Azmeritus sat in the sacrificial cavern gleefully reading his cryptic texts while gently caressing the Abitar which now occupied a place of prominence in the center of the space below the cave's ocular opening where the full moon would herald the final awakening. The mongoose now spent every minute of his time in the cave. All his meals and prayers, as well as all his daily meetings now took place in the cavernous space behind the waterfall.

Azmeritus' daily briefing from the rest of the Brotherhood leadership was scheduled to start shortly and soon, one by one, the high ranking clergy entered and seated themselves around the albino priest. No one spoke and Azmeritus remained silent until Bishop Skaar, the last to arrive seated himself. As he did, the ground shook violently, generating a small shower of stones from the cavern's roof. While the remainder of the council looked around nervously, a sublime smile rested on the albino's face. When the quaking stopped, Azmeritus spoke.

"Xenophus is anxious to join us. He quivers in anticipation almost every hour. He is flexing his mighty form in preparation for the final sacrifice." He turned to Prester Jauba, "Are the royal supplicants for the final ceremony being well fed and well pampered in anticipation of their sacrifice?"

The sable nodded.
"They await their duty in joy, your excellency. All their needs are being met and they meditate in prayer three times daily."

Skaar interrupted.
"Even Deeb Shatus, the former Deev? I have never seen him pray or meditate."

"Brother Shatus is a special case," Jauba answered, "since Master Azmeritus brought him back from the dead, he does nothing on his own...he must be directed. Even taking sustenance requires him being told to eat."

Azmeritus interjected.
"There is no greater piety than total submission, the complete destruction of the 'I', Brother Shatus is the perfect acolyte with no will but the desire to serve. Keep the same routine for the rest of our supplicants, Jauba and check them daily," he changed subjects, "what is our military status, Bishop Skaar?"

Skaar unrolled a parchment map of Xenoth and Arishamal on the table.
"On Xenoth now, we have approximately two thousand brothers. One thousand are split between the Deev Castle and the Scarlet compound. Another five hundred are stationed along the base of castle by the docks and along the ridge overlooking the Cold Narrows. The remainder of our brothers are scattered along the north shore and the interior of Xenoth to maintain control of the local population.

"Our naval presence is formidable. We have six ships, four brigantines and two fast sloops, blockading Minga. They are manned by around six hundred men and beasts. We have two brigantines off the cape between the Cold Narrows and World's End. There are an additional two ships at World's End itself. They are in the process of receiving the last of that city's Scarlet Brothers. I expect they will depart within the week and will join the two ships by the Cape to protect the access into the Narrows so that no supplies or reinforcements may be sent to oppose us. The remainder of our navy, thirteen ships with fifteen hundred holy troops is on constant patrol around Xenoth."

Azmeritus nodded.
"Good. We will stay diligent, though I don't foresee any attack on us, certainly not in the next three and a half weeks to the full moon. After that, all will be moot, Xenophus will establish a new order with his cleansing of this world... Enough!"

He waved his council off, "I tire of the mundane details. I will leave all that to you. Go now..." he put his paw on Chief Acolyte Zaphyr's shoulder, "except you Zaphyr, I wish to speak to you privately."

Zaphyr gulped despite his attempt to remain calm. Ever since he had begun his conspiracy with Vasheron to depose Azmeritus, he had become increasingly jumpy and paranoid. His heart pounded like a jack hammer as he answered.

"I am at your disposal, excellency."

The rest of the council left, leaving Zaphyr and the high priest alone at the table. Azmeritus caressed the Abitar as he addressed his Chief Acolyte.
"Have you received any word from our spy with the Deev concerning the Rubitar?"

"None."

"That doesn't surprise me. I suspect that Vasheron has rooted out the spy."

Zaphyr tried to hide his nervousness.
"Why would you think that, excellency?"

"Because someone among us means to betray our cause, Zaphyr. There is a traitor in our midst."

Zaphyr began to sweat. He feigned shock.
"Surely not!"

"Oh yes, I have no doubt, but it matters not. I suspect that Vasheron will use some excuse to return here to try and institute the coup. That of course is exactly what I want."

"But why? Shouldn't we do something?"
Azmeritus stared deep into Zaphyr's eyes and smiled.

"The Deev are formidable foes. They believe themselves invulnerable on Xenoth, but they know nothing of the Ürgod or his power."

"What do you mean, your excellency?"

"The Ürgod eats all things magical. It will devour the shield and absorb its power. He will consume all magical force within his proximity. I want the Deev on Xenoth when Xenophus awakens. He will draw all their powers from them and reduce them to mere warriors, formidable, yes...but easily killed by our thousands of minions," Azmeritus laughed, "the Prince believes he is plotting my demise when in fact he is plotting his own suicide."

It was all too much for Zaphyr to process. He wasn't sure if Azmeritus suspected him of being the traitor and was merely playing with him. His eyes darted from side to side. He couldn't think of anything to say. Azmeritus leaned over and put his paw on the weasel's shoulder. Zaphyr jerked as though receiving an electrical shock.

The mongoose spoke calmly.
"Do not fear, Chief Acolyte. I will find this traitor and he will pray for death. I have eyes and ears all around this island...in every shadow...in every room...nothing escapes me. When the time is ripe I shall make an example of him," Azmeritus sat up, "now go and carry on with your duties...we will speak again."

Zaphyr stood weakly and bowed.
"By your leave, excellency."

"Good-bye, Zaphyr." The high priest intoned with ominous gravity.

Ozab had been very busy since the castaways left Xenoth. He was determined to do all he could to stop his brother's plan of destruction. It was more than guilt and moral determination that drove him. Because of his interaction with the castaways after long years of isolation, he had inadvertently re-established a link with the living world, with the beasts and men he had abandoned all those many years ago.

He found himself especially fond of the Enscrown clan, Otto, Ophelia, and particularly little Odette, who thought of the battered partially blind old mongoose as a grandfather. Ophelia invited Ozab to dinner on an almost daily basis and when he was unable to attend, she saw to it that Otto delivered meals to his cave in the cliffs under the Deev castle.

It was his cave that now served as the center for his battle against the Brotherhood. The cliffs were honey-combed with passages and cracks, most leading to bare walls or precipitous drops, but Ozab was certain that there was a passage, a way to enter either the castle or the sacrificial cavern, through the labyrinth that nature had carved into the stone edifice.

Each day he would begin from his own dwelling and carefully work his way through the maze, marking his progress with chalk lines and recording his direction in a small notebook he carried with him. The search had been fruitless at first, there were hundreds of tunnels and cracks. Each one he explored had ended up as a dead end.

Today, however, he had discovered something. He was in his cave, sitting at his stalagmite table writing in his journal, when he heard Otto's friendly voice calling to him from outside his home.
"Ozab! Are you home? I got some of Ophelia's homemade banana-nut cake for ya. Ozab!?"

The old mongoose smiled. He loved Ophelia's cakes.
"Come on in!" he shouted, "Don't let that cake get stale."

Otto entered and put the desert on one of the stone outcrops. He approached Ozab and watched over his shoulder as the mongoose wrote.
"Any better luck today at findin' your secret path?"

Ozab smiled. He stood and grabbed Otto's paw.
"Follow me!" He grabbed a lantern and dragged Otto to the rear of his cave and squeezed into the middle crack of five which originated in the mongoose's lair. The crack opened to a passage from which a dozen other natural tunnels radiated outward.

Ozab checked the chalk markings on the wall and quickly entered one of the deeper ones with Otto following close behind. A few more turns and twists later found the two beasts in a narrow, but extremely tall vertical chamber. Light filtered in from some point high above them. Ozab turned to the otter.
"Now we climb, be careful." The old mongoose began scrambling up the wall with a speed that belied his many years. Paw-holds and footholds were plentiful and the going was easy, but tiring.

About two-thirds up the natural chimney, Ozab stopped at one of the many openings which pockmarked the walls. He found his chalk mark and scurried in. Otto followed him. They walked a short distance and found themselves in a circular chamber. Light was visible behind a six inch crack in the far wall. Ozab put his paw on Otto's shoulder.
"Look into that crack."

Otto stepped up to the wall and peered into the opening. His jaw dropped. A well lit chamber was on the other side of the foot wide wall. Clearly visible to the otter was a table next to a large crystal nest. Seated at the table intently reading was Azmeritus, High Priest of the Scarlet Brotherhood. Otto turned to the old mongoose and smiled.
"This is fantastic. We can see what's going on. Can you hear them talking from here?"

"Sadly, no. Unless of course they choose to yell, not a trait my brother was ever guilty of...." Suddenly the ground began to shake violently. Otto lost his balance and landed on his rear. Pebbles loosened from the ceiling, bounced off his head.

"What was that!?" he asked nervously.

Ozab made a sour face.
"Nothing good. The tremors have increased almost daily. I'm sure it has something to do with the Ürgod." He turned, "Let's head back before the next one. We don't want to be caught high up the wall when it hits, anyway, Ophelia's cake is calling to me."