The building rocked, literally. Windowpanes three floors above and below shattered, glass shards flying outward. Shouts of surprise filled the night. Somewhere an alarm went off.

When the Myrdraath recovered, a man stood before the boy, a man with a scarred face and silver-gray eyes, eyes filled with anger and contempt.

"Alte mas sherez, Myrdraath! Dramisch et mal vaarka!" (You have done enough, dark assassin! Depart--or be destroyed!)

The man's warning would have made any Myrdraath wary, especially this man, one of the strongest of his race. But the creature merely smiled, the Being that controlled it laughed derisively.

: Your command of the Draathan tongue is perfect. Unfortunately, the Myrdraath will listen only to me. The boy is nothing but an empty shell. He is no longer of any use to your Conclave. Better that you hand him over to me--or suffer the consequences. :

The scarred man hid his surprise well behind a mask of indifference, but his thoughts raced. He could sense the Power within the Myrdraath, a signature that he recognized but couldn't exactly place.

Serveil Raischen te Laareth--the Seven Hands of Darkness, they were called, because they were the strongest, most favored, of the Dark's minions--and the most feared by the six races of Ervon.

A cold thought washed over him, 'One of the Seven, but which one--?'

He noticed that the Myrdraath was injured. Two of its tentacles were burned, quivering uncontrollably. The Draath he could take, easily, but the Raisch was another matter. Can it maneuver itself while in another body, or was its strength limited by the capabilities of its host? He would have to fight the Hand to find out. It would be a bloodbath, and here in a world where the magical energies were alien and unpredictable, they would surely be courting disaster. Of the Seven, Vaarkamesh would not hesitate; he thrived on destruction. Cha'ak and Zaath and the rest were more prudent, more devious where their powers are concerned.

But nevertheless, he strengthened his shields, extending it to include the stricken boy. With his inner Eye he saw that the child was likewise shielded, his Power instinctively preserving him, but the pale green glow about him pulsed weakly, fading in and out. Small wonder, that; the child was a mess.

The man refused to dwell on the connotations--and the consequences--of the boy's current condition. He had to get both of them out, and fast.

Three black shapes slithered into the room, dead eyes focused upon them, surrounding them just short of his shield. Blade-like fingers flashed in the moonlight. Four against one, and with them a Raisch--what a confounding predicament this is, he thought.

"Very well, take the boy," he said, sounding defeated, withdrawing his shields from the child's still form. "As you said, he is of no further use to us."

The wounded leader smiled darkly.

: A wise decision, human.:  But to the surrounding Myrdraath, it silently commanded, : Take the boy and kill him, and the druid with him.:

One of the cloaked things made for the child, long knives raised for a killing blow, while two of the Myrdraath rushed at the man, tentacles leaping, venom fangs exposed, blades flashing--all in a second.

But the man was quicker. He raised his hand and from it a stone flared brightly, blazing like the sun itself, terrible to behold. The Myrdraath recoiled, screaming in pain and fear of the light.

His eyes averted, the druid clasped the boy to him with his free arm, and shouted a Word.

Sound like a thunderclap filled the night. The scarred man closed his eyes tightly as they were sucked into the stone, into a vortex of time and space that opened before them. He clenched his teeth and vowed that this manner of Travel would be his last. The first time, traversing the faceted interior of the gem had given him a headache and vertigo that lasted for two Earth-days.

Before he had completed one breath, the spinning stopped, and he cautiously opened one eye to the familiar amethyst sky of Ervon, and the small blue disc of Oriath that was the counterpart of the Earth's Sun.

He was home.