his cell bars, a great grin on her face.

"You're so pretty!" she giggled. "I just want to eat you!"

She then fumbled about with his cell door and to Victor's amazement it swung open with a squeak. He stood up, his world still spinning slightly, and walked out of his cell into the hall. He looked at Angela with wide eyes. "How?"

Her face beaming, she lifted her hand to show him the ring of keys she had in it. "You just have to be gentle, sweetie! When that pig bumped into my cell I carefully unlatched it. You tried to pull it away with your brute strength but sometimes, hun, strength isn't enough." She tapped her head. "You gotta' use your mind sometimes!"

Victor smiled and hugged her. "Thank you, Angela. You're a remarkable woman."

Angela fanned the air around her face as Victor hugged her. "Vic, please, you're going to make me cry!"

He pulled away from her and took the ring of keys from her hand before opening the doors of his other companions.

Angela crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. "I didn't tell you to stop..."

Minara walked out her cell and gave Angela nod. "I had my doubts about your usefulness but I am pleased to find out that I may have been wrong about you."

Angela raised an eyebrow. "Huh? Is that supposed to mean thank you?"

Alvan ran out of his cell and gave Angela a quick hug. "Thanks, Angela! You're awesome!"

Angela grinned and blushed. "Oh you..."

Atlas emerged from his cell and looked down at Angela, his face expressionless. She looked up at him, her eyes wide. He gave her an imperceptible nod and then walked down the hall. Angela blinked a few times and then shrugged.

Athena thanked her, frowning as she always seemed to be, and then joined Atlas and Alvan at the end of the hall. The last person to leave his cell was Auric and when Victor told him who it was that had freed them he looked down the hall at her and smiled wide.

"Angela!" he called out. "You saved us all!"

"Aury Baby!" she cried back happily, running toward him with open arms.

He ran toward her and the two met in the middle, embracing tightly and kissing one another all over their faces but never touching lips. Victor walked by them, smiling, and shook his head. He passed Minara, who was watching them and nodded in their direction.

"Cute couple, eh?"

"Adorable..." she replied with dripping sarcasm. "Now that we are free we need a plan of action or we will only find the insides of these cells once more."

"We need our weapons!" Athena, standing nearby, added. "We can't do much without them!"

"I need no weapons," Minara said to her. "I simply need to be away from this place so my skills can take effect."

"The rest of us need weapons," Victor said, "so unless you want to take everyone on by yourself I suggest you help us find them."

"I am not going to take orders from you..."

Victor rolled his eyes and waved at her in dismissal. "Great, just what I need, another egotistical and stuck-up bitch in my life... Just stand there, then. We'll get our weapons." He walked down the hall where a narrow staircase off to the side led up to a small room with chairs, a table, a plate of food and a jug of water. Everyone followed him in and had something to eat, trying not to think about the fact that they were consuming insects and meat from an unknown source, and drank some of the water. There was a massive wooden chest against the far wall and Atlas wrenched it open. He found his spear inside and stepped back to let the others grab their respective weapons. Angela strapped on her belt of throwing knives and Athena and Alvan grabbed their swords. Victor looked down into the chest, slung his rifle over his shoulder and strapped his pistols on his belt. He also grabbed his knives and grenades. Durn's axe was also inside the chest and he eyed it for a moment. Durn wasn't someone he liked much but his skills in combat were useful and not to be cast aside so easily. He grabbed the axe and picked it up and as he did so he saw something beneath it.

It was Durn's mask.

He wouldn't be much use lying down in a cell so Victor grabbed it as well and walked down back to where Minara stood and waited. He passed her and walked into Durn's open cell. Leaning the axe against the wall he bent down with the mask in both hands. He eyed the dead man's horribly disfigured and scarred face for a moment before slowly placing the mask over it. As if it was a magnet the mask stuck to it firmly and he stepped back as Durn rose to his feet, glancing about and gathering his bearings.

"We're in a prison or dungeon inside a huge, floating, diamond-shaped pyramid thing," Victor described to him, his hands up to show he meant no harm, as if Durn was a wild beast capable of attacking at any second. "The ones we were sent to kill were here but they were taken away. Somehow we have to get off of this thing and find them."

Durn turned his mask to his axe, which he grabbed and then walked out of the cell. "Then why are we all standing here then?" He moved to the closed door at the end of the hall and then chopped away at it with his axe, thunderous blows creating massive gashes into its surface. Within moments it was little more than splinters and he walked on.

Without a word or question, the others followed close behind.