It was a very large ship, larger than any ship had a right to be. But for all it's size it's surface was blackened and scarred everywhere, showing a history of countless battles. It was basically a large oval shaped disc, with additional structures built onto it's side and top and lower surfaces. Among these structures were ones that were tubular in shape and suspended from huge metal gantries. Some of the tubular shapes were smashed, or completely missing, and the metal gantries were twisted and blackened. But many still survived intact. All of these remaining tubular structures pointed downward as the ship banked majestically and entered into orbit around the blue planet with it's twin moons.

It immediately opened fire, bombarding the planet's surface with pulses of energy. Like large orange balls of light, they streamed down from each of the tubular devices. Each tube recoiled after it's discharge, only to fire again, almost immediately.

The orange balls of light glowed brightly as they sank into the planet's atmosphere. They seemed to get smaller and smaller as they descended. Then, just as they almost disappeared, they hit the surface, and there was a sudden expansion of orange and white light, like a huge flower blossoming. The colour gradually turning dark and smudgy, as tons of earth and rock was hurled into the atmosphere and spread in the winds.

Explosion after explosion. The Althon Gerail orbited the planet several times, continually firing down. Until, finally, the whole of the planet's surface was shrouded in dust and debris. Light shone through only where fires burned in once great forests, or smashed cities. Only then did the Althon Gerail stop it's bombardment and slowly begin it's decent.

It dropped slowly through the debris and dust laden atmosphere. It flew over the sea, it's undercarriage opening out like some huge insect legs. It approached a large city built on a river delta, flying low over the burning and smashed buildings. It swept through the great plumes of smoke, swirling them in it's turbulence as it passed. Following the river upstream, it landed at the edge of a burning forrest and began to discharge it's evil cargo. They spread quickly over the land, killing all in their way. None would be left to mourn the passing of civilization.

The Nakora Tabek came much later. It was the same shape and likeness to the Althon Gerail. Huge, pock-marked and blackened. It followed the same path as it entered the system and approached the fourth planet. But before it could even enter into orbit, the Althon Gerail fired upwards from it's position on the surface. Three energy pulses burst through the planet's dirty atmosphere. Two shot passed the Nakora Tabek, but the third struck it underneath, near to the rim of it's disc shape. The metallic structure burst into fragments, the energy pulse smashing it's way through to emerge again at the top surface, blazing away briefly as leaking atmosphere from the ship ignited.

The Nakora Tabek was mortally wounded. It returned fire, four of it's tubular devices firing twice each. The orange balls of fire descended into the planet's atmosphere. One exploded brightly as it clashed with another rising from the surface as the Althon Gerail fired twice more. The others all struck the surface around the Althon Gerail, one striking it almost dead centre, the resulting explosion blowing the ship off it's undercarriage. The whole ship then disappeared under tons of earth as the ground erupted all around it.

Up above, the Nakora Tabek was hit again, part of it's rim blown away in fiery fragments which glowed brightly, faded, and slowly grew dark as they were cooled in the sudden vacuum of space.

A large cigar shaped vessel emerged from the doomed ship. It quickly descended, glowing brightly until it finally disappeared into the planet's atmosphere. A second object then emerged from within the Nakora Tabek. It was much smaller and moved slower, and was quickly left behind as it manoeuvred itself into orbit, it's solar panels glinting in the light as they slowly unfurled.

The Nakora Tabek flew on, trailing debris that glowed briefly in it's wake as it broke away, and then faded into the dark. The ship passed through the star system and out into the depths of space. It's lights still twinkled and it's engines still had power, but it's atmosphere, it's life's blood, had leaked away through the holes torn in it's hull. It flew on, with no one to watch over it, no one to guide it, and no one to tell it's tale.

The men had been cruel, vicious, evil. They had pursued her for days. She had killed some of them, but it didn't seem to matter. The arrow had been the end. She had fallen from her horse, and they had pounced on her before she could recover, stabbing her, and throwing her on her back.

But it wasn't her life they wanted, not yet anyway.

She had closed herself off against the pain and the barbarism of their assault, as first one took her and then the next, and the next....

The blood had ran freely from her wounds and she became weaker and weaker, and the weight of their bodies thrusting down on her drove the air from her lungs. It seemed to take forever, and yet it was over so soon.

When she opened her eyes it was dark. Blood quickly got in her eyes and made her blink. She could hardly see, she could hardly move. Her vision blurred and finally focused, and she looked up to see a man with a sword in his hand. He held it over his head, and as she watched, he chopped down at her.

Everything went black, but the lights stayed on. She should have been dead, but instead she lived.

They had left her soon after. Abandoning her broken and bleeding body, leaving her in pain, not yet dead, but not really living. They must have thought she was dead. She was dead. Dead but still alive. She lay there, alone now, waiting, thinking.

For a while she had enjoyed the chase. She wanted them to catch her, she wanted the chance to kill them. She had fought well and they were stupid enough to come close. And once she had hunted them in the night, killing two as they slept by their fire. It was like a game, and she had revelled in it.

And why not? It was her life, her Purpose, and if they should offer themselves to her, why should she not kill them? And what had they gained? If she should die now, she had still killed many while they had only killed her. And she had lived a long life while their lives were short. They were the losers.

But she was not content to die now.

The numbers killed didn't matter. It was the man with the sword and those with him that angered her. They still lived, they had escaped, and deep down inside her she still wanted to kill them. There was still a Purpose in her. But she was dying! There had to be a way.

There was a way.

When she had fallen from her horse they had torn her sword from her grasp and thrown it aside. She could still feel it nearby. Not with her hand, but with her mind. And as she began to fade, and the cognisant side of her mind finally slept and became still, the dark side of her mind came awake and took form....

The horses thundered through the trees. Like their riders they were richly decorated with feathered plumes and embroidered coats. The coats and feathered plumes were blue, like the royal crest on the riders chests and on their shields. A rampant blue lion below a blue chevron against a white background.

A rampant lion.

Prince Carl L'Hage led his knights at the gallop. Their quarry was in sight. But it was no enemy with his army, no dangerous foe who must be vanquished.

She ran in panic now, bounding through the trees, her long red hair trailing behind her. She held a long sword in her right hand. She was tired, exhausted. Her own horse had been shot from beneath her, and now the Hunt was nearly over. The horses soon over took her, and she turned to fight. The riders jumped from the saddle. She struck at the first knight, running him through the body even before he had let go of the reins of his horse.

She wasn't to be taken easily.

The Prince and his men surrounded her, and swords clashed in the early evening darkness of the forrest. But two of the men had held back. One watched, holding the reins of the horses as they stamped and snorted, while the other fitted an arrow to his long bow and watched and waited for the right moment.

The man who held the horses watched in wonder. The woman was holding them off. One woman against five men. She fought bravely, valiantly. She was the hero, she was the one who should have the songs written about her deeds in battle. She was wonderful, she was glorious, she was beautiful.

The arrow hit her in the chest above her right breast and she staggered back. Almost instantly one of the knights stabbed her in the side with his sword. She collapsed down on one knee. The men rushed her. Her sword was torn from her grasp and tossed away among the trees. She was thrown on to her back, the men tearing at her tunic and leggings.

She made no sound. No screams, no shouts for mercy. Instead she still fought, kicking, scratching, biting. In reply the noblemen from the court of King Edmund L'Hage beat her viciously. They punched her, again and again. And when her resistance ebbed, they tore off her tattered and blood-stained clothes. Then they held her down, pinning her wrists against the grass while their Prince took the first turn....

Rolf L'Epine was horrified. He stood by the horses and watched as if in a trance. He knew all the men who were here, knew them all to be good and honourable. And yet, what they were doing was barbaric. How could this be?

Rolf had always known about the Hunts. They had go on for years, for generations in fact. Ever since the Destroyers had been finally defeated at the Battle of the Black Cross, the hunting down of the survivors had become a tradition. But this was the first time he had taken part. This was his first Hunt. And as a novice he would have to watch and hold the horses. Not for him would come the taste of Destroyer flesh. Not this time. But he still had a task to perform.

When the last of them had finished, and they all stood laughing and talking, Rolf knew his moment had come.

The Prince wiped the blood from his breastplate with a silken handkerchief as he and his men came forward.

"How is Sir Edwin?" he asked.

"Slain, sire," the man with the long bow replied. "She ran him through even before his foot had left the stirrup!"

"'Tis a fitting end for a man on his thirteenth Hunt!" the Prince replied. Then he turned to the other knights and said in a raised voice, "Well, my fine friends! The chase is over, and the spoils have been equally divided!"

One of the other knights shouted, "Aye, my Liege! But some were more energetically received than others!"

The rest of the knights all laughed.

Prince Carl smiled and quickly gestured to them all to be silent. "Quiet, you heathens! There is still work to be done! Young Rolf here has yet to be bloodied! Sir Anthony! Give him the knife!"

There was a cheer, and the reins were snatched from Rolf's hands and he was pushed forward. Sir Anthony held out the long dagger in it's jewel encrusted scabbard. Rolf stared at it. He hesitated and glanced at Prince Carl.

"Take it, man!" the Prince said. "Pay the price! And next time you will take a share in the spoils!"

Rolf slowly drew the curved blade from the scabbard and walked slowly towards the woman. The Prince and his knights watched him, shouting encouragement from afar.

"If you feel charitable, do it swiftly!" one of them shouted.

"No! Do it slow and make her cry out!" another called.

Then the Prince said, "Destroyers never cry out. They just die."

All became silent as Rolf stood over the woman. He could hear her rasping breath. She was practically naked, the broken arrow still in her chest, and the blood from this wound and the one in her side was smeared over her body, mixing in with the dirt and the sweat. He knelt down next to her.

Her beautiful face was all battered and bruised and her red hair was all tangled with the grass and the dead leaves from the forrest floor. He leaned over her with the knife. Her eyes were open, they were green and wondrous. She could see him, but she made no effort to fight him off. She just lay there on her back, her arms flung out at her sides.

Rolf moved closer and closer. He held the knife at her throat, but at the last moment he hesitated. He called over his shoulder, "My Liege! May I steel a kiss before her life?"

"Aye! I think we can grant you that!" the Prince called back. "Kill her with love, L'Epine! Then maybe her soul will forgive you and grant you luck!"

As the knights laughed once more, Rolf moved his head closer to the woman. His lips brushed her face, but instead of kissing her, he quickly whispered into her ear, "When the knife bites into the grass, relax and don't move. Be very quiet and still. I will return for you later."

He could see the look in her eyes. She had heard him and had understood his meaning, but she hadn't understood why. She looked up at him in confusion even as he thrust the dagger into the grass by her throat. For a moment, Rolf thought she wasn't going to react, but then she closed her eyes and lay still, and her rasping breath ceased.

Rolf quickly wiped the blade in the blood of the wound at her side before standing up and returning to the Prince. He held out the knife. Everyone cheered when they saw the blood.

Prince Carl L'Hage smiled as he looked at Rolf's blood-stained tunic and the bloody knife. "Was she not a worthy quarry, Rolf?"

"Aye, my Prince. She was magnificent."

"And you took her life! Now you are truly a Huntsman!" The Prince slapped Rolf on the back and quickly turned and shouted to his men. "Pick up Sir Edwin! Throw him over his horse! Tonight we drink to his memory and celebrate young Rolf's first Hunt!"

Rolf L'Epine didn't celebrate long. From the moment they had ridden away from the forrest, he had made up his mind what he was going to do, and had already begun to plan.

These people were not who he thought they were. The Hunt was not a tradition to be celebrated, it was an abomination, an excuse to commit evil on those who could not reply. Yes, the woman was armed, she had fought back, and had even killed Sir Edwin. But she had not sought the conflict. She had been the one who had been sought out, searched for, and chased.

The Hunt had lasted three days. During that time they had chased her from her den in the mountains, across the valleys and fields of Halafalon, to the darkness of the forrest. Only when her horse had fallen to an arrow was she finally overtaken. She had done her best to flee, to escape. No, there was no honour in the Hunt, only bestiality, rape and murder. The murder of women. Rolf wanted no part of it, and he wanted no part of a society that condoned it.

As soon as he could get away, Rolf returned to his quarters in the Royal Palace in Ellerkan and packed all his belongings. He took only the things that were most important. Then he went to the kitchens and took food and wine. After that he went to the surgeons quarters and stole bandages and ointments. He took his horse and left in the middle of the night, the sound of the cheering and carousing from the Great Hall still ringing in his ears as he left through the great gates.

All the way back to the forrest he was filled with foreboding. What if she had already died? What if he couldn't even find the place where he had left her? Then another thought had occurred to him. What if she attacked him? She could be forgiven for doing so.

As it was, he found the place easily enough. The first thing he came across was her fallen horse. From there on it was easy. But when he finally got to the place where she lay, it was to find her gone. He got off his horse and led it to the spot where the grass was all trampled down. He knelt down and felt the dried blood and picked up a piece of torn clothing. He looked around at the trees and the shadows. Even in the early evening it had been dark, but now he could see no further than the next tree.

Where had she gone? Had wolves dragged her off? He looked down at the grass again. No, wolves would have left more of a mess. She had left on her own, and she had taken what was left of her clothes. Then he noticed more blood. Yes, there was some more further on, a trail on the grass. Rolf followed it, pulling on the reins of his horse which obediently followed after him.

He followed the trail of blood through the trees. He was just passing another tree when he suddenly saw her. In fact it was his horse that saw her first. It snorted and raised it's head. Rolf looked up, and there she was. She was sat with her back to the tree. She had replaced her torn leggings and had recovered her sword. Now she held it out towards him in obvious defence. She held it in her left hand, her right hand clutched at her side. The tattered remains of her tunic was draped over her shoulders. There was hardly anything left of it.

Rolf held out his hands in supplication. "It's alright. I told you I would come back for you. But I haven't come here to hurt you."

She was uncompromising and fearless. "Come any closer and I will kill you!" she whispered hoarsely, spitting blood.

Rolf was equally stubborn. "Then kill me," he said.

He stood up, took the water bottle from his well packed saddle, and walked towards her. She raised her sword to strike at him. He ignored it and knelt down right in front of her. He could feel the sword at his throat as he held the water bottle up to her lips. They stayed like that for a moment, then she lowered her sword and drank from the bottle. She coughed and spluttered, then she drank some more.

She put down her sword and stared at him. "You are either very foolish, or you want more from me than those others took."

Rolf was immediately angered. "I'm not like them!" he said, in a raised voice. "I would never do anything like that to you, or to anyone! I told you, I came here to help you!" He stood up and went back to his horse, and began to pull things from his saddle- bags. "Look!" he said. "I've brought bandages, ointments, food, clothing! I want to help you, not hurt you!"

"I believe you," she said weakly. "But while you speak of help, I bleed."

Rolf's indignation evaporated. He took the bandages and ointment and quickly knelt down beside her again. He washed the wound in her right side with water and put on some of the ointment. Then he wrapped a bandage over the wound and around her midriff, pulling it tight. She kept silent while he worked, her breath coming in laboured rasps as she held her torn tunic out of the way.

Next came the arrow. Rolf slipped the tunic off her shoulder to reveal the broken arrow still embedded in her skin. With the arrow still in, the wound hadn't bled as much as the one in her side, but it was in deep, and the barbed head was too well lodged in her chest. She closed her eyes and made no sound as Rolf tried to pull it out, but it was no use.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I can't move it."

"Then you must complete it's passage," she wheezed.

Rolf knew what she meant. The only way the arrow was going to come out was if he pushed it all the way through her and pulled it out of her back. He picked up a flat stone that lay on the grass nearby. He pointed upwards at the branches of the tree.

"Look up there."

She looked without hesitation, and Rolf slammed the flat stone against the end of the arrow. The arrow head burst from her back in a red splatter, and she cried out for the first time. Rolf pulled her close, so that she was leaning on him, then he pulled the broken arrow the rest of the way out. She held on to him as he went on to bathe the wounds in her chest and back, put on the ointment and then carefully wrapped another bandage around her chest and shoulder.

When he was done, Rolf washed her face and neck with the water. Then he wrapped her with his own cloak.

"Now you must stand," he told her. "I will put you on my horse and take you to my uncle's house on the edge of the forrest. It is long abandoned, but it's roof is sound and there is plenty of wood for a fire. You will be safe there."

She looked up at him with tired eyes. "You said you had food?"

Rolf nodded, and hurried back to retrieve some cheese and bread from his saddle bags and a bottle of wine. "I have meat," he said as he came back to sit next to her. "But it would be better if it was roasted over a fire. Here, eat this for now." He slowly fed her the cheese and bread, and held up the bottle for her to drink. She ate slowly, but drank quickly. Rolf could tell that she was getting weaker. When she had finished eating he packed everything back in his saddle-bags and began to lift her up, anxious to get her on his horse.

"I hurt!" she moaned as he pulled at her. "My chest, my insides, they all burn with fire. And I hurt between my legs, and inside. Let me lie here."

"No. It's cold here. And it will get colder as the hours pass. You need a fire. You need to be warm. Get up. You can rest on the horse as we travel."

He managed to get her on her feet. She was very shaky, and if he hadn't been holding her up, she would have fallen down. But just as he got her to the side of his horse, she began to struggle.

"My sword!" she cried out. "Bring me my sword! I need my sword!"

Rolf glanced at the sword which still lay by the tree. "You can get another," he said.

"No! I am a Destroyer! The sword is mine. I need it."

She began to struggle harder. Rolf quickly gave up. "Alright! I'll get it for you. Hold on to the saddle."

He left her leaning against his horse as he went to retrieve her sword. She looked on anxiously until he returned and held it out to her.

"Satisfied?"

She nodded and took the sword from him eagerly. She raised it above her head, placed the point of the sword at the nape of her neck, and pushed it in. For a moment the sword was above her head like a silver cross, then it sank into her back. Rolf watched in awe as the sword seemed to flow down her spine, until the handle melted into the back of her head and neck, and it disappeared.

"Sorcery!" he exclaimed.

"No. Genetic mutation and molecular manipulation," she replied. She saw his puzzled expression and added, "The sword is mine. It is as much me as I am it. Apart we are nothing, together we are everything. I would rather leave behind a limb than my sword."

She stared into his eyes, searching for some indication of revulsion or distaste, anything. Instead all she saw was a continued lack of comprehension. She shook her head sadly. "You hunt and kill us, and yet you have forgotten why."

"I'm sorry," was all Rolf could think of to say.

"If you had not forgotten your own history, you would not be so sorry. Now, help me on this horse before my strength leaves me."

He did as she asked, hardly conscious of the subtle change in their relationship. He climbed on his horse behind her. She sat side saddle in front of him, her left arm around his waist, and her head resting on his shoulder. He kept his right arm around her as he held on to the reins of his horse, urging it on at a trot.

They rode through the forrest in silence. Rolf's head was filled with ideas and emotions. He had rescued her as he had planned to do, but she was neither grateful, nor angry. Instead she seemed sad. But not for herself. Somehow he felt that she was sad for him, and for the Prince and his knights who had attacked her. Why was that? And what part of their history had they forgotten? He glanced down at her. She seemed to be sleeping, he could hear her wheezing as she breathed. Did she remember more than him? And how had she done that trick with her sword?

Rolf carefully moved aside her long red hair and gently touched the back of her neck. There was no sign of the sword. He sighed and rearranged her hair. This was all a mystery to him. What had they forgotten? Who were the Destroyers? And why did they live alone in the mountains and the hills? And why was killing them thought to be acceptable to people who were otherwise good?

All these thoughts ran wild in Rolf's head. But he could find no answers, and soon, his head began to ache.

She woke to the smell of roasting meat and coffee. She recognised the smell of the meat, but the coffee intrigued her. She opened her eyes. In front of her was a stone built fire place and chimney. The fire was lit, and she was bathed in it's heat and it's glow. Over the fire was a spit with a large piece of meat skewered on it. The meat spat and sizzled. Also over the fire was a large black coffee pot. It steamed. There was wood by the fire.

She stretched out her neck and sniffed. She sniffed at the coffee pot several times, stretching her neck out further. She started to move closer when she suddenly realised that she was lying on her left side on something soft. She looked down and felt it carefully. It was a stuffed mattress of some kind, and she was covered with a blanket.

She propped herself up on her left arm and looked around. She was inside a small house or cottage. It was made of wood, and above her the roof was thatched. There were rough looking wooden tables and chairs against one wall. On shelves above the table were many provisions all stacked up. Some more were still on the table. Two saddle-bags were slung over one of the chairs. Behind her there was a door. It was closed. There were two windows in the walls on either side of the door. The shutters on one were closed, but the other was open, and light streamed in.

She sat up. Her face immediately creased in pain and she quickly clutched at her side. Moving her right arm so quickly gave her more pain, and she reached up more slowly to her chest. She was surprised at the unfamiliar feel of the material of what she wore. She pulled the blanket away and found herself dressed in a long white shirt. It was slightly too big for her. She felt the material again. It was richly embroidered and very soft.

"It's silk."

She was startled by the voice and reached instinctively for the back of her neck. But then she saw that it was Rolf, peering at her through the open window, and she relaxed again.

"I didn't mean to scare you," he said. He disappeared for a moment, then the door opened and he came inside. He was carrying a large bucket of water, which he put down on the table. He sat down on one of the chairs and smiled at her. "I'm glad to see you awake at last. You slept for one whole day and night. And now it is almost midday."

She lifted the blanket slightly, looking at her legs. "You have washed me and dressed me," she said, tucking the blanket back around herself again. "When did you do this?"

"You were fast asleep the night we arrived here. So I carried you in, sorted the place out a bit, then I washed you, and dressed you. I also used needle and thread to close your wounds, like I once saw the surgeon do for a wounded man at the Palace. Then I put some more ointment on your wounds, and re-bandaged them. I also put some ointment on the cuts and gashes on your legs. After that I put you to bed in front of the fire."

She felt her side and her chest, as if feeling the wounds under the bandages. "You have done well," she said. "I lose no more blood and I feel less weak."

"You look better," he replied with a smile. "There is more colour in your skin. And even after so short a time, I am sure the bruises begin to diminish."

"I will heal quickly." She looked down at the mattress and the blanket. They were both far wider than was necessary for just one person. And there was no other bedding visible in the small house. "Did you sleep here?" she asked.

He nodded.

"And you did nothing with me?"

"I held you, that's all. I wanted to keep you warm, and I wanted to hear and feel you breathing. You're not angry, are you?"

She looked at him as if unsure of her answer. Then she shook her head. "No, I am not angered by your actions. But I am confused as to why you did not pursue copulation."

Rolf was immediately embarrassed. "I didn't want to hurt you. And that's not why I came back for you. Anyway, you were hurt, and asleep. I wouldn't do anything like that to you. It wouldn't be right. I wouldn't feel right."

"You are not sexually attracted to me?"

"Yes, of course I am- I mean- I mean- Oh, I don't know what I mean. You say the strangest of things." Rolf was going bright red.

She tilted her head to one side and stared at him curiously. "You also say strange things. But you must answer my questions truthfully. I must know your intent. Tell me why you did not kill me in the forrest. Tell me why you came back for me, tended to my wounds, and fed me. Tell me what it is in the pot that smells so exciting."

Rolf opened his mouth to answer then closed it again. Her last question had confused him, then he blurted out, "Oh! The coffee!"

He quickly got up, retrieved a cup from a shelf, and went to the fire. He took a cloth and poured some coffee from the steaming pot, then he knelt down beside her on the mattress and held the cup towards her. "Be careful," he told her. "It's hot."

Before taking the cup, she moved closer, sniffing repeatedly. Her nose was over the liquid, her eyes closed as she smelt the hot coffee. Opening her eyes again, she took the cup in both hands and sipped from it. Her eyes grew wide as she held the coffee in her mouth before she swallowed.

Rolf chuckled. "Have you never tasted coffee before?"

She shook her head and took another sip.

"How does it taste?"

"Rich and nutty. I have eaten nuts and beans from trees before, but never like this. It warms me inside. It is soothing, and yet stimulating."

She drew her legs up under the blanket and rested her hands on her knees as she drank some more. Her green eyes reflected the glow from the fire, causing them to sparkle. Rolf stared at her.

Her face was oval, with high cheek-bones and well proportioned features. Her bright green eyes were slightly slanted, with well defined eyebrows that were a rich red like her hair. She was quite striking. Rolf couldn't resist. He reached out and stroked her hair.

"You're so beautiful," he muttered. "What's your name?"

"My name is Soo-Kai."

"Soo-Kai," he repeated with a smile. "That's nice, I like that. My name is Rolf. Rolf L'Epine."

She watched him over the rim of her cup. He was a young male, fit and healthy, with fair hair and blue eyes. Although his features were pleasing to the eye, they gave away his ancestry. But if his intentions were true, then she would be content. She swallowed the last of the coffee and held out the empty cup for more. As he refilled it, she said, "You have not answered my questions."

He nodded. "I will answer as best I can. But even I was unsure of my actions. And I still am." He turned and took the spit from the fire. He used the cloth to hold the skewer and handed it to her. "Here, eat as I talk. I ate while you slept."

She took the skewer by the cloth in one hand, holding the cup of coffee in the other. Rolf could see how hungry she must have been by the way she tore at the meat with her teeth. But even the way she did that was attractive.

Rolf took a deep breath. "I think I knew from the moment I saw you standing alone against the Prince and his men that I wanted you. You were magnificent. Yes, I wanted you. But not like them. I wanted to hold you, to touch you tenderly with love, not tear at you like animals. When they struck you down, when they did what they did to you, I felt so....so useless. If I had been a knight such as they, I would have fought for you. But I am naught but a tailor to the King's court. I have no knowledge of the art of fighting." Rolf's expression was tortured. "I could do nothing to stop what happened, and I am sorry. If you cannot forgive me, then I ask only that you stay until you are well. If then you wish to leave, I will not stop you."

She chewed on the meat. Her expression gave away nothing. "Continue," was all she said.

Rolf nodded. "As a Hunt novice, I knew that the task of killing you would be given to me. I vowed that I would not kill you, that instead I would tell you to feign death, trick the others, and then return to help you. This is what I did, although for a while I feared that you had misunderstood me, and that I would be found out."

Now her question was quickly asked. "What would they have done to you if you had been found out?"

Rolf sneered. "Ha! They would have ran me through and thrown me aside without a thought! I am not a nobleman, and even the death of Sir Edwin, the knight you killed, was nothing more than an excuse for more revelry to them."

She stared at him a moment, her head tilted to one side in that inquisitive fashion. "Why did you go with them? Why did you wish to take part?"

"Because I am a fool," Rolf said sadly. "I work in the King's Court because I am a good tailor. Yes, a very good tailor, even though I say so myself. The shirt you wear is designed for Prince Harold, the King's youngest son. Is it not fine and pleasing to the eye?"

She looked down at it. "It's a bit big."

"I will make it fit. It suits you better than he, and he will not miss it. Anyway, the art of a tailor, no matter how good or sought after, is no match for the exploits of war and battle. My youth and inexperience made me the butt of many jibes and jokes from the knights who are kinsmen and friends to the King and his two sons. I longed to be accepted, and for the jibes to stop.

"When Prince Carl suggested that I take part in one of the Hunts, that it would make a man of me, I agreed. I was foolish, I know that now, but I had never been on a Hunt before. I didn't know what it would be like. I had heard about them, but hearing tales, and then seeing the truth are very different things. What I saw disgusted me. And I am glad only that it gave me the chance to meet and rescue you."

She had finished the meat and was knawing on the bone. The cup was empty by her side, and the skewer still in her hand. "What will you do now?" she asked.

Rolf took the skewer from her and put it down near the fire. He recovered the empty cup and stood up. "I shall not return to Court, never," he said as he put the cup down on the table. "How can I make garments for people I now detest? No, I shall never return to Ellerkan. I shall live the rest of my life here, in the forrest."

There was a crunch. Rolf stared as she cracked and ate the bone. In a few seconds it was gone, and she sat by the fire licking her fingers.

"Are you still hungry?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"More coffee?"

She shook her head again. Then she stood up. The blanket fell away, revealing her bare legs and feet. The shirt reached down passed her hips and only just covered her vanity. She seemed unconcerned, and came towards him waving her greasy fingers. Rolf hurriedly poured some water from the bucket into a large bowl. As she washed her hands and face, he took a towel from one of his saddle-bags.

"Here, use this," he said. "The other towel I used on you dries on the line outside."

She dried her hands and face. "You are very domesticated," she said.

He nodded sadly. "I am, so you can understand why I was treated so poorly by the King's men."

Rolf took the bowl of water and went outside to empty it. When he came back, Soo-Kai was still standing by the table waiting for him.

"Do you wish me to stay with you?" she asked.

It was a direct question he wasn't expecting. He suddenly felt very nervous. He put the bowl down on the table and swallowed.

"Yes, of course I want you to stay with me," he replied. "I want that more than anything else in the world."

She tilted her head to one side again. "Yes, I think you do. But you must understand what step you take. There are things you must know. I am not what I seem, and once the step is taken, there will be no escape for either of us."

"What do you mean by that?" Rolf asked, puzzled.

"I mean that there are many things you must know about me."

"Good!" Rolf was suddenly eager. "I want to know more about you. Like where you came from, where you've been living, and how you did that trick with your sword."

She almost smiled, but it was as if her lips couldn't quite manage the task. "Then I will tell you." She sat down again on the mattress. She didn't bother with the blanket. She just sat in front of the fire, her legs drawn up as before. "Come, sit next to me," she said.

He did as she asked. He sat close to her, admiring the curve of her thighs as she hugged her legs and stared into the fire, as if basking in it's warmth. She was thoughtful, and he waited patiently for her to speak. Finally, Soo-Kai took a deep breath and sighed.

"They called us the Gest Hroya," she said. "It means the Wind of Death. You call us Destroyers. The passage of time has changed the words, but the meaning is the same. It was a name given to us by your people. Not those that originally colonised this world, but those who fought against us, and pursued us here, those whose blood still courses through your veins." She turned her head to look at him. "But before I tell you my history, what does your history tell you about this world, Rolf Le-Pine? And about the Destroyers who fought against you?"

Rolf had been instantly intrigued by what she said. He wanted to know more, to ask many questions, but her questioning of him had put him on the spot.

He scratched his head. "I've been thinking about nothing else," he said. "After what you said that night, about how we had forgotten things, I wanted so much to remember, that in the end, my head ached. I tried to remember what I was taught as a youth. I remember all the names of the Kings and Queens, about who ruled fairly, who won what battle, and who stole the crown from who. But apart from that, everything else is all a little vague."

"Tell me what you remember, then I will tell you what you have forgotten."

"Our history is a bit one-sided," Rolf warned her. "I don't want to anger or insult you, but you may not like what it says about your people."

"Do not fear for my feelings. What you tell me will not hurt me." She turned back to the fire.

Rolf nodded. "Alright. Well, at first, we were taught that Ellerkan was once a tremendous city, where light shone even in the dead of night. The ancestors of our people lived there. They were a powerful race. It is said that they came from the stars, and that they could fly across the fields and mountains like the birds. They lived in peace and happiness for many years in the city of Ellerkan.

"Then one day, another race came from the heavens. Our people welcomed them, and allowed them to share the city. These were your people. They were arrogant, and selfish, and they wished to possess the city for themselves. They fought with our people for control of the city. But so powerful were both sides, that the city they fought to possess was soon destroyed. It is said that fire rained down from the heavens above, and the whole city was engulfed. By the end of the battle, the city was left in ruins, and many were killed. The survivors fled to the forests and the hills outside.

"But the war was not yet over. Each side blamed the other for the destruction of the city, and so angry were they, that they continued the war for many years after. As the years passed, the weapons used grew less powerful, but each side continued to kill the other without mercy, until finally, the war was ended at the Battle of the Black Cross. It was at that battle that Rupert, the first King of Halafalon, led our army to victory. It was known as the Year Zero, and our calendar dates from that time. A castle built on a hill deep in the forrest still marks the spot to this day.

"It was a tremendous battle. Thousands were killed, but at the end of it, your armies were vanquished for ever. Rupert pulled our surviving people together and re-entered the ruined city. He vowed that Ellerkan would be re-built, and that our people would be strong again. And so it was. The city was rebuilt, not as grand as before, but still beautiful. Many palaces and buildings rose from the ruins, and soon life filled it's streets once more.

"It remained like this for many years, until the survivors of your army rose up once more, and began to attack the villages and settlements on the plains of Halafalon, killing many people. At first, Stephen, King Rupert's grandson, sent a small force to hunt for your people, his own son at it's head. But they were overcome, and all were killed. Stephen mourned the loss of his son. But while he mourned, more villages were attacked, and the people massacred. Soon even Ellerkan itself was threatened.

"It was at this time that my people began to call your people Destroyers, and everyone feared you. Finally, Stephen led his army against your people, winning another great battle. But his anger at the loss of his son had not abated, and after the battle he continued hunting the survivors over a campaign lasting many years, killing them where ever he found them. It was he that started the Hunts, saying that it was the only way to keep your numbers down, to prevent you from rising up and attacking us once more.

"Generations have passed since that time. Kings and Queens have come and gone. We have grown stronger, the city more populous. We have art, and writing, and music and laughter. But at night, the city is lit only by candle light and torches, and in the day, only birds fly across the valleys and fields. But the young men from the King's Court still Hunt."

Rolf had glanced at her face from time to time as he spoke, still anxious that his view of history would antagonise her. And now that he was finished, he searched again for some sign of anger or hatred in her eyes. There was none to be found. Instead she merely nodded as she stared at the fire.

"It is a fine history," she said softly. "Filled with honour and good deeds, treachery and murder. Yes, a fine history, but one that is incomplete."

"Do you hate us?" Rolf couldn't help asking.

She turned to look at him. "Yes. With a ferocity you can never imagine."

He was shocked. Even though he had feared that she would answer this way, he had never really expected that she would.

Soo-Kai saw his saddened expression and reached out to stroke his face. "Do not be upset, Rolf. I have no hatred for you, not anymore. You do not yet understand, but you will. Listen now to my history, and learn the truth. At the end of it, it is you who may hate me, and you may wish for me to leave."

He was about to protest, but she quickly hushed him, her fingers brushing his lips.

"Do not judge me until you have heard my history," she told him. "It is a long story, a dark story. A story with words you may not understand. But listen to it's message, and listen to it's dark spirit, and you will understand."

"My people were called the Tun-Sho-Lok. They were a peaceful race who had long over come war and strife. They had conquered the heavens and had travelled to the stars. They had colonised many worlds. But they were always inquisitive for more knowledge, and their search took them to the Keruh Empire.

"The Keruh were the exact opposite to the Tun-Sho-Lok. They were warlike, primitive, and barbaric. They sought only to conquer and increase their empire. War was inevitable.

"Inter-stellar war is not for the faint hearted. The Tun-Sho-Lok were unprepared and ill-equipped. The death toll was tremendous. One by one, the colony worlds of the Tun-Sho-Lok were lost to the Keruh battle fleets. The Tun-Sho-Lok were a beautiful and elegant race. The Keruh took great pleasure in killing them. They took no prisoners, murdering whole populations. The war was soon lost. Invasion of the Tun-Sho-Lok home world was unavoidable.

"The Tun-Sho-Lok had many sciences and skills. One of them was in bio-engineering. They devised a clone of themselves, one that was able to manipulate the genes of alien DNA in it's own body, so that it could reproduce itself forever by hunting out and acquiring the males of other races. And they combined it's DNA with micro-biotic technology, providing the clone with the ability to manipulate it's own molecular structure at will. They programmed it with basic instincts, genetically storing those instincts in the neural pathways of it's brain at birth. And the most powerful instinct was the instinct to kill. It was the clone's only true purpose in life. The Tun-Sho-Lok mass produced the clone in vast numbers even as the Keruh battle fleets were descending on their home world.

"The clones did not stop the extinction of the Tun-Sho-Lok, they came too late for that. But they gave the Keruh a surprise they had not expected. The Keruh were vicious and barbaric. But they still pursued war for gain. For them it was about food and resources, things that were long drained on their own world. They fought to survive, to grow stronger and to go on. The clones were without this weakness. They had no other purpose or need other than to kill. This was the only reason for their existance, they had no other purpose. They had no remorse, no fear of death, and no care for their own lives. They strived only to kill, and they soon overcame the crews of the ships that had landed, and turned them against the rest of the battle fleet.

"Too late the Keruh realised that the Tun-Sho-Lok had left behind a powerful revenge. The clones had no other purpose or motivation other than to kill. They were relentless. They pursued the Keruh back across the star systems that they had only just recently conquered. They killed everything in their path. They were like a plague of insects, killing without mercy and without thought. Even other life forms not involved in the war were destroyed whenever they were found.

"The wars went on for years and years. One by one the planets of the Keruh Empire fell to the clones, their populations exterminated. Then the Keruh themselves were extinguished. But the killing didn't stop. In their hurry, or by design, the Tun- Sho-Lok had programmed the clones to kill everything that didn't match their own genetic code. But the Tun-Sho-Lok were now extinct, there was no other life form that shared their exact genetic code other than the clones themselves.

"With the combined technology of the Tun-Sho-Lok and the Keruh Empire at their control, the clones swept through the galaxy destroying all in their path. Only those races whose DNA was compatible were spared. Small numbers of each race were kept alive on isolated planets as breeding stock. All others were annihilated. As the clones empire increased, so did the technology at their command. They stole more technology from those they defeated, and soon they became invincible. No race, no empire could stand before them, all were consumed. In time, only the life forms that were similar to the Tun-Sho-Lok were left alive, all others were extinguished. The galaxy was almost empty. Then came disaster.

"One of the races kept alive were the Navak. It was they that first gave us the name the Gest Hroya. They hated us with the same ferocity and passion as we hated them. But their genetic structure was so compatible with our own, that their hatred of us was ignored. Although defeated and enslaved, the Navak were still very clever and resourceful. They secretly devised a weapon that neutralized the ability of the clones to manipulate their molecular structure. Overnight, the balance of power swung away from the clones. It started as an up-rising on one distant planet, then it was a revolution, and finally, all out war.

"The Navak banded together the surviving humanoids and led them against the clones. Without the ability to alter their molecular structure, they were almost powerless on the ground. They were killed in the thousands. Only in space was the war more equal. Massed fleets tore each other to shreds in a war of survival. Smashed wrecks and burning hulks filled stellar systems and spiralled into stars.

"The Navak re-took their own home world and built vast planet destroying ships. One by one these great ships reduced to ashes the worlds that the clones still inhabited. What little that had survived from the original wars now succumbed to this new one. Everywhere there was death and fire. But the clones were not yet beaten. From the heart of their lost empire, they called out to their sisters, still pursuing war and other races on the far periphery of the galaxy. Soon vast fleets, far superior in number and power to those left smashed and reduced at the centre, were returning in great numbers. This would be the moment of truth. This was Year Zero. The Battle of the Black Cross Nebula.

"Fate and nature are things humans discuss. The game of chance is also familiar to you. The Gest Hroya thought nothing of these things. But it was fate, nature, and the law of averages that finally destroyed us.

"In order to reproduce, we must seek out the males of races whose genetic code is compatible to that of our own, to that of the Tun-Sho-Lok. But even then, we manipulate the DNA we receive during copulation and keep only what we need, discarding the rest. To do this successfully and repeatedly, we are allowed a certain amount of tolerance in the outcome of the manipulation. But if this limit of tolerance is exceeded in any way, then the results of the manipulation are discarded. For generations this process had been successful, but now nature and the law of averages caught us out.

"When the clones returning from the periphery made contact with those at the centre, it was to find that their DNA no longer matched. Generation after generation of tiny imperfections, unnoticed because of the differences in time and the distances across space, were suddenly plain and obvious. The clones on the outside of the empire, who had bred with new races found only on the periphery of the galaxy, differed with those at the centre, those at the inside of the empire, who had continued to breed from captive populations. The result was instant hatred. The Gest Hroya called it the Inside, Outside War. The Navak called it deliverance.

"Millions of clones perished at the Battle of the Black Cross Nebula, even before the humanoids entered the fray. Clone ships blasted and rammed one another, flying passed Navak ships to do so. Soon, the space around the nebula was so thick with the drifting wrecks of dying ships, that others could hardly fit through, and collided with them. Great fragments of ships would cart-wheel through the gas of the nebula, shedding more fiery fragments on the way, until finally they collided with other ships, and erupted like tiny stars. Everywhere was smashed and twisted metal, and inside them, the dead and dying.

"When it was over, there was almost nothing left. Isolated clone ships that were damaged were picked off by the humanoids, and those that made planet-fall were hunted out and exterminated using the Navak planet destroying ships. But the Navak themselves did not escape the doom and destruction. One of the planet destroying ships had been captured by the clones before the Battle of the Black Cross Nebula. Now the last of the surviving clones used it against the Navak's home world, destroying it forever. The Navak chased them in their anger. The chase took them across half the galaxy. World after world was destroyed, ship after ship lost in the pursuit, until finally, all ended here, at Ellerkan.

"Ellerkan had been colonised by a race of humans many years before. Outsider clones, pursuing war and conquest on the periphery, had attacked them and enslaved them. They were still here when the planet destroying ship carrying the Insider clones arrived and attacked them. It bombarded the planet, destroying the city of Ellerkan. But no sooner had the ship landed, and the war between the clones recommenced, when the Navak arrived in pursuit.

"The Navak came in the last of the great planet destroying ships. The two great ships fired at one another, one from space, the other from the ground. The engagement between them was short, but such was their power, that both were soon lost. The Navak left their doomed ship, their army making planet-fall not far from here in the forrest, and the war was continued in earnest.

"Although their numbers were few, the Navak had brought their weapon with them, and the clones were defeated. But no one could leave this world. All the ships were lost, and none came close by. The galaxy was now a very empty place.

"The surviving Navak learned to live here, on Ellerkan. They interbred with the humans who were already here, and lived peacefully. But they never forgot their hatred of us, and for generations they hunted down and killed those of us that had survived.

"All this is in the distant past. You remember little of what really happened. Only recent history, combined and intermixed with fragments of the truth are remembered. There were many battles between us and your people. Like the one you described with King Ru-Pert, and later with King Steff-An. But the exact nature of the battles are now blurred and mixed with legend. The castle you speak of marks the resting place of the Althon Gerail, the great ship stolen from the Navak. A ship once capable of destroying whole planets. At one time, to possess it was to escape. But the Navak knew this, and forever kept us at bay. The castle was the last of many fortifications built to guard and keep it from us. Now the ship lies broken and buried beneath the hill upon which the castle stands. It is crushed by the weight of the earth, and it's secrets and it's importance have waned. We failed to enter the ship when it still could have helped us, and now the passing of time has overtaken us. We are defeated, and the Navak have triumphed.

"I believe that on this planet live the last of the Gest Hroya. That no clones exist anywhere else in the galaxy except for here, on Ellerkan, trapped with our ancient enemies. We hate you with a passion, and do our utmost to destroy you, but our numbers are now too few, and we live only to be hunted like animals by those who have forgotten the real reason why they hate us. But we have not forgotten. I have not forgotten.

"I took part in the Battle of the Black Cross Nebula. I stood on the bridge of the Althon Gerail and saw what happened. Later I saw the destruction of the Navak home world. I watched as it burned, and it's seas boiled. And afterwards I travelled here, to Ellerkan, and watched as the ship rained death down on to your great city. I fought in the ruins of that city, killing all who I could find. And later I fought for the possession of the broken ship many times. And still later, I fought against the armies of King Ru-Pert, and King Steff-An. Now I live alone in the forrest and the wilderness. If I meet a human, I kill them. And if I meet another Destroyer, it is often an Outsider whom I must fight. For this reason, I live in isolation, avoiding all who pass near. And now I have come to you, and you have a choice that must be made."

Soo-Kai had continued to stare into the fire as she spoke. Now she turned and stared directly into Rolf's eyes, seeing no hatred or fear there, but only sadness and horror. Rolf sat transfixed by what she had told him, the tears running un-wiped down his face. He had no words to say, and even if he had, his emotion would have over came him. But Soo-Kai was not finished yet. She spoke relentlessly, her eyes remaining fixed on his.

"Know this, Rolf Le-Pine: I am a Gest Hroya, a clone of the Tun-Sho-Lok. I live only to kill and to procreate. You, Rolf, are the descendant of the Navak. Your blood may be mixed, but to me, you are a Navak, and I detest your very being, your very existence. To look at you is to cause me pain. If you hadn't answered my questions correctly, I would have killed you without thought or hesitation. You are my enemy, Rolf, as I am yours. But because you have approached me correctly, because you didn't kill me when you could, and because you have cared for me and tended for me when I was vulnerable, and given me sustenance when I was weak, you have initiated a bond between us. It is a bond that is as old as my race. It is necessary for reproduction and is controlled by instincts as powerful as those that make me kill. And because of this the hatred I feel for you has left me.

"Your approach to this bond may have been accidental, but your intentions have always been clear. From the moment you whispered in my ear I could taste the desire in your body. I will not harm you, Rolf Le-Pine. Instead I will do your bidding. I will stay with you, and care for you. I will even fight and die for you. I will follow no other purpose in life other than to serve you and please you. In return I will expect no less from you. But the bond is not yet fixed between us.

"To complete the bond there is one last task you must complete. You must copulate with me. But you must do it with desire, and willingly. If you do not, if I taste any hesitation or deception, then we must part and never meet again. Because if we do, I will kill you as if I never knew you.

"But only you can make the decision. You have initiated this bond, not I. As you approached me, I was content for my life to end. But you saved my life, even at risk to your own, and now you must decide. I will wait until the sun has gone down. But when darkness falls, I must know your answer."

Rolf took time to recover. What Soo-Kai had told him had been so powerful and dark, that his emotions over came him, and he wept. When he had finally calmed down, he went to pour water from the bucket into the large bowl and began washing his face. Soo-Kai waited patiently, watching him while he washed and dried his face. Rolf then went to the fire and poured more coffee from the pot. He offered her some, but she shook her head, asking for water instead. Rolf took another cup and poured water into it from the bucket. He handed her the cup of water and sat down next to her on the mattress again. He drank coffee, while she drank water. They sat in silence for a while, both staring into the fire. Rolf was the first to speak.

"Your history made me cry," he said.

"I am sorry," she replied. "I did not mean to upset you. But it was necessary that you knew the truth so that we could both enter the bond with our eyes open. There must be no deceit, on either side. Both must be truthful and willing. I could not let you enter the bond in ignorance, it would not be fair, and it would not be a true bond."

Rolf looked at her. "I thought you were just a woman."

"Now you know the truth. You and I are alien races, genetically similar, but different. Whereas you are the results of natural evolution, I am the result of specific design. I am a lie, a false woman."

"You aren't false," Rolf protested. "You live and breathe, and you feel pain. You are real. I have held you in the night, I have felt the warmth of your body as you slept. You are not false."

"But I am not whole, not complete. When I tell you that I am false, it is because I lack the depth and emotions of a female from your race. I have only the abilities required to carry out my task. I do not invent, sow, dance, or sing. I neither laugh, nor cry. What is it that makes a true woman? I know not, this is why I am false."

Rolf had no answer to her reasoning. He stared at the fire again. There was a brief silence, then Rolf said rather sadly,

"I cried for you. I cried for your people, and I cried for all those others who perished for no reason. I don't think of myself as a Navak, but I cried for them, also."

"You are not alone in your tears," she replied. "Many have cried before. It does not change anything."

"Why can you not cry?"

"We were not given the instincts for remorse. And without remorse, one cannot cry."

Rolf turned to her and spoke emotionally. "But you must feel some sadness at what happened! I could sense it in your voice as you told me your story. You told it with such passion, with such feeling!"

She shook her head. "The only emotions I feel are the negative ones. I feel hatred, and anger, but not love or remorse. Because of this, I have little understanding of what these other emotions feel like. But I do understand the reasoning behind them. We had a vast empire, and we were vast in number, and now we are all nearly gone. I understand this loss, this disaster, but I am unsure of it's effect on me. Maybe what I feel is similar to what you call bitterness, but I am unsure. When our ships destroyed one another at the Black Cross Nebula, I remember feeling confused, and somehow angry. But I was as overcome with hatred for the Outsiders as were my sisters, so it is difficult to say if I felt sad. All I can say is that I have never cried. Not for them, nor for the Tun-Sho-Lok."

"Why are you all women?" he asked.

She answered his question without hesitation. "It is necessary to control the manipulation of the genes for reproduction. A male would have no control or influence apart from what he gave. We analyse the chromosomes we receive and cut and re-splice our DNA many times, keeping what is good, and discarding what is bad. Only when the result is acceptable is an ova fertilised and allowed to divide and grow."

"Where did the sword go?"

Again she answered without hesitation. "The sword contains the most active parts of the micro-biotic elements of my body. It is part of my spinal column and cerebral cortex. By altering it's molecular structure, I can detach it and replace it as you saw."

As she spoke, Soo-Kai reached up to her neck, tilted her head, and drew the sword effortlessly and silently from her back. Rolf stared in wonder as she held the sword out to him.

"You may hold it if you wish," she said.

Rolf put down his cup of coffee and took the sword in nervous hands. It felt quite heavy, and it glinted in the firelight like silver. Even the handle, which felt soft, looked like metal. He touched the blade and was instantly surprised by it's feel.

"It's edge is blunt!" he exclaimed.

She took the sword from him. "I told you I would not harm you. The sword is part of me, so it will not cut you. Only to you is the edge blunt, but to everything else, it is sharp."

She demonstrated her words by chopping the edge of the sword down over some wood stacked by the fire. The wood was sliced through.

Rolf quickly recovered one of the pieces, examining the neat edge to the cut. "It is indeed sharp. But how can this be, when a moment ago it was blunt?"

"I can alter the edge to be either blunt, or sharp by simple thought. The sword responds as would any muscle or limb in my body. If the Navak weapon did not still function, I could change the sword into many different weapons of great power. But now it is fixed only as a sword."

She replaced the sword in her back, Rolf watching as the metal flowed like liquid, and the handle moulded itself to the back of her neck. In an instant it became flesh coloured and disappeared.

"What is this Navak weapon you speak of?" Rolf asked as he tossed the wood on to the fire.

"It is a satellite that circles this planet and bathes it in a dampening field, a field that suppresses the forming of any complex molecular structures in our bodies. Because of this, only simple shapes and structures can be made, like a sword, or a knife, or an axe."

"Are these weapons not enough?"

"Not when you are facing laser cannons and disrupters."

"These are weapons that I am unfamiliar with. But like many of the things you've told me, I understand your meaning. With only swords, your people fell to the greater power of others, who still wielded these weapons you speak of. Now all the knowledge of these weapons, of how to travel among the stars, and light the night skies, has been lost to us. Like you, we wield only swords and battle axes. But we have forgotten what you remember. Our history is a patchwork of the truth, while yours is still intact. I think this is because we lost too many elements over the re- telling from one generation to the next. And each time the stories were told, they were embellished and romanticised. The details were lost, and the legends created. You have not had this problem. You were there, Soo-Kai, you lived through it. But how can this be? These things happened over many years and generations. How old are you?"

"In your terms, I am two thousand, seven hundred and eighty-five years old."

Rolf's eyes grew round. He had suspected that she must be old to have seen all the events she described. But not that old. "By all that's holy," he breathed. "I'm only just twenty-four...."

"And when you are four times this age, I will look the same as I do today."

"You are immortal?"

"No, just genetically engineered. We have complete control over the genetic material within our bodies. When we reproduce, it is a bio-engineering task that few electronic computers can master. We do it in a few seconds. And when our own cells divide, they reproduce themselves exactly. There is no degradation, and no deviation. We do not age, and when we are injured we do not scar. Given time, we can even re-grow limbs that are lost in battle. The wounds in my side and my chest, the scratches and bruises on my face and my body, all these will disappear in a short time. We do not die, Rolf, but we are not immortal. We must be killed."

Her explanations were always detailed and precise, and almost incomprehensible. But Rolf never doubted for one moment that any of what she told him was untrue. A dark thought suddenly occurred to him.

"You were tired of life, you wanted me to kill you that night, and instead, I saved you. Are you angry with me for that?"

She shook her head. "I knew instantly that you were initiating a bond. The bonding process lifts many controls from our minds, and replaces them with others. It is the one time in our lives when the purpose of bringing death is replaced with that of bringing life. If the bond is true, and your intent is good, then it can be a time of contentment and peace. If you pursue the bond with me, I will be content not to be dead. But I will not force your decision."

"Would you have let me kill you?"

She nodded.

"And if I refuse to bond with you, what will you do?"

"Go on living until I am killed."

Rolf smiled. But it was a sad smile. "Despite your arguments against emotion, the weight of your memories hang heavy on you, don't they?"

"You are correct, but I will be spared these memories in time."

"You will forget?"

"Yes, I will forget. I am old, Rolf, and I have limited memory capacity."

"But didn't those that made you think of this?" Rolf asked in amazement. "They thought of everything else!"

She seemed unperturbed. "They did, but I do not think they expected us to live so long. Being trapped here on this world in an environment that lacks intense warfare was not foreseen, nor was the effect a long memory would have upon us. The solution they provided was drastic, but functional.

"The longer I live, the more memories I must store. To provide the additional capacity I require, my mind condenses what I have already stored. It keeps only the important tactical information, erasing the rest. Because of this, I will lose the memories of other things, like the visual impressions of burning ships, or of violet sunsets on distant worlds. The names of the ships will fade, as will the names of the worlds and the races who lived on them. I will forget the things I saw, the people I met, and the things I did. And with those memories will go the effects they had upon my mind."

Rolf was alarmed at the implications. "But without what you remember, you will not be who you are anymore! Your character, your personality, these have been shaped by your experiences! Without them, who will you be?"

Slowly, thoughtfully, she nodded. "What you say is true, and because of it, I fear the future. I feel that I have already exceeded the peak of my memory capacity, that compression has already begun, and that I am on the decline. Soon only the tactical details of my past will remain with me. Like a battle computer, I will contain only the movements of war, the details of the mistakes made, or the moves that were successful. I will become a shell. Yes, I fear the future, and I fear that my time as a sentient being is limited."

"That's why you were prepared to die," Rolf said knowingly.

She didn't answer.

Rolf stared at her. He looked very emotional and intense. She looked back at him, waiting and saying nothing. Suddenly, Rolf put his arm around her waist and slipped his other arm under her knees, his hand gripping her thigh. For a moment she thought he was going to lift her up, his grip was so tight. In fact, as he pulled her close and hugged her, he did lift her. She felt pain in her side from the wound, but she ignored it. They were now so close, that all she could see were his blue eyes, staring at her so intensely.

"I want you," Rolf said. "I want the bond with you. And I want it to be fixed between us. And if you are well enough, I want to do it now."

She looked surprised. "You wish to copulate now?"

"No, I wish to make love to you. There is a great difference, and I want you to know that difference. My experience in the art of love is not great, but I will do my best, and I will always love you. I want to love you for as long as I can, for as long as you can remember, and for as long as I am able. I want you to know what it means to be loved by another. I want to share my life with you, and I want to teach you to laugh and to smile. I want you to live as my wife, Soo-Kai. Do you accept me?"

For a moment she didn't respond. Then she reached out and stroked his face, her fingers moving delicately over his skin. At last she spoke.

"I can feel from your touch that your words are genuine, and that your body is already aroused. Yes. I accept the bond with you, Rolf, and from today onwards, we will live as one, and not part until one of us breathes no more."

Making love to Soo-Kai was an experience Rolf never tired of. From the first time that day, on the mattress before the fire, to the night they celebrated their fourth anniversary together, it was exciting, rapturous, and deeply ethereal. Each time was as if they had never known one another before. It was always new, always fresh, and always an adventure to be enjoyed.

Soo-Kai responded to Rolf in a way he could never have imagined. Not that he could judge on her performance. Even before he came to the Court of King Edmund, he had never been very successful in love. He hated to admit it, but three girlfriends and one night of passion was all he could call on for his life-times achievement. Things had been far worse when he left the village of his birthplace in Halafalon and came to Ellerkan. At Court he had very little to offer except his youth, and there was little demand for that. And most of the ladies he had considered had turned their noses up at him. They could do better than a mere tailor. No, his experience was limited, but even he knew that Soo-Kai was exceptional.

It was because she knew her own body so well. She had explained it to him. She had complete control over her body, and she could sense every fibre, every blood vessel. From her head to her toes, she could sense, feel and control all of it. It was part of the same process that allowed her to detach and control her sword. It meant that when she became aroused, she really became aroused. She felt every touch and stimulation in a magnified way, and what she felt, she blew right back at him.

At first it had alarmed and frightened Rolf. Soo-Kai's wounds were still fresh, and he thought she would injure herself, so great were her exertions. He had tried to calm her, but she would have none of it. She didn't seem to care, so lost was she in her ecstasy. And soon, even Rolf was too absorbed in what they did. Afterwards she had been dismissive at his concern.

She told him that her control over her body was so complete, that when she was injured, she could even constrict the blood vessels that fed the damaged skin and muscle, limiting the blood loss. That was why she hadn't bled to death in the forrest until Rolf had returned for her that night. And that was why she was so tireless in her love-making. What she could constrict and reduce, she could also expand and increase. She could expand her airways, and draw in more air, widen her blood vessels, and pump more blood. It was necessary in battle, to run, to fight, to be able to kill even when wounded. But that same ability gave her an almost inexhaustible energy during love-making. She called it copulation, Rolf called them marathons.

That first time had lasted until the sun went down. She had been relentless in her pursuit of satisfaction. And her insatiability was reflected in him. She never failed to arouse and stimulate him, no matter how tired he became. They had swopped around and changed positions countless times, and when they had finally finished, Rolf could barely stand. But in the end, all their exertions came to nothing.

For Soo-Kai, sex was not just for pleasure, although she gained much from it. It was about procreation. But it was her choice who she would procreate with. When she had been raped by Prince Carl and his men, she had virtually shut down her body, cutting off her sensations and her responses. They had sensed and felt nothing that Rolf had experienced. But the knowledge of it had become legend, and it was this, more than anything, that had kept the Hunts popular. For Soo-Kai, the liaison had been unwanted. That made it meaningless. She rejected it as she rejected them. The genetic material they gave her was also rejected, voided, and discarded.

This was not the case with Rolf. What he gave, she kept. And as soon as Rolf had staggered away in search of sustenance, she had started the mental analysis and manipulation of the genetic material she had received from him. She had remained on the mattress, curled up in a ball. She whimpered and fidgeted, her eyes tightly closed in her concentration. Rolf returned and held her. They had lain together on the mattress, warming before the fire. He fed her and gave her water, but as the time passed, her distress became ever more clear.

At first, Rolf was unsure of what it was that ailed her. During their love-making she had been so strong and vigorous, and now she seemed as fragile as a new-born kitten. When she finally relaxed and explained to him, he was deeply saddened.

To reproduce, Soo-Kai had to combine the genetic material she received from Rolf with her own DNA. She had six ova waiting to be fertilised. It was a mathematical race. She took Rolf's DNA and split it, cutting out gene sequences that were familiar and acceptable. These short strings of DNA she then spliced into a sample of her own DNA, cutting out and replacing the existing, corresponding gene sequences. She did this as often as she could, until she was left with a complete X-chromosome assembled from a combination of her own DNA and that of Rolf's. This she then used to fertilise the ova. It was a delicate and exact process. Too little of Rolf's genetic material, and the ova may fail to divide and grow, too much, and the tolerance levels would be exceeded, and the ova would risk rejection by her own body.

If successful, she would give birth to six infants, all female, all Destroyers. Their DNA would take the best of what Rolf had to offer, without diluting the Destroyer influence and purpose. In three years they would have grown to adulthood. In three more years they would have been sexually mature. It was a growth rate and a method of reproduction that was necessary for war. It had proved to be very effective.

Normally, breeding with a member of the Navak race would have been easy, but Rolf was the result of generations of inter-breeding with Ellerkan's other humanoid race. Although both races were compatible to one another, each was not compatible to one or other of the Destroyers. The Navak were compatible with the Insiders, like Soo-Kai, but not with the Outsiders. The reverse was the case with the other humanoid race. They were compatible with the Outsiders, but not with the Insiders. If the races had been kept apart, both Insider and Outsider Destroyers would have been able to breed successfully. But with the genetic stock now mixed, both sets of Destroyers found procreation to be almost impossible.

At first the decline had gone unnoticed. But generation after generation saw the number of Destroyer births slowly reduced. And even with their accelerated birth and growth rates, their population fell. Their aggressive nature meant that the numbers killed in battle never declined, and their eventual defeat to King Stephen was due more to their lack of numbers than to his prowess in war. The Hunts did the rest. Now the Destroyers had almost disappeared, and the only reason any of them still existed on Ellerkan at all was because of their longevity.

At first, Rolf tried to dismiss it as unimportant. It had been their first time together, and he was sure they would be more successful next time. She too was positive. She told him that, mathematically, it was still possible to procreate. She had known other Destroyers that had managed to do so. But the numbers were few, and the results were not always acceptable. Rolf wanted to believe her. But as time passed, and the results were always the same, it began to eat into him. Soon he yearned for children. It was the only blight on their relationship.

Soo-Kai knew how it hurt him. It hurt her also. She was bonded to Rolf, he was good to her, and their relationship grew and strengthened with the passing of the years. But the purpose of the bond was to reproduce. The time was passing, and each year was wasted with no off-spring.

After each time she made love with Rolf, Soo-Kai's attempts to conceive successfully grew more tortuous. But her attempts to get the right mix of her own DNA with that of Rolf's would always fail. Always the ova would receive too little from Rolf, or two much, and always they died or were rejected. Soon she began to hate her body and the limits her instincts imposed on her.

Rolf could never understand why it wouldn't work. He understood when the ova died, but he questioned what she meant when she said that they were rejected. She told him that she had to discard them when they exceeded the limits set within her body. He was appalled. She told him that she had no choice. But he couldn't understand the power of her instincts, and the control they had over her to maintain the purity of her race. She had to reject them, they were incorrect, imperfect, deviant. It almost broke Rolf. He became withdrawn, and for a time he avoided her.

It was the weakest time in their relationship. Soo-Kai feared that she had turned Rolf from her, that he would never again love her as he once had. But another fear tortured her. As each year passed, her memory was compressed. She forgot things. And the horror of it was that she forgot what she forgot. It just disappeared. Early history, the name of the race who exterminated the Tun-Sho-Lok, all gone. Planets she had visited, food she had tasted, other Destroyers she had known, even those she had once given birth to in her early life, all vanished.

It was a dark time. Rolf silent and brooding, Soo-Kai fearful and lonely. Then came Mai-Zen.

Soo-Kai and Rolf were in their fifth year together. Rolf was in the pit of his depression. He spent most of the day wandering in the forrest on his own, leaving Soo-Kai at the house. Things had never been worse between them. They had even stopped making love together, Rolf seemed to lose heart in it. Soo-Kai worried about him, but she knew that it was she that was the cause of his sadness, and because of this there was nothing she could do. She was content to wait for Rolf to come out of his depression on his own, but it had been a long wait, and it didn't look like it would end soon.

It was mid summer. They were both in the house after having been out to collect firewood and water. As was the way with them recently, they hardly spoke. What they did they did mechanically, and through habit. Soo-Kai had just put down the bucket when she sensed the other Destroyer. She stood completely still and raised her head. She took three or four quick breaths through her nose. Yes, she could smell her. She was close, and she was not alone. Being in the house restricted her senses. But if Soo-Kai could smell them, they could smell her. She took several more quick sniffs.

Rolf was busy stacking the firewood next to the fire. He didn't hear Soo-Kai taking her rapid breaths, he wasn't listening. But when he turned and saw her look of concentration, and the way she was almost standing on tip-toe, her neck out-stretched and her head back, he knew that something was wrong.

"What is it?" he said, standing up.

"A Destroyer comes," Soo-Kai said taking another breath. "She is not alone."

Rolf thought the worse. "Are there many of them?"

"No. Just two. The Destroyer and a man."

Now that confused Rolf. What would another man be doing with a Destroyer? Or was that a silly question? Soo-Kai was already heading for the door. Rolf quickly followed her.

It was early afternoon. The sun was still high and it was warm. The house was in a small clearing where the trees were more sparse. They could see a little way, but soon all was blocked by more trees. Even the stream where they got their water was lost from view. Rolf looked around, but he could see no one.

"Where are they?" he asked.

"This way." Soo-Kai took Rolf's arm and led him around the house to the side. She stood still and pointed. "There."

Rolf stared. Just beyond the line of trees, almost hidden from view, were two horses. A man and a woman stood in front of them. They seemed to be talking. As Rolf watched, they started to walk forward, leading their horses behind them. They came into the clearing, and Soo-Kai immediately reached for the back of her neck. Rolf saw her movement and quickly grabbed her before she could draw her sword.

"No, Soo-Kai!" he shouted. "If they are together, they must be bonded, like us!"

Soo-Kai began to struggle with him. She looked agitated and alarmed, almost frightened. "Release me, Rolf! I must draw my sword!"

"But why? Stop this!"

"Because she is an Outsider!"

Rolf glanced at the two who approached. They were standing still now, staring at them. "But they're bonded! She won't hurt you!"

"She is an Outsider, I am an Insider! Bonded or not, we must still fight!"

Rolf continued to wrestle with Soo-Kai, but he looked again at the man and the woman. What he saw surprised him, and he renewed his efforts. Wrapping his arms around Soo-Kai, he managed to pin her arms to her sides, then he pulled her to the ground. They both ended up on their knees. Soo-Kai looked very distressed.

"Let me go, Rolf! Please!" she begged.

"No! Look, Soo-Kai!" He twisted her around, turning her towards them. "Look at them! See? He does the same with her! You will not fight! Now stop this and be calm! I demand it!"

Soo-Kai looked, and slowly she stopped wriggling. She stared at the man with the other Destroyer. Just like her and Rolf, they were struggling together. The man held the Destroyer's wrist, pulling her hand from her neck. He had his other arm around her, and as they struggled, he pulled her back, and she fell over. The man sat on her, but she continued struggling, her legs kicking.

Soo-Kai stared in wonder. "We are the same," she muttered.

Rolf hung on to Soo-Kai even though she had stopped struggling and seemed calm. Like her, he watched the man sitting on the other Destroyer. Neither of them seemed to realise that they had already spoken to each other that day far more than they had done for the past week. Slowly the other Destroyer stopped kicking her legs. She grew calmer, and lay still. Finally the man looked over his shoulder and held up his hand. He smiled.

Rolf did something he hadn't done in ages. He smiled back. "He has persuaded her as I have persuaded you. Come on, Soo-Kai. Get up. Let us meet our visitors."

His name was Gustavo L'Poll. He was slightly older than Rolf, with jet black curly hair, dark eyes and a complexion to match. He looked a bit meaner and harder than Rolf, but his smile was broad and genuine. Her name was Mai-Zen. Her height and shapely figure matched that of Soo-Kai almost perfectly. Only her face and features were different. She had a pronounced jawbone, giving her a slightly square face. Her eyes were bright blue, and her hair long and blonde. She was beautiful.

Gustavo introduced himself and Mai-Zen to Rolf and Soo-Kai. He smiled constantly, and kept his arm around Mai-Zen possessively. Rolf found himself doing the same as he introduced himself and Soo-Kai. The four of them stood together in the little clearing. Rolf and Gustavo just stood there smiling at one another, while Soo-Kai and Mai-Zen stared at one another with wide and nervous eyes. Then Gustavo turned to Mai-Zen.

"Is Soo-Kai not beautiful, Mai-Zen?" he asked her.

Mai-Zen nodded her head in short rapid jerks. She never took her eyes off Soo-Kai, and she didn't speak.

Gustavo squeezed her waist. "Do you want to touch her?"

Mai-Zen looked terrified at the very idea. She shook her head vigorously. Gustavo laughed.

"Insiders, Outsiders, they hate one another with the venom of snakes! But each are as fascinated as the other! Look at how your Soo-Kai stares at my Mai-Zen!"

Rolf looked. It was true. It was as if Soo-Kai was mesmerised by the sight of the other Destroyer. Rolf suddenly realised what this meeting must mean to Soo-Kai. Insiders and Outsiders never met except to fight. Now here she was, face to face with an Outsider, and both their swords were un-drawn. Rolf smiled in a rather sad way. Soo-Kai didn't know what to do. Neither of them knew what to do.

Rolf took Soo-Kai's hand. "Why don't you touch her?" he said.

Like Mai-Zen, Soo-Kai also shook her head vigorously.

Rolf didn't give up. "Be brave, Soo-Kai. You know you want to really. It might be your only chance."

Soo-Kai's reply was curt. "No."

Rolf kept talking, pulling her hand forward. "You're both bonded. You're both curious. This could be the only chance you ever get to touch an Outsider with out hurting her. Come on, try it, Soo-Kai."

Gustavo had taken Mai-Zen's hand and also pulled it forward. "He's right Mai-Zen. The mysteries of your opposite sisters are there for you to discover. Touch her, feel her. You and she could be the only two Destroyers to do this in the history of your race. Touch her, Mai-Zen."

Rolf and Gustavo kept talking while they pulled the hands of the two Destroyers closer and closer together. Now both Destroyer's stared at their own out-stretched hands in terror. As their fingers came ever closer, their eyes grew bigger and more round. Closer and closer. Mai-Zen began to whimper, Soo-Kai drew her leg up and fidgeted, twisting her body round as Rolf kept a firm grip around her waist. Finally, their fingers met. It was the tiniest, briefest of touches. Both Destroyers screamed and broke away. They shook their hands in the air, blew on their fingers, and rubbed them on their clothes and on the grass.

Rolf looked on in amazement as Soo-Kai began licking her fingers. It was as if they had been burnt. Mai-Zen began to do the same.

Gustavo roared with laughter.

"Are they not jewels, Rolf?" he managed to say in his fit of laughing. "Would you swop them for anything else?"

Rolf shook his head as he continued to stare at Soo-Kai.

Then Mai-Zen walked up to Gustavo and smacked him on the chest.

"Pig!" she exclaimed.

Gustavo just laughed louder.

Gustavo and Mai-Zen stayed for the rest of the day and night. Rolf and Gustavo talked endlessly about their lives with their Destroyers. Gustavo had been with Mai-Zen for eleven years. Rolf was eager to know if they had children. Gustavo said not. Anyway, it suited their roving lifestyle. They had travelled across the mountains from Falonbeck to Halafalon because Gustavo wanted to see the castle that marked the sight of the great battles with the Destroyers. Gustavo was adventurous and a little too reckless for Rolf's liking. But that was his choice. And apart from that, they got on well.

Gustavo was exactly what Rolf needed. He was bright, cheerful, and terribly mischievous. He talked about sex, he made passes at Soo-Kai, he even suggested that all four of them set to it, right then and there on the table. At first Rolf was embarrassed, but when Gustavo roared with laughter, he realised that Gustavo had just been pulling his leg, that he had no intention of sharing Mai-Zen with anyone, not even with another Destroyer.

Slowly, Rolf warmed to the conversation and the laughter that Gustavo instilled. He was very infectious. Soon Rolf was talking in a way he hadn't done for a long time. He began to smile, and he even laughed at Gustavo's jokes.

Gustavo and Rolf talked about war, and about history, and always about Destroyers. They laughed, talked, ate and drank coffee for the rest of the day. And while they talked and laughed, Mai-Zen and Soo-Kai watched one another constantly.

At first they had both sat at the table next to Gustavo and Rolf. But as the day and the conversation wore on, Soo-Kai moved away and sat by the fire. The mattress that made their bed was now positioned against the opposite wall from the table. A rug now took it's place by the fire. Soo-Kai sat on the rug and watched Rolf and Gustavo, happy that this human stranger had brought joy back to the face of her bond. But she was always conscious of Mai-Zen. It was very unsettling sharing their house with this Outsider.

It became even more unsettling when Mai-Zen came and sat next to her by the fire a short time later. Soo-Kai stared at her. Then she got up and went outside. Mai-Zen watched her go. If Rolf and Gustavo noticed her leave, they didn't show it, chatting on as before.

Soo-Kai sat in the fading sun with her back against the wall of the house. She could hear Rolf and Gustavo still talking inside. It pleased her that Rolf was happy, and she was content to be alone. Her solitude was short-lived. She had been there only a few minutes when Mai-Zen appeared and sat next to her. She sat quite close to Soo-Kai. Soo-Kai looked at her in annoyance. She shifted further along the wall. A moment later and Mai-Zen did the same, moving closer again.

Soo-Kai gave up. "Why do you pursue me?" she snapped. "Do you wish us to fight?"

"No," Mai-Zen said as if hurt by the idea. "I was curious, that is all. Are you not curious?"

Soo-Kai hesitated before nodding her head. She looked at the clothes Mai-Zen wore. She had a tunic of leather that was open at the neck. It revealed a lot of her cleavage, and she didn't seem to be wearing anything underneath it. Instead of leggings she wore a short skirt that left much of her legs exposed. The skirt and tunic were both plain black. In contrast, Soo-Kai wore a yellow blouse and red leggings. Both were richly embroidered and decorative. The only similarity in their outfits were their boots. Soo-Kai reached out and touched Mai-Zen's skirt.

"Why are your legs bare?" she asked.

Mai-Zen shrugged. "Gust-Avo prefers to see my legs."

"He likes to see your skin?"

"Yes, often and a lot. Does not your Rolf do the same?"

Soo-Kai nodded. "He does not ask me to wear things that expose my skin as you do, but he likes to look on me when we are alone together, and he likes to touch. He touches me a lot."

"Yes, Gust-Avo also likes to touch. But does your Rolf not do this during the day, when you least expect it?"

"Sometimes, yes. And we copulate quite frequently." The lies came easily, but she knew that she would be found out. "Rolf wants off-spring."

Mai-Zen nodded knowingly. "Gust-Avo is content that our genes do not match. We also copulate often. Gust-Avo likes to surprise me. He sees it as a challenge."

"Rolf is not content," Soo-Kai finally admitted. "He pines for the success of his seed. Our failure hurts him. We have not copulated for some time. We hardly speak."

"I sensed this stress between you, and that you hid something from me. Can you not make the right balance?"

Soo-Kai felt relieved that the truth was out. "No," she said sadly. "And you?"

"Gust-Avo's blood is too mixed. There is not enough compatible material for me to use. It is the same with all the Terrans. Our numbers are now fewer than yours. The arrival of the Navak killed our race."

They sat in silence a moment, then Mai-Zen reached out and tugged on Soo-Kai's blouse. "You wear pretty things filled with colour."

"Rolf made them for me. He always liked to spend time making things for me to wear. They are always pretty."

Mai-Zen ran her hand down the side of Soo-Kai's leggings. "He is good at his art. They fit you very well. He must like to see your shape."

Soo-Kai stared at Mai-Zen's hand as it traced her hip and thigh. "You touch me, but do not touch me."

Mai-Zen took her hand away. "You scare me. Have you ever touched and not killed an Outsider before?"

Soo-Kai shook her head. "Have you ever touched and not killed an Insider?"

"No. Are you as scared of my touch as I am of yours?"

"No."

In proof of her answer, Soo-Kai suddenly stretched out her hand and placed it on Mai-Zen's bare thigh. Mai-Zen went rigid. She stared at the hand on her leg, then she looked at Soo-Kai. It was like a catalyst. An instant later and they grabbed one another. They touched and explored, they sniffed and smelled each other, they ran their hands through one another's hair, they tugged at one another's clothes and searched beneath. None of it was sexual, but all of it was curiosity gone wild. Each wanted to know the other so urgently, that they ended up wrestling about on the grass.

So absorbed were they, that they didn't notice the silence in the house until a voice said, "Are you decent?"

Soo-Kai and Mai-Zen disentangled themselves and looked up.

Gustavo's head had appeared at the window above their heads. He had his hand over his eyes, although he left an obvious gap to peep through. "From the sounds of scuffling against this wall, you two fair maidens are either strangling one another, or you are deep in one another's arms making passionate love together. Please tell me it is the latter, and Rolf and I will quickly join you!"

Mai-Zen said, "Pig!" and Gustavo laughed and disappeared.

Soo-Kai looked at Mai-Zen. "Why do you call him that?"

"He likes it. Humans are weird. Had you not noticed?"

The four of them spent the rest of the evening together in the house. Soo-Kai showed Mai-Zen some of the outfits Rolf had made for her. Afterwards, as the night grew cold, they all sat by the fire. Soo-Kai sat on Rolf's lap, while Mai-Zen sat on Gustavo's. Both Destroyers were hugged tightly as the four of them talked into the night. Soo-Kai and Mai-Zen talked more freely, and soon they were all talking like they had never done so before. Gustavo could make a joke of anything, even tragic events. Rolf and he would laugh, while the two Destroyers would merely smile.

Soon their minds turned to other things. Gustavo and Mai-Zen went outside, despite Rolf's protests.

"The bedding and tent we bring on our horses is enough for us," Gustavo told Rolf. "In any case, I would not be comfortable under a solid roof. I am by nature a roving soul. And to be fair, this is your house."

Rolf tried to persuade him and Mai-Zen to stay and share their fire, but Gustavo said that they would light their own fire, and the argument was over.

When they were alone together, Rolf took Soo-Kai's hand and sat with her next to the fire. She remained silent, watching him, and waiting. He had grown sad again, and he looked like he was about to cry. When he spoke, it was nervously.

"When we first met, and we sat by the fire like this, I told you that I would always love you. I broke that promise. I have been selfish, and hurtful. Can you forgive me?"

"I would forgive you even if you took up a knife and killed me," she replied.

Her words caused the tears to come at last to Rolf's eyes, and he embraced Soo-Kai, hugging her tightly. "Oh, my darling Soo-Kai! I'm so sorry! I have treated you so badly! I pushed you away! For a while I even hated you! How you must have suffered!"

He began to kiss her all over her face and head. He kissed her again and again, talking between each kiss.

"I hate myself! I am so shallow! I never once thought of you! I am a fool! If you had taken up a knife and killed me, it would have been nothing less than I deserved!"

Soo-Kai held on to Rolf as tightly as he held her. "You deserve no such thing," she said, her voice faltering as she spoke. "The fault is within me. I can not do what you ask, and it is I that will always be sorry."

Rolf held her head in his hands, staring into her face. "You're crying," he said in surprise.

She nodded, the tears running down her face as they did on his. "You see, my husband. You have not broken your promise to me. You said that you would teach me to cry, and you have. Now you must teach me to laugh."

Rolf wiped the tears from her face and kissed her again. Then he hugged her tightly and they fell back on the rug in front of the fire.

That night, a man and a Destroyer found pleasure together both inside and outside the little house in the forrest. And strangely enough, each Destroyer found herself in the right place according to her type.

When morning came, Soo-Kai went to fetch water from the nearby stream. Mai-Zen went with her. As Soo-Kai sank the bucket in the stream, Mai-Zen sat on the bank and splashed water on her face and neck. Instead of the black leather tunic, she was wearing a light blue blouse that she had liked, and that Soo-Kai had given to her. But she still wore the short skirt.

"Soo-Kai," she said. "If we meet again and my bond with Gust-Avo is at an end, I will try my best not to kill you. If my will is not strong, then I will avoid you. Can you say the same?"

Soo-Kai sat down next to her. She shook her head sadly. "If we meet again, and my bond with Rolf has ended, I will kill you."

Mai-Zen looked upset. "Do you not like me?"

"Yes. And because of this I tell you now that if we do meet again, and my bond is over, you must strike me first."

"But why? Your will is strong, can you not try?"

"My mind is in compression."

Mai-Zen suddenly understood. "How old are you?"

"Two thousand, seven hundred and eighty-nine. By the time my bond with Rolf is over, I will have forgotten you."

Mai-Zen nodded. "I am two thousand, two hundred and five. I pity you."

"Then do not avoid me when your bond is over," Soo-Kai said harshly. "Instead, seek me out, and if my bond is also over, kill me."

Mai-Zen didn't reply, she just stared at Soo-Kai sadly.

Soo-Kai stood up. Mai-Zen also stood up. A thought occurred to her, and she quickly grabbed Soo-Kai. "Did you try again with Rolf's seed?" she demanded.

"Yes. As always, they exceeded the limits and I had to discard them. I know it hurt Rolf, but he said nothing. I think his melancholy is over."

Mai-Zen held her tightly and spoke urgently. "Over or not, next time this happens, do not discard them, Soo-Kai. Once they live, turn your mind from the task, and ignore them as they grow."

Soo-Kai tried to break away. She was dismissive and annoyed. "I can not! You speak of false dreams! You have been with Gust-Avo too long!"

Mai-Zen hung onto her. She spoke insistently. "Was it not a false dream to touch an Outsider? Have we killed one another? Your will was stronger than mine! I was too scared to be the first to touch! You led the way, I followed! Lead the way now! Forget what your instincts tell you! And when the time comes, let them grow! Have something for you and Rolf before your mind and your will perishes!

"I wish I could do what you can still do! I wish I could feel my seed and Gust-Avo's seed growing inside me! I wish I could see them run and play in the sun! To watch them grow tall and become strong! Have you forgotten this joy already?"

Soo-Kai's eyes suddenly filled with tears. "I have forgotten," she admitted. "I forget those I had. I forget their names. If I had another I would not know the sequence. Your words hurt me. You make me cry as Rolf taught me to cry by his silent pain." She grew more agitated. "A Destroyer does not cry! Stop this!"

Mai-Zen let go of her, but she wasn't finished yet. "Rolf and Gust-Avo said that we should touch and know one another because it would be the one chance we had. They were right, and I will not forget you. Even when my memory is condensed, when my mind is so compressed that I can remember nothing else, I will save the memory of this meeting to the last. I will remember how you looked, how you smelt, and how you tasted. I have taken my one chance, and I will always be thankful. You still have another chance to take. It will be as hard and as easy as the first. You are within a bond, it gives our minds freedom. Use that freedom, Soo-Kai, take the chance you still have, while you still can."

When Mai-Zen had finished, they just stared at one another. Then Soo-Kai put the bucket of water down, and taking Mai-Zen's hands in hers, she leaned forward. Mai-Zen also leaned forward, and when their faces were close, they touched and rubbed their cheeks together in an affectionate manner.

When they moved apart, Soo-Kai said, "Travel the forrest carefully, Mai-Zen. Do not let my sisters kill you."

Mai-Zen nodded. "Gust-Avo is a very careful traveller, even though he does not always appear so. He will not wish to lose me just yet."

Soo-Kai picked up the bucket. "Come, we should return to the house before our bonds die of thirst."

When it came time for Gustavo and Mai-Zen to leave, Rolf wasn't the only one who was sad to see them go. Gustavo and Mai-Zen sat on their horses as Rolf and Soo-Kai bade them farewell. Rolf was full of concern.

"Be careful near the castle. And remember that the Destroyers here are Insiders."

Gustavo smiled. "Do not worry, my tailor friend. I have been at this game a long time. I will guard Mai-Zen well, as she will guard me. See that you do the same for Soo-Kai. Love her, squeeze her, and always boss her, and she will serve you well!"

"Pig!" Mai-Zen called to him. Gustavo laughed.

As Rolf and Gustavo shook hands one last time, Soo-Kai reached out and took Mai-Zen's hand.

"I will think on what you said," she said.

Mai-Zen nodded. "And I will not forget you. If you should need to seek me out, go through the pass at Falonbeck. You will find my den in the shadow of mountains."

Their hands slipped apart, and with a wave from Gustavo, he and Mai-Zen rode off.

Rolf went to Soo-Kai's side and held her close as they watched the two ride away.

"Do you think we will ever see them again?" he said.

Soo-Kai shook her head. "No. But I am glad they came, and that I took the chance you gave me, and touched an Outsider. Because of this, I have learned that the limits of my instincts are not impossible to break. And if one limit is broken, I may yet break another."

Rolf turned and looked at her, wondering what she meant. She continued to watch Gustavo and Mai-Zen. Soon they disappeared among the trees, and even the sound of their horses faded.

After Gustavo and Mai-Zen had left, Rolf pressed Soo-Kai on what she meant about breaking more instincts. At first Soo-Kai was reluctant to tell him what Mai-Zen had told her to do, she didn't want to encourage him only to then discourage him if she should subsequently fail. It was no use. The more she tried to explain, the more Rolf began to understand what she intended, and the more he understood, the more he became excited. To say that Rolf was delighted was an understatement. She tried to calm him. She told him that it wouldn't be easy, that she might not succeed, but he was so excited and eager to proceed that there was no holding him back. He wanted to try straight away.

As is the way with things, once Soo-Kai had made up her mind to do as Mai-Zen had suggested, she could never again get the right mix of Rolf's genetic material. Instead of receiving too much of Rolf's DNA, the ova always received too little, and they kept dying. Soo-Kai never gave up. She knew that sooner or later she would get it right. She had done so several times before, but then she had followed her instincts and discarded them. It was the knowledge of this that had caused the rift between her and Rolf. She wouldn't do that this time. This time she would keep them. Keep them and ignore them. But it was as if her body knew what she was going to do and kept cheating her.

She explained to Rolf why they had no success. He understood, but his enthusiasm waned. But now at least he knew that it wasn't Soo-Kai's fault, that she was trying her best. And he vowed that he would never treat her as badly as he had done before. This time he was as good as his word. But their lack of success still cast a shadow over them both. And as the time passed, the shadow grew longer.

When the rains came in the following winter, they came in real earnest. It rained for days, and it rained hard. Rolf hadn't seen such rain since his childhood. He stood by the window, staring out at the darkened skies. He held the window shutter half open, but the rain kept splashing against the wood and it wet his shirt. It was early evening, and Soo-Kai sat by the fire, warming herself.

"I still remember years when the rain came in such amounts," she said.

Rolf shook his head and closed the wooden shutter. "It's force shows no sign of abating," he said. He came over from the window and sat next to Soo-Kai by the fire.

"Do you remember the floods?" he asked her.

She nodded and helped him brush off the water droplets from his shirt as he dried himself in front of the fire. "The floods would follow the rains. They came once in every twenty years. Sometimes less, but never more."

She was right. It rained constantly for five days. And when it was over, and Rolf and Soo-Kai went down to the little stream to fetch water together, they found it a wide torrent.

"The lowlands will feel the force of it," Rolf said as they both stood by the rushing water. "The coastal villages of Danek and Sintal will be flooded. Even Ellerkan on the delta will be at risk."

"Ellerkan is old," Soo-Kai replied. "The walls that hold back the rivers are strong and wide. Those that built them knew of the floods."

Rolf stared at Soo-Kai for a moment. Then he bent and filled the bucket. "Come on," he said, taking Soo-Kai's hand. "Lets get back. It's cold out here."

As they walked back to the house, Rolf said, "I've been very selfish and stupid. But I'm going to put that right."

Soo-Kai looked at him in puzzlement. "In what way have you been selfish and stupid?"

"In not thinking about you and your memory."

Soo-Kai looked ahead as they walked along. "You cannot stop my memory from decaying. As the compression continues, the more I will forget."

"Then the more I will write down."

Soo-Kai looked at him again. Rolf smiled and squeezed her hand. "You tell me what you remember, and I'll write it down. It will be like a journal of your life. Even if you forget things, you can read it and remember once more. That way, you won't forget, and you won't change."

"But I have already forgotten some things. Even the things I told you when we first met have faded and gone."

"I remember what you told me. I'll write it down, and you can read it and remember once again."

"But I cannot read your language."

"I'll teach you."

"I will forget."

"Then I'll remind you to read each day. That way you won't forget, because the words will always be fresh in your mind."

Soo-Kai stopped walking, drawing Rolf to a halt by her side. "You will do all this for me?"

"I should have started doing it from the moment you told me," Rolf replied sort of sadly. Then he smiled and squeezed her hand once more. "But don't worry. The winter nights are long, and I will soon catch up. And when I ask you to describe the things that happened to you, it will help you to remember them, and maybe that way, they won't fade away."

Soo-Kai's eyes filled with tears, and she moved closer to Rolf. She rubbed her cheek against his, and then kissed him. "I know that no matter what, my memories will fade," she said after their kiss. "But now I do not fear this. Write at the beginning that you and I are bonded, that I am very happy with this, and that I do not wish for it ever to end."

In Ellerkan, others watched the passing torrents. Prince Carl L'Hage stood on one of the embankments with his younger brother, Prince Harold. The river was very wide and high, and the water was brown with the swept up soil and debris of the forrest and the hills. Branches, bits of wood, lumps of grass and other vegetation, all of it rushed by. Even the broken trunks of up- rooted trees floated by on their way to the sea. Prince Carl leaned over the wall of the embankment, staring at it all in fascination.

"The water runs higher than ever this year," he said. "'Tis an omen, I think."

"If that be true, then it is a bad omen," Prince Harold replied solemnly.

Prince Carl laughed. "You are too morbid, my brother. Does the sight of this swollen river not excite you? Can you find no joy with the wonders of nature and the greatness of it's power?"

"How can I be joyful when half our kingdom floats out to sea? Have you not heard the news from the coast? Danek is flooded, their fishing boats now journey to the centre of the village, or as far as they can before they hit the rising tide of mud. And Sintal is the same. Their ships find no fish because of the mud that now fills the water. 'Tis the same mud that fills their villages and houses, and blocks the roads. The mud that was once our land. It is the same for all the villages along the coast of Halafalon. No, Carl, I do not see joy in this scene, only misery and suffering. It is a disaster."

Prince Carl's excitement and good humour were not affected by his brother's darker mood. "Our father is a forgiving King. He has promised to forgo the taxes for the year. The people will not suffer as badly as you fear."

Prince Harold wasn't impressed. "You think only of money. You will think again when you sit at the table to dine and find no fish or vegetables, but only dried mutton before you. The people on the coast will have less to eat. And the water they drink is tainted."

Prince Carl laughed and slapped Harold on the back. "One day, my brother, you will learn how to smile! But until then, we will help the people in their suffering. We will organise water and dried mutton. Come, let us talk to our father, he often says we spend our time idly, so let us prove him wrong."

It was many days before the waters finally subsided. In that time, vast quantities of soil and vegetation were swept from the land. What the rains had earlier washed loose from the hillsides and the valleys, the rivers now carried away. In time, the land would recover, and it would be many years before the rains came in such force again. The brief spectacle of nature's power was over, and even the people in the coastal villages were relieved by the caravans of food and water brought by the Royal Princes.

But not all the mud was swept out to sea. The green fields of Halafalon in the lowlands were always fertile, no matter how intensely they were farmed. The sight of them flooded by the rains had brought fear to the people who farmed them and relied on them for their lives and their future. But as the waters receded, the mud it left behind brought precious nutrients and life to the tired earth, making it fertile once more. The following year the crops were good. It was a natural cycle, new to the young, but remembered by the old. But this time, what the rains uncovered by washing away the soil from the hills in the forrest was more than mere memory.

When Rolf and Soo-Kai received their next visitors, another year had passed. This time Soo-Kai knew they were close by well before they reached the clearing where their house stood. She picked up their scent easily. But the scent was familiar, like a well remembered taste in the air. It pleased her and scared her at the same time. She knew some of those that came, and one she knew very well.

The knowledge that she still lived, and that she came with them pleased her, but what filled Soo-Kai with sudden fear was the knowledge that Rolf was not with her. He was out of the house, off in the forrest somewhere. They would not know that she and Rolf were bonded, and if they found him first, they would kill him.

Without hesitation, Soo-Kai bounded out of the house and ran among the trees. Her feet were bare, and she was dressed in a faded blue waistcoat over an embroidered white blouse. Instead of leggings she wore a skirt of leather, faded blue like her waistcoat. It was her favourite outfit, made for her by Rolf after Gustavo and Mai-Zen's visit.

Soo-Kai stopped by a tree, stood on tip-toes, and drew in great breaths through her nose, trying to pick up Rolf's scent in the air. Yes, there he was, somewhere off to the north. But to her horror, that familiar scent was also strong in this direction. Soo-Kai waited no longer. She ran, she ran as fast as she could.

Rolf sat with his back to a tree. He held a long thin branch in his hand, which he idly beat and swept at the fallen leaves. He was lost in deep thoughts as usual, and didn't even hear them approach. The first thing he saw was a pair of boots. He looked up and saw it was Soo-Kai. But there was something strange about her. She was dressed as she was when he had first seen her all those years before, in a faded black tunic and leggings. And her sword was in her hand. Then he saw the others with her. One was blonde, the other brunette, both dressed the same, and both with their swords drawn. The brunette also had a long bow over one shoulder and a quiver of arrows over the other.

Rolf became alarmed. He dropped the branch and made as if to get up. Instantly, the sword swished towards him, and Rolf felt it's point pressed against his throat. He was pushed back against the tree, his eyes wide in his terror. He stared up at the one who held the sword at his throat, the one that looked so like his wife, Soo-Kai. Her expression made her intentions clear. She was going to kill him.

"Na dat!" a voice called out urgently, desperately. "Na dat te Navak!"

The Destroyers all looked up. Soo-Kai appeared, the real Soo- Kai. She stood before her double, talking in a language Rolf had never heard before. She looked worried, she was breathing hard, and she spoke fitfully, but quickly.

"Te Navak da kar Rolf....Se da umgrak blet Rolf....Na dat...."

Soo-Kai's double spoke back. The words were harsh and abrupt. Soo-Kai replied, her voice raised this time, and a moment later the pair of them were talking so quickly and loudly that it was obvious that they were arguing.

Rolf understood none of it. He sat against the tree, listening and fearful, the sword still at his throat.

Suddenly, there was silence. Soo-Kai's double looked down at Rolf almost with distaste. "Be thankful that your bond came in time, Navak," she said. "A moment later and I would have killed you."

Her tone was harsh and unforgiving, but the sword was removed from Rolf's throat, and Soo-Kai instantly fell on him, kissing him and hugging him.

"It is alright, my husband," she said. "You will be safe now."

Rolf climbed shakily to his feet, Soo-Kai helping him. He was suddenly indignant. "Who are these women?" he asked. "Why do they threaten me? And why is she your twin?"

"She is not my twin, Rolf. She is Kai-Tai, my mother."

The Destroyers greeted one another by bringing their faces together and rubbing cheeks. Soo-Kai did this with each of them in turn, dwelling longer with Kai-Tai. It was clear to Rolf that Soo-Kai was glad to see her mother, but also a little uneasy.

The blonde Destroyer was called Hai-Fam, the other was Nan-Po. Soo-Kai remembered Nan-Po, but Hai-Fam was unfamiliar to her. This could have been because they had never met, or because she had forgotten her. Soo-Kai could not tell which.

Only Kai-Tai spoke during the introductions. Rolf was amazed by how similar she and Soo-Kai were. Even Kai-Tai's voice sounded so much like Soo-Kai's. From their silence, Rolf quickly realised that the other two Destroyers only spoke their own harsh language. It was strange. Until that day, he had never heard the Destroyer language before, and he had never even suspected that Soo-Kai had known such a language. It was his own fault really. He just didn't know what questions to ask.

Rolf had begun to record Soo-Kai's memories in a journal as he had promised. But although he had already written many pages, and she read almost every night since he taught her how to read, he realised that there was still so much more about her that he didn't know. It made him feel guilty for the time he had wasted dwelling on the possibility of children, when he could have been learning so much more from Soo-Kai while she still had her memory. He promised himself that he would be more searching in his questioning of her in future, and that he wouldn't just rely on what she thought to tell him.

When the Destroyers replaced their swords in their backs, Rolf relaxed a little. They had gone back to the house. Rolf walked arm in arm with Soo-Kai while the three Destroyers followed behind.

Rolf couldn't help being nervous. From having one Destroyer in his house, he now had four. And one was the equivalent of his mother-in-law. But despite his nerves, he was the perfect host. He sat them down at his little table, made coffee, and offered them food. While he toiled, they all sat in silence. Hai-Fam looked around curiously while Kai-Tai and Nan-Po looked most uncomfortable. Even Soo-Kai seemed un-sure of the situation.

The coffee left Kai-Tai and Nan-Po unimpressed, only Hai-Fam took a second cup. But where the coffee had failed, the food succeeded. They were all hungry, and they all ate. And as they ate, they began to relax. Hai-Fam kept looking at the clothes Soo-Kai wore, even tugging at her waistcoat and blouse. She seemed fascinated by the colour and texture of the embroidered material. Even Nan-Po seemed curious. Rolf took his cue. He was quick to realise that Soo-Kai would wish to talk with her mother. So he busied himself showing Hai-Fam and Nan-Po the work he did as a tailor, ushering them to the corner where he worked and kept the cloth he traded for in the nearby villages.

Rolf was surprised by the difference in their looks and their temperaments. Where Hai-Fam was curious and bright, Nan-Po was stand-offish and dark. He could tell that Nan-Po disliked him. She had long black hair, brown eyes and an oval face. Her expression was always either angry or aloof. Like Kai-Tai, she was harsh and abrupt in her manner, and she quickly became bored, showing little interest in anything she saw.

Hai-Fam was the complete opposite. Blonde, blue-eyed and child- like, she delighted in the feel and the colour of the cloth and the finished garments he showed her. It was as if it was all new and exciting to her. She even kept a brightly coloured piece of silk that Rolf had discarded, using it like a ribbon to tie up her long blonde hair, pulling it into a pony-tail. She shook her head, feeling the pony-tail wagging back and forth over her shoulders. Nan-Po didn't look impressed.

While Rolf entertained Hai-Fam and Nan-Po, Soo-Kai and Kai-Tai remained seated at the table. Soo-Kai was the first to break the silence between them.

"Why have you come to the forrest in Halafalon?" she asked her mother.

"We came in search of you," Kai-Tai replied.

"I have been absent from my den for six years. Why did you not search for me before?"

"I thought you had been slain."

Soo-Kai was surprised by the bluntness of Kai-Tai's reply. It hurt her, and when she spoke her tone was equally harsh.

"If you thought I was dead, then why do you search for me now?"

Kai-Tai answered her question with another question. "Do you forget what year it is?"

For a moment, Soo-Kai looked puzzled. Then her expression hardened. "Then you did not come in search of me, as you said, but in a quest to enter the castle."

"My answer was truthful. Our journey was towards the castle, but as we came near, we picked up your scent and came to investigate. I can tell from your voice that the knowledge that I did not concern myself with your loss knaws at you. I tell you now that this change in you concerns me more than your death would have done. Do not forget who you are, Soo-Kai. We are the Gest Hroya. Destroyers. Do not let your bond with Rolf soften your resolve."

Soo-Kai wasn't the least bit affected by her mother's reprimand. "You tell me off like a mother, but you were not concerned for my life," she replied. "Why should I let your words influence me?"

"Because you are my seed, and because you are a clone of the Tun-Sho-Lok."

"I am bonded, and the bond takes precedence over the Purpose."

Kai-Tai nodded. "For now this is true, and none can interfere. But this will not last forever. When your bond is over, your mind will be free, and you will revert to the Purpose once more."

"I am old and Rolf is young," Soo-Kai replied. "Who is to say that I will revert when his life is over?"

"You are old, but I am older," Kai-Tai countered. "A long time ago you and I stood together on the bridge of the Althon Gerail, you at one command console, and I at the other. The Navak felt our wrath. When the Nakora Tabek returns, I will stand again on the decks of the Althon Gerail, and the data link will be re- opened. I will escape from here, and the galaxy will again feel the wrath of the Gest Hroya, the clones of the Tun-Sho-Lok."

Soo-Kai was unimpressed. "Your words are full of strength, but the humans will not let you enter the castle."

"The humans have lost their resolve for war against us. They forget the importance of the castle, and it's garrison is weak."

"But you are too few."

"There are other Destroyers gathering in the forrest, they will increase our numbers. We maybe few, but our resolve has not broken. Come with us, Soo-Kai. If you do not, you could be left behind."

Rolf had returned with Hai-Fam and Nan-Po. He heard only Kai- Tai's last words, but they frightened him. He spoke without thinking.

"No! Soo-Kai stays with me!"

Kai-Tai didn't even look at Rolf. She kept her eyes on Soo-Kai, and asked, "Does he command you?"

"He is my bond, my husband," Soo-Kai replied. "Even if he had not spoken, my answer would have been the same. If he commands me, it is because I wish him to."

Rolf had come to stand by Soo-Kai. He put his arm around her shoulders, and she put her arm around him.

Kai-Tai stood up. "Then our time here is over." She turned and called to the other Destroyers. "Cha! Sun lak!" She walked out the door without another word. Hai-Fam and Nan-Po followed her.

Soo-Kai stood up and watched them go. Rolf had been proud at what she said, but now he saw the tortured look on her face, and he became anxious.

"You don't really want to go with them, do you?"

Soo-Kai went to the door and stared at the departing figures. "No, my husband," she said. "But there is something I must yet discuss with my mother." She turned her head to look at him and placed her hand on his chest. "Wait, please." Then she ran out the door after them.

Rolf stood in the doorway and watched. He wanted so much to run after her, but he did as she asked.

Soo-Kai ran forward and called after Kai-Tai, her voice anxious.

Kai-Tai heard her and stopped. She spoke to Hai-Fam and Nan-Po then turned back on her own.

Soo-Kai ran up to her. "I am in compression," she said simply.

"You fear that you will forget me," Kai-Tai said in a knowing way.

"Yes. You, Rolf, and everything upon which I build my mind." Soo-Kai said nothing about the journal she kept safe by their bed in the little house.

"It is the same for all of us," Kai-Tai replied. "Gradually, all that clutters our minds will be removed. Only the Purpose, and the tactical data required to achieve it will remain. I too am in compression. Soon the history of what happened and what I experienced will fade. Even the memory of you, my only surviving seed, will be gone."

"And you do not fear this as I do?"

Kai-Tai shook her head. "No. It is a time I welcome. My mind will be clear once more, as it was when I first began. And like Hai-Fam, who is not yet mature, I will be able to pursue the Purpose with renewed vigour."

Soo-Kai turned and stared at Hai-Fam in sudden awe. "How old is she?" she asked quickly.

"Four summers. She is the only one that survived from Fam-Chen's last birthing."

"And Fam-Chen?"

"Killed in a skirmish with Outsiders at the mountain pass in Falonbeck."

Soo-Kai continued to stare at Hai-Fam. "You must watch her well. Her chances of breeding may be greater than ours."

"No one of us is more greater than the Purpose," Kai-Tai said rather callously. "Not Hai-Fam, and not you. If the situation dictates, I will break the bond between you and Rolf."

Soo-Kai looked now at Kai-Tai. "When my bond with Rolf is at an end, I will seek my own death. I do not welcome the compression of my mind, and I will not revert to my old ways. I have already lived too long."

Kai-Tai's answer was without remorse. "Compression of your mind will soon erase the memory of what you say and the will of your intent. When the time comes, you will revert. And no matter what you may decide now, you will out-live me."

Kai-Tai turned and walked back to Hai-Fam and Nan-Po, and the three of them walked away.

Rolf hurried from the house and came to stand by Soo-Kai. She instantly grabbed him and said, "What did you think of Hai-Fam?"

Rolf was surprised. He had thought Soo-Kai was going to tell him something about Kai-Tai. He shrugged. "Oh, I don't know," he said, and looked up at the departing figures.

At that moment, he saw Kai-Tai reach across to Hai-Fam and pull the cloth of silk from her hair. Hai-Fam tried to take it back, but Kai-Tai held it out of reach and then threw it away. Hai-Fam looked back at the discarded cloth as Kai-Tai and Nan-Po pulled her along, and soon they had disappeared among the trees.

Rolf smiled. "She seemed alright, I suppose. She was a bit more curious than the other one. Why do you ask?"

Soo-Kai turned to him, her face filled with emotion. She wrapped her arms around him and spoke excitedly. "She was a gift, Rolf! She was four! Do you realise what that means?"

Rolf stared back at her in amazement. "Four? How can that be? She was as tall as...." His voice trailed off as he finally realised her meaning. He grabbed Soo-Kai's shoulders. "Four! A mere infant! Then it can be done!"

"Yes, my husband! And if one can do it, so can another! We must try again! And often!"

Within a day of Kai-Tai's visit, Soo-Kai knew something was wrong in the forrest. Where before the forrest lay empty, now there were too many people. She could taste them in the air. She said as much to Rolf as they stood outside their house in the early morning.

Rolf looked around at the familiar trees. Everything seemed the same to him. He always marvelled at Soo-Kai's sensory powers, but he never once doubted them. "Do you think your mother attacked the castle?" he asked her in concern. "Maybe King L'Hage has sent reinforcements?"

She shook her head. "I cannot tell. If Kai-Tai is still in the forrest, she is too far away. I cannot smell Destroyers, only humans. But their genetic code is unfamiliar."

Now that puzzled Rolf. He knew that Soo-Kai could identify the genetic finger print of every race on the planet. And it was one part of her memory that she wouldn't forget. For her to say that they were unfamiliar could mean only one thing.

"Do you think they are off worlders? Aliens?"

She nodded. "Yes. It is the only answer. Sometimes they are alone. But often they intermix with those whose DNA I can recognise."

"What can this mean?"

"It is the year of the ship," Soo-Kai said simply. "Maybe Kai- Tai has succeeded in gaining entry to the castle as she intended, and has contacted the ship. But why this would bring more humans I cannot say."

Rolf was thoughtful. After Kai-Tai's visit, Soo-Kai had told him about the Nakora Tabek, the Navak ship that returned on a fixed orbit every twenty-eight years. It came to pick up survivors from it's original crew, but the technology to contact it had been lost long ago. Only in the Althon Gerail, it's sister ship buried under the castle, did the possibility exist that such technology may have survived. So far, no one had managed to get inside to find out. Rolf had written it all down in Soo-Kai's journal.

"Maybe we should investigate?" he said.

Soo-Kai looked at him. "To investigate could be dangerous."

"What would Gustavo and Mai-Zen do? What do you want to do?"

Now it was Soo-Kai's turn to be thoughtful. "We will wait."

They didn't have to wait long.

The next day, Rolf was on his way back from one of his trading visits to a nearby village. He always went alone on such trips. It worried Soo-Kai, and she didn't like it, but she understood.

She had came with him once, and her beauty had turned heads and attracted too much attention. The villagers had recognised her as a Destroyer, and while the men were envious, the women had been hostile. Rolf had been frightened. He had convinced her to stay behind after that, telling her that he was far more worried about her than he was for his own safety. She gave in, but always met him halfway. He was almost at the point where she would be waiting for him when it happened.

He was walking along the trail he had taken many times before, pulling his little cart behind him. It was laden with food and provisions and ever more cloth. Rolf was thinking about the good deals he had made this trip for his finished garments, when the child suddenly appeared.

It was a little boy. He ran out in front of Rolf and stood there staring up at him. He couldn't have been more than ten years old. He wore short grey pants, a white shirt, and a blue jacket. He was panting and out of breath, and he looked quite scared.

Rolf was as surprised at their meeting as the little boy obviously was.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Daniel," the boy replied breathlessly.

"What are you doing in the forrest all on your own? Where have you come from?"

The boy turned and pointed back the way he had came, then he coughed and fell over.

Rolf looked at him as he lay on the ground. He was so surprised it took him a while to notice the arrow sticking out of the little boy's chest. Then he dropped his cart and ran. Another arrow struck a tree as he ran passed it.

Rolf ran for his life. But he knew it wasn't going to be fast enough. He could hear the sound of horses, and they were getting nearer. Soon he could see them. Three riders. Rolf changed direction, darting among the trees, but it was no good. One of the horses overtook him, and Rolf was kicked to the ground by it's rider.

As Rolf lay panting on the ground, his pursuers reined in their horses and dismounted. A man with a bow in his hand held the horses while his two companions walked purposefully towards Rolf. As the two men came closer, one of them drew his sword and smiled evilly.

Rolf looked up, expecting to be killed, when Soo-Kai jumped out from the trees and sliced at the man with the sword, striking his head from his shoulders. Before the second man could even draw his sword, Soo-Kai had spun round and thrust her sword deep into his chest. That left the man with the horses. Soo-Kai bounded after him. The man quickly dropped the reins of the other two horses and tried to mount his own horse, but Soo-Kai sliced at his back and he fell. His horse bolted in panic. As the man lay wounded on the ground, Soo-Kai held her sword point downward and plunged it into him.

It was all over in a few seconds.

Rolf sat up and looked around at the carnage. Soo-Kai ran to him, hugging him tightly.

"Are you hurt, my husband?" she said anxiously, her voice filled with concern.

"No, I'm alright," Rolf replied in a weak voice. He was staring at the headless body that lay nearby as if he was mesmerised. "There's so much blood," he muttered.

"Are you angry with me?"

Rolf looked at her in surprise. "Angry? Why would I be angry? You just saved my life."

"But I killed three without your permission, or your order."

"I'm glad," Rolf replied, his expression hardening. "They killed a child, Soo-Kai! A child! I was with him only a moment ago!"

"Show me this child, my husband."

Rolf began to get up. "Yes. This way. I'll show you. Just a child he was. A child."

Rolf led the way back through the trees. Soo-Kai took the reins of the remaining two horses and followed him. She replaced her sword in her back and watched Rolf closely. That was twice she had nearly lost him. Once when Kai-Tai had come to visit, and now, when Rolf was returning from the village. The forrest was rapidly becoming a dangerous place.

They found the little boy where he fell, Rolf's abandoned cart nearby. Rolf knelt down next to the small body.

"A mere child," he said sadly. "He said his name was Daniel." He looked up at Soo-Kai. "Why would they do such a thing? Why would they hunt him like an animal? Why would they want to kill him?"

"It is not only children that you humans hunt in the forrest," Soo-Kai reminded him.

Rolf nodded. "Yes, you are right," he said in dismay. "My people are often cruel and heartless. They hunt your people out of habit, and they use what little they remember of the past as an excuse for their lust and murder. But I can't understand why they would want to kill a child. It doesn't make sense, Soo-Kai."

Soo-Kai had knelt down next to him. Now she lowered her head and sniffed at the boy. She took two quick breaths through her nose, then she touched the boy on the forehead, her fingers brushing lightly over his skin. "Yes, there is sense here."

"What sense?" Rolf demanded.

"The boy is an alien. His DNA is not of this world, although it is similar to those of the race who first settled here. Those that hunted him must know this."

Rolf stared down at the little boy. "But he looks so normal, so like us."

"What of his clothes, Rolf. You are a tailor. What do you make of them?"

For the first time, Rolf stared at the boy with more dispassionate eyes. He looked at the boy's jacket and shirt, and he felt the cloth and the buttons. He even examined the boy's shoes. Slowly he nodded, and began to catalogue the differences.

"You are right, my wife. The material of his jacket and it's lining are unfamiliar to me. The fabric of the shirt I know, but the buttons are made from a tough bone or pearl that I have not felt before. And the stitching, it is so straight and precise. Too straight for the hand of a man, I think. It is as if it were done by some machine. And his shoes are unlike anything I have seen. They are not leather, and they are not cloth. They seem old and worn, and smell strangely, and yet their colour is so strong and vibrant."

"What do you make of the jewellery that adorns his wrist?" Soo- Kai asked.

Rolf picked up the boy's lifeless hand and stared at the white dial and numerals. "It bears the face of a clock. But I have never seen a time-piece so small." He moved his head closer and listened. "Yes! It ticks! I hear it!"

"We must leave here," Soo-Kai said abruptly. She stood up and reached out to Rolf. "Come, my husband."

Rolf looked up at her in astonishment. "We can't just leave him!" he exclaimed.

"We must."

"But why?"

"Because they hunted for him, and because they hunted you when they found you with him. We must leave him so that when others come they will find him and know that he is dead. That way they will stop looking."

It all sounded perfectly logical, but Rolf couldn't bring himself to leave. "But what about the three men you killed?"

"Did you recognise their colours?"

Rolf paused and turned to look at the horses. "They bear no Royal Crest. They will be from the castle garrison."

"Yes, the castle my mother and other Destroyers have gathered to attack. These three will not be the only men to die at the hands of a Destroyer this summer. No, it is the boy that is important. Those at the castle must know of the aliens. As before, I picked up their scent alone, before others came and intermixed with them and enveloped them."

"They captured them," Rolf said bitterly. "The boy must have escaped."

Soo-Kai nodded. "I detected the scent of the boy and the men who pursued him close to that of yours as you returned home. It filled me with alarm and I came forth as quickly as I could. I am sorry I was too late for the boy, but it was you I worried about."

Rolf stood up at last and put his hand on her shoulder. He smiled weakly. "It's alright, Soo-Kai. I know you would have saved the boy if you could. And you're right, we better go before any more men-at-arms come in search of their companions. But I can't help feeling sad. He was just a little boy."

They left him there, dead on the trail. At first, Rolf kept looking back as they walked away. He pulled his cart behind him while Soo-Kai led the horses. Soon the body of the boy was lost from view, and even the trail was left behind as they turned from it and headed home.

Rolf was silent and depressed as they walked along. Soo-Kai knew what ailed him. It wasn't just the death of the boy, it was the death of his dream. A little boy would have delighted Rolf so much. She had told him that if they were successful, she could only give him girls. Rolf said he didn't care, that he would love a daughter as greatly as a son. But Soo-Kai could see the look of torment in his eyes. Daughters of his own, and an adopted son would have been a dream come true. Soo-Kai couldn't stand his sadness.

"Do not be down-hearted, Rolf," she said to him. "Where there is one, there maybe others."

Rolf looked across at her. "I asked you yesterday what you wanted to do. You said to wait. Well I can wait no longer. I want to know what's going on, where these aliens come from, and why men from the castle hunt them."

Soo-Kai nodded. "Yes. I too feel this way. This is why I kept the horses, because tomorrow we will have need of them. Tomorrow we ride to the castle."

By the following morning, Rolf was filled with curiosity, but he was also scared. As he and Soo-Kai rode together from their house, Rolf contemplated what they were about to do. They were going into danger. It was just the sort of thing he liked to avoid. It wasn't that he was a coward, just that he wasn't a warrior, a knight used to war and bloodshed. He was a tailor. And he had a lot to lose.

It was over six years since he had ridden into the clearing with Soo-Kai. He had sold the horse shortly after, and had bought food and cloth with the money he had received. It was the last time he had rode a horse. Until now. Not that he had forgotten how to ride. But somehow he felt that Soo-Kai looked far better on her horse than he did on his. She rode in such a confident and proud manner, her head held high, and her rich red hair flowing in the wind. How he loved her so.

And that was what scared him the most. If he could spend his whole life with her alone, never meeting another human-being at all, he would be happy. Because it was human-beings that brought danger. Destroyers killed because they were programmed to. They followed a kind of logic he could relate to. But people had many motives for killing. For pleasure, for gain, and for lust. And sometimes just for the sheer hell of it. Rolf had learned to be scared of people. Not so much for what they could do to him, but for what they could take from him.

But then there was the child, Daniel. What reason could there have been to kill him like that? He obviously had no value to them, or else they would have sought his capture and not his death. Rolf and Soo-Kai had talked about it the night before. She had said that those at the castle were hiding something. It was obvious, really. They had killed the boy to keep the secret, and they would have killed him to do the same.

Rolf wanted to know what that secret was. He wanted to know what was going on at the castle, who these aliens were, and how they had got here.

That was when Soo-Kai asked him if he would keep another child if they found one. It was a question he hadn't expected. But as he had stared into her eyes he had understood. To have accepted a child that wasn't hers would have devalued their love for one another. As he had grieved over the death of the boy, that thought hadn't occurred to him. But now as he stared at her, it was as plain as day. Rolf had said no, and he had meant it.

"I want only what you can give me," he had told her.

"And if I can give you nothing?" she had asked.

"Then I will always have you."

Soo-Kai had seemed content with his answer. But after they had made love that night, she had been strangely reticent about her success at conception. "Don't ask me," was all she would say when he had questioned her. It made him wonder.

By the morning, Rolf had second thoughts about the risks he was taking. He said as much to Soo-Kai, but her mind was made up.

"We cannot avoid this, Rolf," she had told him. "What takes place at the castle in the forrest is too close to us. We must either flee, or engage it at our choice. To sit idly by would allow it to over-take us at it's choice. That would give those at the castle the advantage we now have. No, Rolf, I know this worries you, and I love you more for the fear you have for me, but I also worry. Twice now I have nearly lost you. I will not leave to chance a further engagement. We must learn what danger lies at the castle, and then we can choose our own fate."

Now as they rode together through the forrest, Rolf worried about the future, and about the fate that awaited them.

They had crossed a wide river in the forrest when Soo-Kai drew her horse to a halt and stared off to their right. Rolf stopped his horse beside her.

"What do you see?" he asked her.

"Something I have not seen for a long time. Follow me." She headed off to the right. Rolf followed her.

At first Rolf could see nothing. Then, bit by bit, the shape of a huge fallen carcass became visible among the trees.

It was like some huge tremendous sea beast that had died long ago and only it's bones and fragments of dried skin remained. It lay across their path, long and straight, and with the trees of the forrest growing up through it's broken ribs. But instead of being clean and white, the skeleton was brown and dirty, as if it had just been dug up. Everywhere there were bits of dried mud and foliage hanging from the bones. And many of the ribs had fallen and lay broken on the ground, while others emerged from the soil as mere stumps. Only the dried fragments of skin still stood in a line, marking the creatures outline. They were like the huge brown scales of some great fish.

Rolf stared at it in awe. He looked up and down it's length, unable to see it's end. It seemed to emerge from the ground at one end, and dive back into the ground at the other. Even the part that was exposed seemed to be half buried beneath their feet.

"What is this thing?" Rolf asked. "I have never seen the like of such a creature before in my life. Did it once live here in the forrest?"

Soo-Kai got off her horse and walked between the creature's great ribs, leading her horse behind her. "It is not a creature, my husband, but the remains of the assault ship from the Nakora Tabek. It is the ship that brought your ancestors to this world, Rolf. A ship that has been forgotten and buried here for more than two thousand years."

Rolf got off his horse and led it among the great ribs as Soo- Kai had done. He touched one of them, feeling it's rough brown surface. "This is not bone, then, but metal?"

"An alloy of steel. Long buried and rusting in the earth."

"Why has it not been seen before?"

"We are not far from the river," Soo-Kai suggested. "Maybe it's waters rose during the floods of last year and washed away the soil that covered it."

"After two thousand years?"

"The floods come often. Maybe the effect has been cumulative."

They walked around inside the remains of the ship. Soo-Kai led the way along it's length.

"This way is towards the back, where the cargo bays, engines and power source lay. Behind us would be the front, where the pilot would have sat and flown it. And in the middle, where we walk, is where once the Navak army sat and prepared for war."

Rolf gazed around at what was left of the ship. "Why do we walk towards the back?" he asked her.

"Because Destroyers do not believe in coincidence."

Rolf understood her meaning. The arrival of aliens to a world that had seen none for over two thousand years had to be triggered by some cause. What better than the exposure of an ancient relic? Soo-Kai's fears were proved correct.

When they reached the end of the ship, where it returned to the earth at the edge of a hill, they found evidence of digging. There was a tunnel dug into the hill inside the broken metal bones of the ship. It went deeper inside. All around the entrance to the tunnel were the signs of many horses and men. And among them all was the deeply grooved track of a wagon. It's path was plain to see. At the side of the ship, two of it's great ribs had been pushed aside to allow the passage of the wagon, it's tracks passing clearly between them. The two deep tracks then wound their way off among the trees.

Rolf knelt down and felt the depth of one of the tracks. "What they carried away was heavy."

Soo-Kai didn't answer. Rolf looked up and saw her standing by the entrance to the tunnel, peering inside.

"Are you going to look inside?" he asked her.

Soo-Kai turned and shook her head. "I know what they take. There is much danger in what we find here, Rolf."

Rolf stood up. "Danger, in what way?"

"We are surrounded by the footprints of men and horses, and yet only a Destroyer would have known what to take. And Destroyers do not work with humans unless they are bonded to them."

Rolf considered what that could mean. "These men probably come from the castle, like those that killed the boy."

Soo-Kai nodded.

"Then there is a bonded Destroyer at the castle," Rolf guessed. "The castle that was built to keep them out."

Soo-Kai nodded again. "But if this Destroyer has access to the Althon Gerail, why then does she take a power source from this wreck? And why do the aliens appear? There is much intent here, a purpose pursued. But as yet, the purpose is hidden."

"What do we do?"

"Find my mother."

Soo-Kai knew that seeking out her mother and the other Destroyers was a great risk. But it was a risk of necessity. If there was a Destroyer in the castle, and she was bonded, then her motives would be unclear even if her knowledge was not.

For Kai-Tai and the other Destroyers, access to the Althon Gerail meant escape. Escape from this world where none could breed successfully, escape from a world that had been their prison for too long. But to escape meant also to resume the Purpose.

Soo-Kai had no love for the Purpose. Her bond with Rolf allowed her to have this thought, it allowed her to see and think in ways she had not thought possible. To touch an Outsider, and to do what she now did, these would have been unthinkable without the bond. But all that freedom would be gone when the bond ended. And so it must be for the Destroyer in the castle.

Like Soo-Kai, the Destroyer in the castle would be free to think of other things. She would not be pursuing the Purpose. For her, access to the Althon Gerail would not have the same meaning as it did for Kai-Tai and those with her. But she would know that they would come. So what was she doing?

Soo-Kai contemplated what she would do if she had access to the castle. For her, escape from Ellerkan was not an escape. Her time with Rolf was her escape, and it was limited. Would she destroy the Althon Gerail? If she did, Kai-Tai and the other Destroyers would have no reason to attack the castle. But that would trap her race here forever. Would she do that? At one time she would have said yes, but now she had to think of the future. The Destroyer in the castle may have no such thoughts to hinder her. But did this Destroyer hate the Purpose as greatly as she now did?

"Could she be influenced by the man she was bonded to?"

Soo-Kai turned to look at Rolf, riding on his horse alongside her. She raised her eyebrows and asked, "How did you know what I was thinking?"

Rolf smiled. "You were so quiet, I assumed you were thinking about what you would do in her place. It is an interesting thought."

Soo-Kai nodded. "Your understanding of me has grown as our time together has grown. I am thankful for this. And yes, you are correct, her bond will have an influence. You have always had the ability to command me, but you have never used it. This has also pleased me greatly. The Destroyer in the castle may not be so fortunate."

"But if the man she is bonded to is commanding her, he would have to know what it is he ordered her to do," Rolf said, then shrugged his shoulders. "I wouldn't have been able to recognise that -what did you call it? An assault ship? No, I wouldn't have recognised it, nor been able to command you to remove the part that was removed. Like you said, only a Destroyer would know that."

"You think too far. For him, his command may be simple, but for her, the solution to it may require complex acts."

"You mean he could have asked her to bring light to his castle at night, and she would have taken the power source to do it?"

"Yes."

"Then where did the aliens come from?"

"Only when we reach the castle will we know this."

They rode on in silence for a while as they both thought about what could be happening at the castle. Then another thought occurred to Rolf.

"Why do we need to find your mother?" he asked.

"Because the Destroyer at the castle will know that this is the year of the ship, and that other Destroyers will gather there. She will feel threatened, and that her bond is threatened. She will tell him about those that come, and why. The garrison will not be weak as Kai-Tai thinks."

"So we are going to warn her?" Rolf said in surprise.

"She is still my mother," Soo-Kai replied.

Rolf sighed and nodded. "Yes, she is. But something tells me that she won't be happy to see us."

Soo-Kai picked up the scent of Kai-Tai as they came closer to the castle. As before, she was not alone. But where before there were three, now there were eleven.

Rolf was correct in his prediction of their welcome. As soon as they came near, Kai-Tai drew her sword and approached them. The other Destroyers came with her, Hai-Fam and Nan-Po among them.

Kai-Tai didn't wait for them to dismount, but immediately pointed her sword at Soo-Kai and almost snarled at her. "You should not have come, my seed! To be close to the castle at this time is to court death!"

"I had to," Soo-Kai replied. Her sword was not drawn, and she tried to keep herself between Rolf and the other Destroyers. It wasn't easy, as they were quickly surrounded.

Rolf found himself staring at the points of many swords. Even Hai-Fam's expression was unfriendly.

Kai-Tai still kept her sword pointed at Soo-Kai. "Then tell me why we should not kill the Navak and free you of this bond?" she demanded.

Soo-Kai kept her nerve as she answered. "Because there is a Destroyer in the castle, and it is her bond that threatens you."

Kai-Tai lowered her sword and stared at Soo-Kai. "You risked much to tell me this. Why?"

"Because I am your seed, and because the garrison will be strong and not weak as you thought."

Kai-Tai seemed thoughtful. "Ban te na!" she suddenly called out, and all the swords were lowered.

Rolf watched Hai-Fam as she replaced her sword in her back. She smiled at him. It was a bright childish grin. It surprised him.

Kai-Tai and the other Destroyers all replaced their swords in their backs. Soo-Kai dismounted from her horse. Rolf did the same. He still felt uneasy standing there among them all, but he took his chance for a closer look.

They were a mixture, these Destroyers, but also the same. Rolf gazed around at them all. Like Hai-Fam and Nan-Po, they were all tall and shapely, and all wore the same style of clothes. Black or dark brown tunics and leggings, and long boots. Even their features were similar. Only their hair and eyes were different. Blonde hair, black, brown, or red. Some had their hair long, some short. Their eyes were blue, or brown or green. All their expression's were also the same. Only Hai-Fam's was different, only she now looked at him with an expression that wasn't filled with distaste.

Yes, Rolf felt distinctly uncomfortable. He stayed close to Soo- Kai. But unfortunately, she stood next to her mother, and Rolf could see that Kai-Tai's eyes held more hatred for him than any of the others.

Soo-Kai was concerned that Kai-Tai still intended to attack the castle. She said as much to Kai-Tai. And when Kai-Tai confirmed her fears, Soo-Kai became alarmed.

"But you are only eleven!" she exclaimed in disbelief.

"With you we could be twelve."

"It would not matter if you were twenty!" Soo-Kai replied quickly. "The garrison will be strong. The Destroyer in the castle will have warned them. What you propose is suicide. You cannot pursue an attack now that you know the castle garrison has been warned."

"There is nothing you have told us today that we did not already know. Mai-Ra and Jai-Soo found the assault ship yesterday. Its meaning was obvious."

Kai-Tai's casual revelation that she had known about the assault ship all along made Soo-Kai angry.

"You knew, and yet you would still attack? This is madness, my mother! Stop this!"

Kai-Tai ignored her daughter's outburst. "Your presence here is unnecessary, but understood. Now you have a choice. You must either join us in our attack on the castle, or you must leave."

Soo-Kai stared at Kai-Tai. "You would kill all in a fruitless attack?"

"Our lives would indeed be fruitless if we stood by and let the Destroyer in the castle use the coming of the ship to escape and leave us trapped here forever."

Rolf now chose to enter the debate. "What makes you all think that she's going to fight you? For all you know, she could have left the castle gates open and put out the welcome mat."

They all stared at him. Only Kai-Tai broke the stunned silence.

"What would you know about Destroyers, Navak?" she said in a stern voice.

"Not much, but I know a lot about bonded Destroyers," Rolf replied confidently. "Soo-Kai and I came here to warn you. We didn't need to. I could have told Soo-Kai not to come, and she would have obeyed me. It would have hurt her, but she would have obeyed me. The point is, she wanted to come here and warn you, even though she was bonded and her path was now different to yours. The Destroyer in the castle could be equally friendly towards your cause. But what counts isn't what she's thinking. What does count is what her bond is thinking."

"Her bond will be human," Kai-Tai said with distaste. "That in itself makes him our enemy."

"Then why are aliens appearing in the forrest?"

Kai-Tai stared at Rolf. For the first time her expression lost it's intensity and became almost puzzled. "We have tasted the scent of such aliens in the forrest," she said in a calmer voice. "But we have not seen any."

Soo-Kai now spoke. "We have seen. A boy child, killed by men from the castle garrison. They hide what they do."

Kai-Tai became thoughtful. She briefly turned away from Soo-Kai and Rolf as she considered her reply. Finally she turned back to face them and said, "I accept your words. The arrival of these aliens can mean only one thing. Despite my precautions, this Destroyer has access to the Window of the Nakora Tabek. At the moment we cannot be sure of her intent, and even less that of her bond. But the castle gates are not open, and there is no mat outside. For now, at least, we will wait."

Soo-Kai had decided to go with Kai-Tai to look on the walls of the castle. Rolf had to stay with the other Destroyers. He wanted to go with Soo-Kai, but Kai-Tai refused to allow it.

"Our senses are greater than yours," she said. "Where we stand, your eyes will not see what ours will see. Your nose will not smell what ours will smell. And you cannot run and move through the forrest as we will move. No, you must stay here. You will be safe with my sisters. They will not kill you unless I order it, and I have ordered that you live."

Rolf was unconvinced, but then Soo-Kai kissed him and said, "Wait for me. You will be safe. Guard the horses."

Rolf held on to her. "Come back safely. I'll miss you."

Soo-Kai moved away, her hand slipping from his. She watched him wave as she left with Kai-Tai. She would feel terribly anxious until she returned. She waved back.

Kai-Tai grunted in annoyance and walked quickly away. Soo-Kai had to hurry to catch up with her.

Soon they were lost among the trees, running at a trot. It wasn't long before they reached the castle.

The castle was in the shape of a pentagon, with a tower at four of its points. One of these towers was larger than the rest, and housed the living apartments, while another held the guards and servants quarters. At the fifth point of the pentagon was the large gatehouse, fortified on either side by two more towers.

The walls of the castle were large and weathered, and there were many pock marks and scars from previous attempts to breech them. Every so often, there were sections where the stonework didn't match, showing a history of constant damage and repair. The castle wasn't big, but it was old and impressive.

As they stood next to a tree, peering at the castle walls in the distance, Soo-Kai asked her mother a question that had nagged at her.

"Why do you resent my bond," she said. "You know you cannot interfere, and yet I sense the hatred you have for him. It is stronger than in the others. Why?"

Kai-Tai didn't take her eyes from the castle as she spoke. "Because you are my seed. Because he takes you from me and turns you from the Purpose. And because you hold him before my lips like a morsel to be consumed. Do not be surprised if I should decide to take your gift."

"If you threaten him, I will fight," Soo-Kai replied sternly.

Kai-Tai turned to face Soo-Kai. "You cannot defend him now."

Soo-Kai became alarmed. She looked back the way they had came. It would take too long to go back. "You said he would be safe among the others!" she exclaimed.

"And so he will. Be calm, my daughter. None will kill him unless I act first. And I cannot act while your bond presents no threat. You are right, I cannot interfere, and this more than anything gives me the most irritation. Now, enough of your bond. Show me that you are still a clone of the Tun-Sho-Lok. Show me your sword and the dark side of your brain."

Soo-Kai relaxed, appeased by her mother's assurances. She drew the sword from her back and knelt down on the grass next to the tree. She put the sword on the ground next to her, it's hilt pointed at the castle. She knelt with her back very straight and her hands resting on her thighs. She closed her eyes.

Kai-Tai sat by the tree and watched Soo-Kai's sword. Slowly it began to change.

The point of the sword grew longer and thinner, while two lumps appeared on either side of the blade about halfway along it's length. Two more lumps appeared at the hilt. Between them, the blade grew fatter. The handle also grew fatter, but more rounded. The four lumps grew longer and became legs. They grew feet with long fingers and claws. The long point became a snake-like tail, while the middle section became a rounded body. The handle grew bigger and developed a long snout. Ears grew out of the top and eyes rotated into view. The snout split apart, revealing sharp silvery teeth. Slowly, it all turned green, matching the colour of the grass.

The transformation completed, the creature turned it's head and stared at Kai-Tai. Kai-Tai spoke to it.

"Go to the castle. Search for what we seek."

With a hiss, the reptile-like creature bounded forward, it's body zig-zagging as it ran across the grass towards the castle.

Kai-Tai watched and waited. Her eyes could pick out the tiny movement in the grass, even at this distance. When the creature reached the walls of the castle, it leapt up and ran up the wall, it's body zig-zagging like before. In an instant it had reached the top and vanished from view.

Kai-Tai turned and looked at Soo-Kai. She was breathing softly, evenly.

"Where are you?" she asked her.

"I am in the courtyard," Soo-Kai replied. Her eyes were still closed, and she spoke calmly and un-emotionally.

"What do you see?"

"There are many horses and wagons. The wagons are mounted with wooden cages. Men walk among the horses. There are many men. They hold pikes and shields. Some of the horses bear the pennants of knights. I can smell the scent of the aliens in the air."

"What of the Destroyer?" Kai-Tai asked.

There was a pause. "I sense nothing," Soo-Kai answered.

"Find the apartments. See who dwells inside."

"I go to the North Tower. I go round the walls. I pass the West Tower. Two guards stand at it's door. The windows are shuttered. I run along the wall. I am under the steps to the North Tower. There is a window high up. I climb. I am at the window."

"What do you see?"

"There are two men inside. They wear rich garments. They speak. I hear them. One calls the other Le-Roth. He speaks of his pet, saying that it will finish the artifact in a few days. Le-Roth wants the work to be done more quickly. He says that children are no replacement for weapons. He takes something from the other man and says that the trinkets they bring are worthless. He speaks of the other man's pet, saying that she is untrustworthy. He says that she belongs in the pit, and that she grows fat on those that she eats. The other man is angered by his words. They argue. Le- Roth comes to the window. He opens it! I leave!"

Soo-Kai took a sharp breath, her breathing slowly subsiding.

Kai-Tai moved closer to her. "Where are you now?" she whispered.

"I am on the ground by the wall on the far side of the North Tower. I stare at the trinket Le-Roth has thrown from the window. It is smashed. It was made from glass and metal. It has a leather strap. I have seen this thing before, on the wrist of the boy child that was killed in the forrest."

"Leave the trinket and move on," Kai-Tai told her. "Find the entrance to the underground quarters, search for the pit the men spoke of. Find the scent of the Destroyer."

"I run along the wall towards the East Tower. I see the grating in the ground. I wait for men to pass. I run! I am inside. I descend the steps. The taste of the aliens is strong here. I am in the passageway. Wait!"

Soo-Kai made a sudden snarl, baring her teeth.

"What is it?" Kai-Tai asked.

"I find a rat."

"Move on!" Kai-Tai urged her.

"I move along the passageway. There are many doors that I pass. I sniff at them. Yes! There are aliens within."

"Forget the aliens!" Kai-Tai snapped at her. "Find the Destroyer! She is the one we must know!"

"I move further down the passageway. It is very long. Wait! I smell her! She is here! Somewhere at the end of this passage! I move closer. I feel movement in the air. Something stirs. She has sensed my presence! She comes for me!"

Soo-Kai began to breathe quicker. "I turn and run! I hear her follow! I feel the ground tremble under her weight! She runs! I run! I am at the steps! She chases me! I run up the steps! She is behind me! She is big! Too big! I run! I run! I am out of the grating! She stops! She bangs her head and snaps at me!"

Soo-Kai stopped talking. She was panting madly, her eyes still closed tight.

Kai-Tai grabbed her. "Are you safe? Soo-Kai! My seed! Answer me!"

There was a low, pitiful moan. Kai-Tai heard it clearly. It came from the castle. Kai-Tai turned and stared at the distant walls. Something appeared at the top of the wall. It didn't wait to climb down, it just leapt from the top. It bounced when it landed in the grass. But when it hit the ground the second time, it came down running. Kai-Tai watched it scamper towards her.

The reptile-like creature ran up to Soo-Kai and fell to the ground before her. Instantly, it began to change. It's green skin changed to silver, and it's body flowed like liquid. It's head and body narrowed, and it's feet retracted. In a few moments it was the sword once more.

Soo-Kai quivered and opened her eyes. She snatched her breath and blurted out, "She is an Outsider!"

Kai-Tai moved closer to Soo-Kai and rubbed her cheek against hers. "You are safe. I am pleased."

Soo-Kai put her arm around Kai-Tai's waist and leaned against her. She was still panting, and the sweat had broken out on her skin.

"Even though she is bonded, she is full of anger," she gasped. "For the humans, the aliens, and for us. She is big, my mother! She was going to eat me!"

Kai-Tai put her arm around Soo-Kai and helped her to stand.

"Lean against the tree and calm yourself," she said, picking up Soo-Kai's sword and handing it to her. Soo-Kai replaced it in her back, leaning against the tree as Kai-Tai had said.

Kai-Tai waited until the sword had disappeared before she spoke again.

"Come, we must leave before she warns those in the North Tower of your presence. They may come to search for us. Are you ready?"

Soo-Kai nodded. Her breathing had returned to normal and she had grown calm again.

They ran through the forrest together, soon leaving the castle far behind. They didn't slow down until they were close to where Rolf and the other Destroyers waited for them. They walked the rest of the way.

It was then that Soo-Kai turned to Kai-Tai and said, "What must we do, my mother?"

"Kill her," Kai-Tai replied simply. "But first we must spoil what plans she makes. This Le-Roth you saw. We must increase his distrust of her. This artifact they spoke of, possibly it is a weapon -humans always want weapons, weapons and gold. But it is also possible that it is a device that will open the Window. The arrival of alien children would suggest this. If it is such a device, then what they intend to bring through the Window must be important to them. When next it opens, we must steal what they bring. If they lose faith in her, then her position is weakened."

"But she is big!" Soo-Kai insisted. "If she grows any larger, the passages beneath the castle will not be able to contain her."

"If she works on the device that operates the Window, there will be a time when her size will not help her."

"I nearly felt her wrath. She is no fool."

Kai-Tai looked across at Soo-Kai. "You did well today, my seed. Bonded or not, I am pleased with you, and glad that she did not eat you."

"I am glad also. And I bask in your approval. But it is strange, my mother. It is many years since I split my brain with my sword to reconnoitre, and I had forgotten that it left a taste of fur in my mouth."

The voice was deep and guttural. The very sound of it brought a feeling of evil to the mind. It came from a large, deep pit in the very bowels of the underground chambers of the castle. It was powerful, insistent, and angry.

"Let me out! Let me out and I will find her!"

Two men stood on a small ledge that ran around the top of the pit, staring down. One man was dressed in the clothes of a knight of the Royal Court, the blue chevron and lion, the crest of the L'Hage family on his breast plate. He was tall, with jet black hair and black eyes. He was bearded and his eyes blazed as he stared down at the occupant of the pit.

"Let you out? You must think us to be simple-minded!" he scoffed. "I would rather stick my head in your mouth! And me thinks that letting you out would amount to the same decision!"

"She saw me! She knows me! Let me out!"

The second man turned to the first. He was shorter and heavier. He had a round face with receding hair, his clothes were rich and colourful, and he looked agitated and worried. "What should we do, L'Roth?" he pleaded.

L'Roth was dismissive. "So what if one Destroyer has been seen by another. Why should this concern us? Do you think she will run to the King and tell him?"

"But there maybe other Destroyers in the forrest. I've lost three men already. What if they attack again?"

"Then we will kill them, and take great pleasure in doing it. No, Sir Henry. We do nothing. Least of all unleash your pet. She stays in the pit."

The voice was even more angry. "You are a fool, Le-Roth! The Insiders will not be so easy to slay. Let me out. It is better to attack than defend. I can lead you to them. I can smell them and the path they take. Let me out! Together we can defeat them!"

L'Roth's reply was filled with sarcasm. "Yes, and after our great victory we can celebrate by dining together, only we will be on the menu. You stay in the pit, and if you argue anymore, I will see to it that you are not fed tonight."

The voice became openly hostile. "This pit will not keep me contained for long! There will come a time when I will indeed have your head in my mouth, and you will regret your words!"

Lord L'Roth took one of the flaming torches from the wall and threw it into the pit. "Insolent bitch! Remember your place!"

There was a deep growl from the depths of the pit.

Sir Henry L'Crieff looked angrily at L'Roth. "Don't anger her so!" he shouted at him. "Her insolence and punishment are my concern, not yours! Now leave us!"

L'Roth looked unconcerned by his companion's words. "As you wish," he said derisively. He smiled at Sir Henry and added, "I wouldn't want to come between a man and his true love." He bowed gracefully and left, laughing as he walked down the dimly lit corridors.

Sir Henry watched him leave. He waited until the echoes of L'Roth's laughter had faded before he turned quickly and knelt at the edge of the pit, looking down at his pet anxiously.

"Are you unharmed?"

"Your concern pleases me," the voice purred. "I am unharmed, but angered. Le-Roth despises me, as I despise him. I will not share with him what I share with you. He knows this. It divides you, and there will come a time when he sides with those against you. Be prepared for this."

Sir Henry waved aside her warning. "Let me worry about L'Roth. He talks bravely, but he's like all the others. He doesn't truly understand. And by the time he does, it will be too late."

There was a scrabbling sound from the pit, as sharp claws raked against stone. It was accompanied by deep, throaty breaths.

"You are wise, my love. But my hunger burns within me. When shall I be fed again?"

Sir Henry moved closer to the edge of the pit and reached down, patting and stroking. "Be patient, Gil-Yan. I have a little meat for you tonight. But when others come from the other side, then you will be able to fill your belly once more."

The pit was filled with the sound of deep purring, and Sir Henry smiled.

Rolf didn't have time to feel nervous once he was alone and surrounded by all these Destroyers. He quickly found himself pursued by Hai-Fam. It was obvious what she wanted even though she could only speak her own language. Rolf did his best to try to explain to her that he hadn't brought any pieces of silk, or any cloth of any kind. She wouldn't leave him alone. Finally he remembered that he had a clean handkerchief in his pocket. He quickly pulled it out and gave it to her.

Hai-Fam took the handkerchief with obvious delight. It was bright yellow. The colour seemed to attract her. She unfolded it carefully and held it to her face, brushing it over her lips and her cheek. She sniffed at it, and examined it closely, turning it over and over. The feel of Rolf's embroidered name seemed to fascinate her. Satisfied at last, she looked around to see that no one was watching before quickly tying it in her blonde hair. Then she smiled at him and kept tilting her head from side to side, feeling her pony-tail bobbing about as she had done at their house.

Rolf had to laugh. But as soon as she heard his laughter, Hai- Fam stared at him so intently, that Rolf could almost see what she was thinking. She hadn't seen anyone laugh before. As his laughter slowly subsided, she came very close, her head tilted to one side. Rolf couldn't resist. He touched her face.

Hai-Fam squeaked and ran away.

Rolf laughed even more. He was still laughing when Kai-Tai and Soo-Kai came back. By then he was sat with his back to a tree, the horses tied up nearby. The other Destroyers sat a little way off, Hai-Fam in the middle of them. They watched him, but stayed away. Kai-Tai went to join them while Soo-Kai came and sat next to Rolf.

"What do you do with Hai-Fam?" she asked.

Rolf laughed again. "Nothing serious, my wife. She was curious, that's all. I merely touched her and she ran away. How did you know?"

"Your handkerchief is in her hair. Be careful. She may be young, but she can still kill you."

Rolf's smile faded. "I think by the company I now keep, that she will be the least of my worries. What did you see that my poor human eyes would not see?"

"Kai-Tai spoke the truth. The gates are closed and there is no mat."

Rolf laughed. "I didn't actually mean- Oh, never mind. Is that all you found out?"

"We could taste many men in the air. The garrison has been strengthened as we surmised. And there is a Destroyer inside the castle. I could smell her. But we could also smell the scent of alien DNA. Those that come here are in the castle."

"Those that they haven't killed, you mean," Rolf added grimly.

Soo-Kai didn't say anything else about her visit to the castle. She didn't want to worry Rolf, and she had the feeling that he would tell her off if he knew that she had almost been eaten.

They were both silent for a while, sitting together by the tree. Rolf gazed casually at the other Destroyers. His eyes found Kai- Tai and stayed there. He stared at Kai-Tai, marvelling at how alike she was to his Soo-Kai. He turned and looked at Soo-Kai sat next to him. Then he turned and looked back at Kai-Tai. Finally he turned again and looked at Soo-Kai once more. She was now looking back at him, a puzzled look on her face.

"What is it, my husband?" she asked, a little worried by his behaviour.

Rolf smiled. "You look so much alike. Too much alike." Rolf had a sudden idea. He sat up. "Do you still have the handkerchief I gave you?" he asked.

Soo-Kai still looked puzzled, but she pulled the handkerchief from her pocket. It was red, and it had her name embroidered on it. She handed it to Rolf.

"Do you wish to give it to Hai-Fam? Or maybe another Destroyer? My mother perhaps?"

Rolf's smile broadened at the thought of what Kai-Tai's reaction would be. "No, my love! I am not that foolhardy! And in any case, I wouldn't do anything to incite your jealousy."

"I am relieved, my husband. It pleases me that you respect my feelings, and that you recognise the foolishness of such an act. Hai-Fam may be interested in such things now, but it will not last. And my mother is far too old even to remember such childish thoughts."

Rolf held her hand. "This is not for Hai-Fam, nor for any other Destroyer. This is your handkerchief. I made it for you, and it is in your hair that I wish to tie it."

"You will tie my hair?" Soo-Kai asked in surprise, and reached up to her long red hair, pulling at it protectively.

"Yes!" Rolf smiled at her anxious expression. "Don't worry! It's not going to hurt. I just want you to look different from your mother, that's all. I want to be able to tell the difference between you."

"But when we are close, surely you can tell one of us from the other?"

Rolf laughed. "Of course! But I want to tell the difference at a distance, when I still have a chance to run!"

"But we dress differently!" Soo-Kai protested, still holding on to her hair. "I wear my skirt and waistcoat of blue, with a shirt of yellow, while she wears a tunic and leggings that are black."

"She could change clothes," Rolf suggested.

Soo-Kai opened her mouth to reply than stopped.

"You see!" Rolf exclaimed. "She couldn't tie her hair as I will tie yours!"

Soo-Kai almost slumped. She sighed and handed him her hair as if she were handing him a baby.

Rolf smiled and caressed her face. "It'll be alright, I promise! Here, sit in front of me, let me tie your hair in a plat. If you really don't like it, you can always undo it afterwards."

Soo-Kai perked up. "It will not be permanent?"

"No, it will not be permanent."

Soo-Kai gave in and sat in front of him. She still looked a little anxious as Rolf began platting her hair. Her hair was very long, and the plat would be long, too.

There was silence as Rolf platted away. He wondered what Soo-Kai was thinking, so he leaned over her shoulder and found that her eyes were closed tight. It was as if she were waiting for her life to end. It made Rolf feel sad.

"Soo-Kai, you know that I love you more than anything else in the world?" he said to her in a soft voice.

"Yes, my husband," she answered, her eyes still closed.

"Then you should know by now that I wouldn't do anything to you like this if I didn't think it would make you even more beautiful than ever."

Soo-Kai opened her eyes. "I am sorry, my husband," she replied in a sad voice. "I do not mean to distrust you. But I have kept my hair as it is for many years. I care for it and wash it often. It's feel pleases me."

Rolf kissed her on the back of her neck. "I tell you what. If the plat doesn't please you, I'll undo it straight away. Alright?"

"Thank you, my husband."

Rolf continued to talk to her as he platted away, distracting her by asking her about something that was bothering him from before.

"What did Kai-Tai mean about a window in the Nakora Tabek?" he asked.

Soo-Kai turned her head slightly. She seemed surprised. "Did I not tell you of the Window?"

"No."

"Then I will tell you now. The great ships of the Navak were fitted with a device that could digitise the molecular structure of matter and then transmit that digital information anywhere for reassembly. We call it a Window, you may call it a door. You walk in at one point, and emerge at another, a great distance away. The Window is the means by which Kai-Tai and those with her wish to escape from this world. It can only be opened by using the data link in the auxiliary command centre in the Althon Gerail, and then only when the Nakora Tabek is close by. This is why access to the Althon Gerail is so important. But the Window works both ways."

Rolf didn't understand everything she said about how the Window worked, but it's implication was clear. He would have to remember to add it to her journal when they got home.

"So, this window could bring people here just as easily as it could send them away?" he said.

"Yes. And the arrival of the aliens would suggest that this is happening."

"But the boy, Daniel. Why would he want to come here? He didn't look like he was prepared for a journey to another world."

"To travel through the Window may not have been his choice. It is many years since the data link in the Althon Gerail was last used. It may be damaged, the ship itself is broken and buried. Kai-Tai herself removed part of the circuitry to prevent it from being used in her absence. How the Destroyer in the castle has overcome this problem I cannot say, but she may not know where the Window opens at the other end. Those that come here may just fall in."

Rolf looked thoughtful as he tied the red handkerchief into the end of the long plat. No wonder the boy had looked scared. He couldn't possibly have understood what had happened to him.

"There! Finished!" he said.

Soo-Kai immediately reached for her hair at her neck and pulled the plat over her shoulder. She held it in her hands and stared at it in wonder.

"My hair has become a long, entwined, red snake," she whispered. She felt the handkerchief at the end. It was tied in a big bow.

Rolf watched her carefully. "Do you like it?"

Soo-Kai looked up at him. There were tears in her eyes. "Yes, my husband! I like it very much!" And with those words, she dived into his arms.

As they embraced and kissed, there was the sound of a loud squeak. Rolf and Soo-Kai looked up to see Nan-Po trying to pull Rolf's yellow handkerchief from Hai-Fam's hair. Hai-Fam was doing her best to hang on to it, squeaking in distress. As they both struggled and the other Destroyers watched, Kai-Tai stood up as if she was going to join in. But instead she just shouted at them and turned and stared off into the trees.

To Rolf's surprise, Nan-Po let go of Hai-Fam's hair and did the same. All the Destroyers began to stand up and stare in the same direction. Even Hai-Fam, her hair still tied in the pony-tail, stood up and stared.

It was a moment before Rolf realised that Soo-Kai was also standing and staring like the rest. He quickly stood up aswell.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Aliens," Soo-Kai said in a whisper. "Maybe ten or twenty. One moment the forrest air is empty, the next moment, it is filled with their scent."

Anne Jenkins didn't know what hit her. As she opened her tear filled eyes and felt the ache in her forehead, she realised that it must have been the dashboard. Then she felt the blood on her face and the pain in her nose. She reached up with a shaky hand to touch her nose. Its shape felt wrong, and she couldn't breathe properly. It was probably broken. What had happened? She couldn't remember where she was. She felt confused. Then it dawned on her.

They must have crashed.

It was like a switch. Until that moment, the world around her had been silent and still, now in an instant, it was full of screams and shouting. Anne Jenkins remembered exactly who and where she was, and she was suddenly filled with shock and fear.

"The girls!" she cried out, twisting around in the front seat of the minibus.

Behind her, Anne found utter turmoil and confusion. The girls were a sea of arms, legs and bodies all wriggling and twisting about. They were screaming and crying and shouting. Everywhere was broken glass and upturned car seats that had been torn free in the impact. And the bags and hold-alls they had brought with them had burst open, and the girls threw about their kit and their hockey sticks in their panic to get free. Only Rowena Douglas was the right way up, sitting at the back of the bus with a stunned and dazed expression on her face. Then someone's hockey skirt landed on her head, covering her face, and she began to scream in panic.

Anne Jenkins scrambled over her seat and pulled at the girls, trying to get them all free. "Calm down! Calm down!" she shouted. "It's all over! We've had an accident, but it's all alright! Calm down!"

She threw a hold-all out of one of the broken windows, then Jemma appeared, her short and curly blonde hair even more tangled as she climbed the right way up, gasping for breath. Then another girl appeared, then another. Christine, Becky, Bernice, Sophia, Amy and Linda. Anne identified them all, reaching down to pull another girl up. Yes, there was Vanessa, and Samantha. Debbie appeared next. Then Paula and Jane. One by one they popped up, battered, dazed and shocked. Karen and Jo were the last.

The screaming began to subside. Vanessa pulled the skirt from Rowena's head and slapped her. Rowena stared back at Vanessa with a surprised pout as she rubbed her face, but at least now there was silence. They all sat about in the wreckage, breathing hard, and looking around at one another.

Anne Jenkins stared at them all. She was so happy that they were all alive and looked un-hurt. Yes, there were scratches and their clothes were all pulled out of place, and by tomorrow they would all be very sore from the aches and bruises they had. But they were all alive and safe.

Oh, thank God.

"What happened, Miss?" Karen asked, brushing her long brown hair from her face and eyes.

"We crashed, that's all," Anne replied. Then she raised her voice. "Are you all alright?"

Most of the girls nodded and said yes. Anne was beginning to feel relieved.

Then Debbie said, "My arm hurts."

And Samantha said, "My ankle hurts too, Miss. It hurts real bad."

"Alright, girls, I'll have a look at you. But I think we better get out first."

That was when Becky stared out one of the broken windows and said, "Where's the road, Miss?"

Anne Jenkins turned and stared out of the window. What she saw shocked her.

They were in a forrest. The sun was high in the sky and it cast bright sunbeams through the high foliage. The sunbeams danced about over the grass as the trees moved with the slight wind. It was quiet and beautiful, but totally wrong.

It should have been the M60.

The minibus had hit one of the large trees in the forrest. It was absolutely wrecked. Anne Jenkins sighed with dismay when she saw it properly. They had only bought it last year, and it was still virtually brand new. The Head would kill her when she found out.

It took a while for them all to get out. Samantha was the last. Her ankle was broken. Anne knew as soon as she saw it. They had to carry her out and sit her against one of the big trees. It wasn't the only break. Debbie's arm was broken too. She held it tenderly as she stared around at all the trees. They all stood about and stared.

Anne Jenkins did the same. She couldn't understand it. As she cleaned the blood from her nose and face with her handkerchief, she wondered where the motorway was. And where were all the buildings, the Business Parks and Retail Centres? Where were the houses and the people? Where was Manchester? In fact, where the hell were they?

She became aware that some of the girls were missing. She looked around quickly, and saw Paula and Vanessa walking about among the trees, staring up at the high branches. Rowena and the tiny Jemma were doing the same on the other side of their wrecked minibus.

Anne almost panicked. "Don't wander off!" she shouted quickly. "Come back here! Now!"

All the girls turned and stared at her. Anne was suddenly conscious of the nervous sound to her voice. She cleared her throat and said as calmly as she could, "I don't want anyone getting lost, okay. Now come back."

Reluctantly, the girls did as she asked. Anne looked at them all, counting them all off in her mind. There was still one missing.

"Where's Becky?" Anne said anxiously. "Has anyone seen Becky?"

"I'm here, Miss! It's alright!" a voice called from inside the minibus.

"What are you doing in there?" Anne asked, going over to the minibus and peering inside.

Becky was on the floor rummaging about among the wreckage. "I'm trying to find my glasses," she said.

Anne relaxed a little. She tried to calm herself. Her head hurt and her nose was still bleeding. She dabbed at it with her already stained handkerchief. She was frightened, she admitted it. But wouldn't anybody be frightened in her position? Here she was, all alone, in the middle of a forrest in a place somewhere she didn't know, with fifteen sixteen-year-old girls in her care. What was she supposed to do?

"Someone's coming, Miss," Amy said.

Anne turned around and stared. Behind her, Becky popped up at one of the broken windows, her glasses in her hands. She quickly cleaned them on her shirt and put them on. Like her teacher and the rest of the girls, she stared at those that approached.

It wasn't real.

It was like a scene from the tales of King Arthur. Men on horses wearing armour and carrying shields galloped towards them. There were wagons with cages upon them, and beside them ran more men. Some of them carried long poles with spikes on the end of them, while others held nets strung out between them.

Nets. Nets and cages.

Anne Jenkins felt her stomach drop through the soles of her feet.

"Run!" she screamed, pushing the nearest girls into motion. "Run! Run like hell, damn it!"

The stillness and tranquillity of the forrest was suddenly filled with the screams of girls, the shouts of men and the sounds of horses hooves. Everyone ran in different directions. It was all out, unrestrained panic. Only poor Samantha couldn't run. She could hardly stand on her broken ankle. She screamed in terror as she saw her friends scatter and the men rushing towards her. Anne had almost forgotten her. She ran back, grabbed her, and half carried her as she tried to run. They didn't get far.

Men and horses rushed by the wrecked minibus, a net was thrown, and Anne and Samantha fell under it's weight. In a second, the men were upon them, dragging them away, kicking and screaming. Anne tried to fight with them. She bit, scratched and kicked as hard as she could, but then one of the men shoved the blunt end of his pike against her head and she gave up the fight. Her unconscious body was dragged along the ground and thrown into one of the cage wagons that drew up. Samantha was treated no better. She screamed in agony as she landed on her foot. No one seemed to care.

Other girls fared no better. Debbie was quickly overtaken by the horses and kicked to the ground by the men who rode them. With her broken arm she was easily taken. Christine and Paula fell under another net. Jo and Linda were surrounded by men who chased them as if this was all a game. Their eyes were filled with delight, and as the girls were brought down, they were manhandled and groped mercilessly before being dragged to the waiting cage wagons.

The forrest was filled with screams and shouts as girls and men ran about in all directions. But not all the girls would be taken so easily.

Like all the girls on the school hockey team, Amy was young and fit. But she was also the school champion at middle distance running. For the school she ran to win, but now she was running for her life. She ran like the wind, and those that chased her quickly fell behind. They soon gave up, and collapsed to the ground exhausted. Amy darted among the trees, never slowing down for an instant, her silver blonde hair flowing like a long tail behind her.

Bernice also ran as fast as she could. She, too, was fast, and the two men chasing her were either too heavy, or too unfit, to keep up with her speed. She was beginning to believe that she could get away when she heard the horse. It came at her from the side, and she saw it too late. The rider's foot caught her squarely in the back and she flew through the air, landing on her face.

She lay in the grass, stunned for just a moment. Then she spun round, and propped herself up on her hands. She sat there on the grass, panting breathlessly. She saw the men that had chased her standing near her, and behind her the third man dismounted from his horse. He looked like a knight, with a breast-plate and a cloak. There was no one else nearby, and all three men had the same expression and look in their eyes.

Bernice was suddenly aware of her short skirt and her bare legs. Her sister, Vanessa, was always telling her that her skirts were too short. She said she would get into trouble. This was it.

Bernice screamed and tried to scamper away. It was like a signal, and the men fell on her like animals, pulling and tearing at her clothes. She screamed and fought, biting and kicking.

The men were too occupied in what they did to notice the arrival of a newcomer. But Bernice saw her. It was almost dream-like. As the men pinned her down, trying to pry her legs apart, Bernice saw a woman with long red hair appear and stand over them. She was dressed in black, and she held a sword in her hands, it's point was downward. She looked very calm and purposeful.

As Bernice stared, the woman thrust the sword down into the back of one of the men. He grunted and arched his back, his face twisted in pain, then he fell side ways to the ground. One of the other men turned in time to receive the sword through his throat. Bernice saw it come out the back of his neck. It seemed to stick as the man fell, and it took a moment for the woman to pull her sword out, pushing down on the dying man with her foot. During that time, the third man had let go of Bernice and rolled clear.

The knight jumped up and drew his sword. "A Destroyer!" he bellowed to anyone who could hear. "There are Destroyers in the forrest!"

There was the clash of swords as he and the woman he called a Destroyer fought. Bernice watched in fascination. The fight only lasted a few seconds. As the knight raised his sword arm, someone grabbed it from behind. Bernice saw that it was another woman, dressed in black, or maybe dark brown. She also held a sword just like the first woman. Her hair was brown. The knight turned in surprise at the grip on his arm. It was his last act. A moment later and the red haired woman had thrust her sword into his chest. It clanged as it punched through his breast plate. He was dead before he hit the ground.

There was sudden silence. Bernice lay on the ground among the bodies and the blood. She was shocked by what she had seen, but somehow, she didn't feel scared. Even with both the women the dead man had called Destroyers now standing over her, their swords in their hands, she didn't feel threatened by them.

The woman with the red hair reached out her free hand to Bernice.

"I am Kai-Tai. Come with me, or stay here and die. But choose quickly."

Rowena, Sophia, Vanessa, Jemma, Karen and Jane were all captured and thrust into the same cage wagon. Anne Jenkins was in the next wagon. She was still unconscious. Samantha was holding her in her arms. With them were Debbie, Linda, Jo, Christine and Paula. All the girls were crying, and some of them looked far more battered and bruised than they had been after the crash. But they weren't the only occupants of the wagon.

In the same wagon as Anne Jenkins were six more children, four boys and two girls. The girls wore grey uniforms while the boys were in maroon. All of them looked scared and bewildered, and they were just as battered and bruised.

All around the wagons, men hurried about, shouting and securing the ropes. A knight on horse-back shouted orders to them all. He seemed to be in charge. Everywhere there was noise and commotion. The horses snorted and stamped their feet in agitation, causing the wagons to move and sway.

Vanessa looked around as the men hurried about. They seemed busy enough, so she pressed herself against the bars of the cage and shouted across to Linda in the other wagon.

"Who are the other kids? Do they know anything?"

Linda shook her head. "Christine is the only one who's French is good enough to understand them," she called back. "They don't know anymore than us."

Vanessa looked surprised. "They're French? What are they doing here?"

"Same as us. They were on the road when it happened. But they weren't together. The boys are from a different school, but it wasn't even in the same city. The girls are from Paris, and the boys are from Lyon."

There was a sudden shout. "My Liege! My Liege!"

Everyone turned and stared as a man ran up to the knight. He threw himself to his knees in front of his horse and saluted by thumping his left breast with his fist.

"My Lord L'Roth!" he said breathlessly. "Sir William is dead!"

L'Roth looked astonished. "What is this you say? Dead? How so?"

"We heard Sir William call out that Destroyers were in the forrest. But when we reached him, he and two others had already been slain."

L'Roth pulled his horse round, almost knocking the man to the ground. He shouted to the men by the wagons, pointing at the one with Anne Jenkins inside.

"This wagon is full! To the castle with it!" he shouted, "Go! When the last of our quarry is captured we will follow with the rest!"

"Aye, my Liege!" one of the men shouted and saluted with the same thump of his chest.

Men jumped on the wagon and the horses strained forward.

As the wagon moved off, the girls stared at one another through the bars, and began to reach out and shout and scream in dismay at their separation. L'Roth ignored them, and continued shouting his orders.

"You men, stay and guard this wagon! You others, follow me!" He drew his sword and galloped off.

Other men began jumping on their horses. Some went with the departing wagon, while others galloped after L'Roth.

The girls stared at the other wagon as it disappeared, crying in despair. Only Vanessa didn't cry. She was watching the man who guarded them. As the sound of horses and men faded, Vanessa moved closer to the bars again.

"Hey, you!" she shouted.

The man ignored her.

Vanessa stared at him through the bars of the cage. "Bastard!" she shouted. "My dad will cut your balls off when I tell him what you've done!"

This time the man spun round and smacked the bars of the cage with his pike. Vanessa had to move back quickly, her fingers narrowly escaping a good bashing.

Rowena was terrified. "Stop it Vanessa! You'll make them angry!"

"Make them angry? I'm the one that's bloody angry!" Vanessa went back to the bars. "What have you done with my sister, you rotten bastards?"

Her shout brought the same response from the man. As he struck at the bars he shouted, "Quiet, wench!"

"Who are you calling a wench? You mad-arse!" Vanessa shouted back.

The man began to poke the blunt end of his long pike through the bars at Vanessa. Vanessa tried to grab it, but it was thrust into her stomach, knocking her over. As the man drew his pike back to jab at her again, Sophia and Karen quickly grabbed it and began to wrestle with it. Jemma joined in, and soon even Rowena had grabbed the long pole and begun to tug it from the man.

As the guard tried desperately to retrieve his pike, he found himself lifted off the ground by the weight of the girls at the other end. He shouted for help, and more men came running.

This time the business end of the pikes were used. But they were used carefully, and sparingly. It was obvious that the men didn't want to kill the girls, but that was as far as their concern for them went. Rowena was poked in the back, Vanessa in the chest, and Karen in the leg and hip. The wounds were not deep or serious, but they were enough to draw blood. With three men poking at them from all sides, the girls soon had to give up. But the men wouldn't stop poking and jabbing at them.

The girls began to scream and wriggle about in the cage, trying to avoid the sharp points of the thrusting pikes. The men were beginning to enjoy this game when another horse galloped up to the cage wagon. It's rider was a woman with red hair that was tied into a long plat, and she struck at one of the men with a sword she carried. The man's head flew off. Karen saw it. It just popped off, and the man's body fell over. Blood went everywhere.

All the girls saw the blood and screamed in shock and horror.

The men also panicked. They were trying to remove their pikes which were still stuck in the cage, but with the girls screaming and jumping about in terror inside, it took too long. The woman sliced another of the men across the back, and he fell in a welter of blood. The third man gave up, dropped his pike and ran. The woman chased after him on her horse.

The man ran in panic, looking over his shoulder in terror at the woman who chased him, her sword held out. He was running towards the minibus, and as he ran passed it, Becky popped out of one of the broken windows with her hockey stick in her hand. The man didn't see it until it was too late, and she walloped him. The stick broke, and the man was felled in an instant.

The woman reined in her horse and stared at Becky in surprise.

"What is your name, girl?" she asked.

"Becky," Becky replied, climbing out of the minibus. She pushed her glasses back up her nose and asked, "What's yours?"

"Soo-Kai. Come, there is no time to waste."

Soo-Kai replaced her sword in her back then reached out her hand to Becky. Becky didn't respond. She was too busy staring and wondering where the sword had gone. Soo-Kai shouted at her.

"Get on the horse!"

Becky was startled but then grabbed Soo-Kai's hand. Soo-Kai pulled her up on to her horse and the two of them galloped back to the cage wagon. As soon as they were there, Soo-Kai jumped down and pulled Becky down beside her.

All the girls stared at Becky and Soo-Kai in surprise. They began to calm down when they realised that Soo-Kai was helping Becky, and that the girl wasn't her prisoner. Vanessa stared at Soo-Kai in desperation.

"Let us out!" she shouted.

"There is no time for that!" Soo-Kai shouted back. Then she turned to Becky and ordered, "Get on the wagon!"

She didn't wait to see if Becky obeyed, she climbed on herself, leaving her own horse behind. She picked up the reins on the wagon, released the brake, and urged on the horses. Becky just managed to clamber on to the roof of the cage when the wagon lurched forward.

As Becky lay on the roof, hanging on to the bars, Karen stared up at her in wonder.

"Have you been hiding in the minibus all this time?" she asked.

"Course!" Becky replied. "I wasn't going to run about like a twit just to give them some fun."

Jemma leaned forward. "Smart-arse!"

Becky made a face at her.

Soo-Kai drove the horses hard, and the wagon began to pick up speed. As the girls screamed and were knocked about, Vanessa moved to the front of the cage. She reached through the bars and pulled at Soo-Kai's long platted hair.

"Stop! You have to stop!" she begged.

"To stop is to die!" Soo-Kai shouted back, pulling her hair free.

"But you don't understand! I have to find my sister!"

"Was she in the other wagon?"

"No!"

"Then she is still free! Have hope! If she lives, my sisters will find her!"

The wagon hurtled through the forrest, winding it's way through the trees. It bounced and rocked, causing the girls to scream as they were thrown about. Vanessa fell on her bottom. She wanted to talk to Soo-Kai, to get her to explain what she meant about her sisters finding Bernice. But it was no use. Soo-Kai shouted at the horses, urging them to go even faster.

Becky hung on to the roof for dear life, bouncing up and down. She kept looking back, trying to see who was chasing them. There had to be someone chasing them, why else would Soo-Kai go so fast and risk hitting one of these trees?

Yes! There they were! Some of the men chased them on horses. Four there were. Galloping like mad. They were going to catch them.

Soo-Kai drove the wagon dangerously close to some of the trees, the wheels bouncing over the roots, and threatening to over turn it.

The wagon had shot passed another tree when Nan-Po and Hai-Fam stepped out from behind it. They stood in full view of the approaching riders. Nan-Po held her bow at the ready, an arrow in place and her arm drawn back. Hai-Fam held several arrows in her hand. Nan-Po released her first arrow. Hai-Fam handed her another. Nan-Po drew back her arm and fired again. Again, Hai-Fam handed her another arrow. They did the same thing four times in as many seconds. All the pursuing riders fell. The last caught his foot on the stirrup and was dragged behind. Nan-Po and Hai- Fam stepped aside as the horse shot passed, the man bouncing over the grass as he was dragged behind it, an arrow stuck in his head.

Becky saw it all from the roof of the wagon. She saw the men fall and the horses scatter. Then she saw the two women running among the trees. Nice trap, she thought. Sure enough, the wagon began to slow down. It still went fast, but the chase was over.

Soo-Kai brought the wagon to a halt. As soon as she jumped down, a man appeared from behind a tree. He was leading a horse behind him. He let the reins drop and ran to her. They both hugged and kissed.

"You did it!" Rolf shouted excitedly. "Are you safe? You were not injured?"

"No. All went as we planned, my husband. Now help me free these girls."

"Girls?" Rolf stared at the wagon.

Becky stood up on the roof of the wagon, her hands on her hips. "Well, if we aren't girls, we're the strangest looking boys you've ever seen!" she said sarcastically.

Soo-Kai drew her sword from her back and walked round to the cage door. She sliced at it, knocking the wooden door from the cage. "All of you, out now. You are safe with us."

The girls piled out, happy to be out of the cage at last. Becky climbed down from the cage roof.

Rolf stared at them all. Their garments reminded him of the ones warn by the little boy, Daniel. They were all wearing the same outfit. A blue skirt, white blouse, white socks and black shoes. The shoes had strangely large heels. The skirts they wore were quite short. Some shorter than others. Their legs were bare. Around their necks the girls all wore some sort of long, thin ribbon. It was striped red and blue. They were all battered and bruised, their clothes all disarranged and ragged. Some of them were stained in blood. They were all young, but by their shape, they were obviously in the early years of womanhood.

"They are almost women," he muttered. Then his eyes fixed on Vanessa, and he stared.

"What are you staring at?" she snapped at him.

"I beg your pardon. But the darkness of your skin is quite astonishing. Where are you from?"

"Manchester," Vanessa replied in an angry voice. "Where are you from? Where is this place? Why are men chasing us? Why did you kill them? And where's my sister? What the fuck's going on?"

Rolf stared in amazement.

Soo-Kai replaced the sword in her back. "Come, we can talk later. First we must go from here. When we are safe, we will answer all your questions." She began to urge them all forward.

Jane pointed up at Soo-Kai's neck. "Where did that go?" she suddenly demanded. "The sword? It just went. Where did it go?"

"Later," Soo-Kai told her. "First we must survive, then we can talk."

The girls started to move forward, but Vanessa stood her ground. And when she wouldn't move, all the rest of the girls stood with her.

"What about my sister?" she demanded. "I'm not going anywhere with out my sister!"

"Where we go is where we all agreed to meet," Soo-Kai said. "If your sister is safe, then you will see her there."

Vanessa gave in. "Alright, but if she's not there, I'm going to look for her. And no one's stopping me. Okay?"

Rolf smiled at her. "Don't worry. If she isn't there, we'll help you look for her. We only want to help."

Vanessa stared at him and Soo-Kai for a moment. They looked genuine enough, and they had rescued them.

"Who are you two?" she asked.

Rolf smiled again. He spoke in as calm and as friendly a voice as he could, trying his best not to frighten them. "I am Rolf. This is Soo-Kai, my wife. As I said, we only wish to help you. Come with us. Some of you are injured. We have ointments and dressings. We have food and water. Come, you will be safe with us."

All the girls stared at Vanessa. Vanessa glanced at Becky. Becky nodded, and Vanessa said, "Alright then, let's go."

Bernice stood in front of Kai-Tai and the other Destroyer. They were speaking together in a strange language that Bernice couldn't understand or recognise. It sounded harsh and brutal. Kai-Tai called the other Destroyer Jai-Soo. They stopped talking and stared at Bernice curiously.

Bernice had lost most of the buttons from her blouse when the men had attacked her. It hung open and left her bra on view. She had ran through the forrest like that with Kai-Tai and Jai-Soo. They had ran and ran. And just as suddenly, they had stopped. Stopped, spoken to one another, then stared at her.

Kai-Tai said something else to Jai-Soo. Again it was in the language Bernice couldn't understand. Jai-Soo immediately ran off. Bernice and Kai-Tai were now alone together in the forrest.

Bernice was still out of breath. She was breathing hard while she tied her blouse in a knot at her waist and stared at Kai-Tai. Kai-Tai stared back at her. She didn't seem to be out of breath at all. Bernice had the feeling that Kai-Tai was wondering who she was, and where she had come from. She smiled and held out her hand.

"My name is Bernice," she said, still panting. "My friends call me Berni. Thanks for saving me from those men."

Kai-Tai stared at the out-stretched hand. She didn't take it. Instead she stuck her sword in the ground and suddenly stepped forward and grabbed Bernice's head, feeling her face and hair.

For a moment it startled Bernice, but she stood her ground and waited.

Kai-Tai kept hold of Bernice's head with one hand, while her other hand moved down her face to her neck. Her hand came to rest on Bernice's throat, squeezing it slightly, and she stared at Bernice's face as if studying her.

Bernice remembered how Kai-Tai had killed those men, but somehow she didn't feel scared of her. She had the feeling that Kai-Tai was merely curious, nothing more. She stared back at her and continued to wait, not moving a muscle.

Kai-Tai let go of Bernice's throat and moved her hand down to her chest and shoulder, feeling her skin under the torn blouse. Now she felt Bernice's stomach, her fingers brushing over her navel, then moving over her hip and back up to her waist. Finally, Kai-Tai moved her hand back up to Bernice's head. She held her with both hands again, her thumbs pressing against Bernice's temples.

"Your skin is of a dark hue that stirs a memory within me," she said in a puzzled voice. "It has a rich quality."

"That's because I'm West Indian," Bernice replied in as calm a voice as she could muster. "Although I was born in England."

Kai-Tai pulled Bernice closer to her own face, lifting her up, and causing her to stretch and stand on tip-toes. When they were nose to nose, Bernice found herself staring right into Kai-Tai's eyes. They were very intense, those eyes. Bright green and very penetrating. Bernice felt that Kai-Tai was looking directly into her soul.

Kai-Tai moved even closer, and for a brief moment, Bernice thought she was going to kiss her. But then Kai-Tai's expression seemed to harden.

"Your genetic structure is very similar to ours," she said, her voice harsher than before. "Similar, but different. You are not the same." It seemed to be a sign, and she lowered Bernice down again and let go of her.

"Where is Eng-Land?" she asked.

"England's in Europe," Bernice said with a nervous smile. "How can you not know where England is?" She instinctively rubbed her face and neck as she spoke, as if she could still feel Kai-Tai's hands on her skin.

"Where is Your-Up?"

The smile on Bernice's lips faded. "On Earth?" she suggested.

"How did you get here?"

The question brought a flood of excited words from Bernice as she was suddenly reminded of everything that had happened.

"We were driving back from a game!" she said excitedly. "We were all chatting and laughing, and talking about how we gave them a good thrashing! We had only just passed Urmston when it happened. One minute we were on the motorway, and the next minute, bam! We'd hit a tree! Gosh! It wasn't half a bang! We all went flying! We were all wearing our seat belts and everything, but it didn't make any difference! Even the chairs broke loose. Everything went everywhere. Bags, our jumpers and jackets, our kit, everything! We all ended up on the floor buried and in the dark! There was glass everywhere, and we were all screaming and shouting-"

Kai-Tai grabbed Bernice's head again, covering her mouth and silencing her.

"Enough! Your words confuse me!"

Bernice waited. A few seconds passed, then Kai-Tai let go of her.

Bernice stared at Kai-Tai as she stepped back and pulled her sword from the ground. There was something about her expression that un-nerved her. When Kai-Tai stepped forward again, and raised her sword, Bernice hastily stepped back.

"Kai-Tai!"

Kai-Tai turned and stared as Jai-Soo reappeared.

"Te pa?" she demanded. She looked annoyed, as if she had been interrupted.

"Soo-Kai sun lak," Jai-Soo replied. "Ta Rolf, ne-rast na-toose. Hak toose."

Kai-Tai looked again at Bernice. She seemed to be thinking. Then she raised her sword higher and placed it in her back. Bernice stared in wonder. It just disappeared.

Before Bernice could say anything about the disappearing sword, Kai-Tai said, "Your friends come."

Then a voice screamed, "Berni!"

Bernice looked among the trees and saw Vanessa running towards her, the other girls behind her.

Bernice screamed and ran to meet them. She and Vanessa jumped into one another's arms, hugging and kissing. Then Karen and Jane began to pat her on the back. Soon all the other girls gathered around her and joined in.

As the girls screamed and hugged one another in delight, Kai-Tai stared at Soo-Kai and Rolf. She waited as they approached, Rolf leading the remaining horse behind him. When they came near she spoke to Soo-Kai, ignoring Rolf.

"We have taken from those at the castle that which they have brought," she said. "We have lost none while they have lost many. But it seems that all we have won is children."

"And knowledge," Soo-Kai replied. "If the Window is open, it is open one way only. And those it brings did not plan to come."

Kai-Tai nodded. "You speak the truth. But if the Outsider's hold on those at the castle is to be broken, it will require more than the theft of children. We will have to strike again, and harder. We will have to strike at the Outsider herself. When we do, will you stand at my side as you did today, my daughter, or will your bond take you from me?"

Soo-Kai looked at Rolf. Rolf could see the tortured look on her face, she wanted to go with Kai-Tai, but she wanted to stay with him, too. All he could do was indicate the girls when he replied.

"What about them? They won't survive long on their own."

Soo-Kai turned back to her mother, but before she could speak, Kai-Tai had guessed her answer.

"Then we must stay apart," she said bluntly. She stared at the girls, still hugging Bernice and jumping up and down. "They are genetically similar, but they are not correct. We cannot stay close to them, or to you if you stay with them. If you choose to take them, that is your concern. And while they are with you we will not interfere. But if we should find them alone, we will slay them."

Behind her, Nan-Po and Hai-Fam appeared. Hai-Fam stared at the girls, watching them as they greeted one another. Gradually, all the Destroyers turned up.

Kai-Tai glanced at them as she continued speaking. "We go now. We have fought well together this day, and the Purpose has been fulfilled, so I will leave you to mind your human children. But if we should cross paths again, it must be when you are alone."

Soo-Kai nodded. "I understand, my mother." She stepped forward and she and Kai-Tai rubbed cheeks.

Kai-Tai turned away. "Cha!" she shouted, and all the Destroyers followed her as she walked away. Hai-Fam glanced back briefly as she also walked away, the yellow handkerchief still in her hair.

Soo-Kai and Rolf watched them go. Rolf put his arm around Soo- Kai. "She'll be alright," he said.

"It is not her I worry for, but us," Soo-Kai replied, still watching the departing figures. "Those at the castle will be angered by what happened today. They will hunt for us. They will want to take back what they lose. And now we are alone." Soo-Kai turned to Rolf. "If we keep these girls, we cannot pursue our investigation of the castle as we intended. We must flee. Even our house may not be safe."

Rolf sighed. "Then we will have to flee."

Becky appeared beside them. "How come your mum looks the same age as you?" she asked Soo-Kai. "And why do you both look so much alike? And why are you wearing a blue skirt and waistcoat and a red blouse, while they were all dressed in black and wearing leggings?"

Rolf and Soo-Kai turned and found all the girls standing behind them, watching and waiting. All of them had now pulled up their blouses and tied them at their waists like Bernice had done. Vanessa had been the first, then Karen, Jemma, Sophia and Rowena. Jane and Becky had been the last, and Becky had still been tying the knot as she had asked her questions. Soo-Kai answered each question in turn.

"We do not age or decay, so the difference in our years is not visible. We are the same because the gene sequences we pass on in birthing is almost identical to our own. I wear colourful outfits because I am bonded to Rolf, and I am free to recognise and make the choice."

Becky stared at her. "Is bonded the same as being married?"

"Yes."

Rolf laughed at the extent of Becky's curiosity. "Do you always ask so many questions?" he asked her.

Becky shrugged. "I'm nosey, I guess."

Rolf looked at all the girls. He raised his voice. "You all know our names, and that Soo-Kai is my wife. What are your names?"

Becky did the introductions. "I'm Becky," she said, then turning to the girls, she pointed to each one in turn. "This is Vanessa, Berni, Karen, Jemma, Rowena, Jane, and the girl with the big tits is Sophia."

Sophia stuck her tongue out at Becky and called back, "You're only jealous! Fried-eggs!"

Becky made a face at her then turned back to Rolf and Soo-Kai and said, "You aren't human, are you? And this isn't Earth, is it?"

Rolf shook his head. "You and I are human, but Soo-Kai and the other Destroyers are not."

"Destroyers!" Bernice suddenly spoke up excitedly. "That's what the man who tried to rape me called Kai-Tai!"

Vanessa looked at her sister in horror. "What's this about rape?" she demanded. "You said they rescued you from some men, you didn't say anything about rape!"

"Well, they didn't get me did they!" Bernice replied. She pulled at her torn blouse. "And how else did you think I got my blouse all ripped?"

Vanessa suddenly smacked her, and she kept smacking bernice as she shouted at her.

"You have to wear skirts that leave your arse hanging out, don't you! I told you you'd get into trouble! You never fucking listen! Mum's always telling you! Dad's always telling you! You never listen! It's the same with everything! You're a fucking menace!"

"Stop it, Van! Stop hitting me!" Bernice begged, cowering under the blows.

"I'm hitting you because I love you, you stupid cow! Come here!" Vanessa suddenly stopped smacking Bernice and hugged her instead. The two of them hugged and cried in each others arms.

Soo-Kai watched them with her head tilted to one side. "Why do they do that?" she asked Becky. "Why do they smack then hug?"

"Because they're sisters," Becky replied.

"Is that why they also look so much alike?"

Becky nodded. "They're twins."

Soo-Kai nodded slowly and looked again at Bernice and Vanessa. "The colour of their skin interests me. Why is it that colour?"

"Because their dad's West Indian, but their mum's English."

Both Rolf and Soo-Kai looked none the wiser. Becky chuckled.

"I glad I'm not the only one that's in the dark!" she remarked.

Rolf understood her meaning. He nodded. "Yes, there will be much for us both to learn from one another, but first we must go to our house." He clapped his hands, attracting all their attention.

"Listen to me!" he said in a raised voice. "We have to walk far. We can rest at our house, but we mustn't delay any longer. The men that tried to catch you will still be looking for you. Come on, now, we must go."

Vanessa looked worried. "What about the others?" she asked.

"What others?" Rolf asked.

"The rest of our team. They were in the other wagon with Miss Jenkins."

"Yeah!" Sophia added. "We have to find them. And we can't go with out our teacher."

Rolf looked at Soo-Kai in despair.

Soo-Kai shook her head. "Those in the other wagon are lost to you," she said bluntly. "They will be at the castle. You must cast them from your minds."

All the girls stared at her in shock, horrified by the implication.

Jemma suddenly looked around. "Amy!" she exclaimed. "Where's Amy? She wasn't in the other wagon!"

Rolf grabbed her shoulders. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm positive!"

There was momentary silence as all the girls realised the truth.

Karen was the first to put it into words. "She's got away, the crafty cow," she said.

And Jane added, "She always was a fast runner."

Rolf looked at Soo-Kai. She knew what he was thinking. But her answer was cruelly logical. "It would be foolish to sacrifice eight for one."

"But we can't just abandon her," Rolf said. "And what happens if Kai-Tai finds her?"

Soo-Kai looked troubled. After what Kai-Tai had said earlier, it was now certain that their truce was over. For a while they had worked together, content to fight with those at the castle, and to thwart the plans of the Outsider. The girls had been safe, but it was Soo-Kai who had rescued them, while her sisters had created the diversion and killed those that chased them. But that was now over. If Kai-Tai or the other Destroyers found her, the girl would be killed. But Soo-Kai would have to search for her alone, and that also worried her.

"I cannot leave you, my husband," she said. "The way back to the house could be dangerous."

"No it's not," Rolf replied. "Hardly anybody travels that way. How many visitors have we had in the years that we have lived there?"

"There will be visitors after this day," Soo-Kai pointed out.

"But we still have time. They have to find the house first."

Soo-Kai still looked undecided.

Then Vanessa stepped forward and took Soo-Kai's hand. "If you go and look for her, we promise to do exactly what your husband tells us. We won't give him any trouble. Honest."

Soo-Kai looked down at her. Then she looked at Rolf. He nodded encouragingly. Soo-Kai made up her mind at last.

"I will take the horse," she said. "Keep to the trail you know, and walk fast, do not delay or wander. I will return to the house before nightfall."

Rolf and Soo-Kai embraced and kissed.

"Take care," Rolf said.

"You also, my husband," Soo-Kai replied.

They parted, and Rolf called to the girls. "Come on, girls! This way now!"

They moved off at a trot, Rolf at their lead.

Bernice looked over her shoulder as she followed the others. She saw Soo-Kai jump on the horse and gallop away. How marvellous they were, these women. And what a great name, Destroyers. They looked so proud and so strong. They weren't scared of anything. She wanted to know more about them, she wanted to be like them. She wanted to be like Soo-Kai, or Kai-Tai. Yes, Kai-Tai. There was something about Kai-Tai. She was so proud and confident, but there was more. There was a power in her, that was it. You could feel it when she looked at you. Yes, Bernice wished she could be like Kai-Tai, and she couldn't wait until she met her again.

Amy was alone in the forrest. Only the sound of her deep breathing filled her ears as she leaned against a tree, her chest heaving. She was covered in sweat and totally exhausted. Slowly she sank down against the tree, sitting on the grass with her back against it. She put her hand on her chest. It felt like her heart was going to explode. She had never ran so fast for so long in her life. She wished she had a stop watch. She must have smashed her Personal Best. Miss Jenkins would have been proud of her. Thinking about Miss Jenkins made her think of the other girls. It brought it all back to her.

Amy burst into tears.

There was a high pitched scream. It was so loud and close that it made Amy hurl herself to the ground in shock. It was like a low flying jet that must have been so low, it would have had to have been landing. There was a hugh crash, followed by the sound of splitting wood.

A short distance away, a car landed on the ground by a tree with another loud crash. It seemed to just drop out of the sky. All it's windows popped out and it's doors flew off. Amy stared at it in amazement. It's front end was all smashed. Branches and bits of debris landed on the roof. Amy instinctively stared up at the tree. Sure enough, there was a large area where the bark of the tree was missing and the wood was all splintered and freshly exposed. Beneath it, all the branches had been torn away.

"Shit....a flying car," Amy muttered. She scrambled to her feet and ran towards it, her exhaustion forgotten. When she was only a couple of metres away, she suddenly stopped and stared.

There were three men in the car. Two at the front and one at the back. The two men at the front didn't look at all well. One was slumped over the steering wheel, while the other one had fallen out the open door. There was blood on their faces. They didn't move at all. The other man was very much alive and awake. He was upside down somewhere under the back seat. She could only see his legs waving about, but she could hear him cursing and complaining as he struggled to get the right way up.

"Fucking coppers!" he was shouting. "Can't drive for toffee! What are you trying to do? Bloody kill me?"

He managed to get himself the right way up. Kneeling on the floor of the car, he threw the dislodged back seat out of the open door. At that moment, he looked up and stared right at Amy.

What he saw was a young girl with long blonde hair, wearing a short blue skirt, white socks that were down at her ankles, and a white blouse that was all disarranged and so dampened with sweat, that he could see her bra through it.

What she saw was a young man with short light brown hair wearing a grey leather jacket, blue sweat-shirt and jeans.

For a moment there was no response. Then he smiled. It was a very broad, cheeky grin. It was very attractive.

"Well, hello there, sweetheart," he said in Sean Connery's voice. "Have you come to give me the kiss of life?"

Amy darted forward, grabbed his hands and tugged him out of the car. He yelped in surprise, and all she succeeded in doing was to cause him to fall on his face on the ground.

"Hang on!" he complained as she tried to drag him along the grass. "What kind of a rescue is this? Are you trying to finish me off?"

Amy let go of him. "Get up!" she demanded as she stood over him. "Get up! Get up!" she was almost jumping up and down in her frustration.

"Alright! Alright!" he said, getting to his knees. "What's the rush?"

"They'll be coming soon!" Amy said impatiently. "That's what they did with us! We have to run! Come on!" Amy ran away, then ran back again when she saw he hadn't moved. "Come on!" she demanded more urgently.

Still on his knees, he held out his hand to her, and said in Michael Cain's voice, "My name's Craig Price. Not many people know that."

Amy stared at the heavens in despair. Looking down at him again, she said, "There's no time for this, you plank! They'll be here any minute! We wasted too much time hanging about and they almost got us! For all I know, I could be the only one that got away! If they catch us, they'll stick us in cages! God only knows what they'll do to you, but I've got a good idea what they'll do to me! Now, come on! Or I'm leaving without you!"

"Well, since you put it like that," Craig said as he climbed to his feet. "Anyway, I've had my fill of cages today. Where to, sweetheart?"

She grabbed his hand and pulled him forward.

Craig looked back at the car as they ran away. "What about the coppers?" he said.

Amy glanced back. "They can't run."

They ran together among the trees. Amy wanted to go faster, she wanted to get as far away from the car as possible. But Craig couldn't run as fast as she could. She kept egging him on, but it was no use. They hadn't gone far when Craig began to tire.

"What do you think I bloody am?" he complained. "A long distance runner?"

Amy was tired, too. She had already done a lot of running that day, and she couldn't have gone on much further even with out Craig in tow. There was only one alternative.

"We'll have to hide!"

Amy looked around for a good spot. There were lots of low bushes and undergrowth near some of the trees. She headed for a large clump nearby.

"Come on! This way!"

They ran to the bushes and dived in. It was quite dark and cool inside. Craig moaned almost immediately.

"Bloody hell!" he said, fighting against the branches that tore and scratched at him. "This is an expensive jacket you know!"

"Keep quiet!" Amy whispered, down on her knees.

"Couldn't you have picked a bigger bush?"

"Get down on your knees, you twit!" Amy grabbed him and pulled him down next to her. "See? Better now?"

Craig looked around. "Huh! Trust me to fall in with a country expert."

Amy shook her head and crawled further into the bush. Craig watched her, and suddenly smiled. He crawled after her.

"You don't happen to have a frying pan and sausages stashed away somewhere?" he asked her.

"This isn't a joke, you know!" Amy said over her shoulder. "You'll see! We're still near enough to see what happens. I just hope they don't start looking for us. If they've got dogs, we've had it."

"Who are 'they'?" Craig asked.

"Come on, I'll show you. But keep quiet."

Amy crawled forward on all fours. She went to the edge of the bush and peered through the leaves. "I think I can see them," she whispered.

"I've got a great view here!" Craig remarked.

Something about the tone of his voice made Amy look round. Craig was right behind her, staring up her short skirt.

"Will you get serious!" she hissed at him.

"I am serious! You've got a marvellous arse, and I love those skimpy red knickers you're wearing!"

She felt his hand rubbing the back of her thighs, and as she felt his fingers moving up between her legs, she suddenly twisted round, grabbed him by his ear, and pulled him forward.

"Ow! That hurts!" he complained.

She ignored his protests, pulled him up level with her, and pointed his head at the approaching men. "Look!" she told him.

He looked.

"Fuck me......"

It was just as before. In the distance among the trees, they saw men with pikes and nets rushing towards the wrecked car. They began to search around it. Some of them pulled at the two men Craig had called policemen, dragging them out on to the grass. A wagon with a cage on it rattled into view. Then two knights rode up on horses. They talked to the men, who pointed at the policemen on the ground.

Craig strained his ears. "Can you hear what they're saying?"

Amy shook her head. A moment later, and the two policemen were carried to the wagon and put inside the cage. They looked very limp. The wagon moved off, but no sooner had it gone before a team of horses appeared in it's place. Men attached ropes to the wrecked car. They walked around it, picking up bits and pieces and throwing them back inside it. Even the dislodged back seat Craig had thrown out was retrieved and stuffed back inside. Finally, everything was collected, the horses strained, and the car was dragged away.

Amy watched it disappear, and wondered if their minibus had gone the same way. The two knights rode off, the rest of the men trotting after them.

"They're not searching," Amy said in relief, not realising how fast her heart had been beating.

"They probably figured the coppers were the only ones there," Craig replied.

"You see!" Amy said, turning towards him. "I told you! Do you believe me now?"

"Yes, I believe you. Thanks for saving me. What's your name?"

"Amy," she said. She stared at him, wondering why he didn't seemed to be scared or worried at all by what had happened. He seemed very relaxed, almost amused by it all. His eyes were a light blue. They were very attractive.

Craig stared at her face. "You've got green eyes," he said.

"I had noticed," she replied tartly.

"You're a real stunner. How old are you?"

"I'm sixteen."

"God, I bet you haven't been laid yet."

"Do you mind?" Amy said indignantly.

"No, I don't." He grabbed her hips and pushed her over. In a second he was on top of her, his arms wrapped tightly around her.

Amy felt his body on top of hers, he was already between her legs. She could feel his weight bearing down on her, and she could feel his excitement. He had an erection, and the feel of it caused her to panic, and she kicked and struggled madly.

"No! Stop it! Please!" she begged.

Craig saw the look on her face and the sudden tears in her eyes. He realised how terrified she was, and he immediately backed off. He climbed off her and rolled over. He kept his arms around her, but twisted her around, pulling her on top of him. She now had her back to him, but she still struggled.

"Let go!" she demanded. "Please!"

Craig hung on to her. "Hey, shush now! It's alright! I'm not going to do anything! Stop wriggling, will you! I was just kidding around, that's all!"

"You were not!" Amy snapped. She continued to struggle, kicking her legs. "Let go of me!"

"Alright! Calm down! I'll let go of you! Just don't run away, that's all! I won't do it again! I promise!"

He let go of her. Amy rolled clear. She climbed on to all fours and stared at him, still panting from her struggles. For a moment she did think about running. She was sure she could easily get away from him. But then he smiled at her, and held out his hands in supplication.

"I'm sorry, okay," he said very calmly. "I didn't mean to scare you like that. Just don't run away. It's better if we stick together. At least you're not alone. And you can always twist my ear again if I get out of hand."

Amy sat back on her heels. "You made me cry," she said wiping the tears from her face.

"I'm sorry," he said again. "You really are scared, aren't you?"

"Of course I'm scared! I'm lost in some strange place where men dressed like Sir Lancelot chase people and put them in cages! I've lost all my friends, and all you want to do is rape me!"

"I'm sorry. I can't help it. It's not often I find myself in the bushes with a beautiful, blonde, sixteen year old school-girl. I promise I won't scare you again. Cross my heart."

He did as he said, smiling at her. Amy stared at him. There was something very endearing about him. Even after what he had tried to do, he could still make her feel at ease. It was the way he smiled, and those light blue eyes.

"How old are you?" she asked him.

"Twenty."

"What were you doing with those policemen?"

His smile broadened into that cheeky grin. "About six months if they had got me to court!"

Amy looked alarmed, so Craig quickly added, "Don't worry! I'm only a street trader. It's just that I don't have a licence, and let's just say that some of my goods aren't exactly kosher!"

Amy relaxed. She didn't know why, but she believed him.

He nodded towards her. "Is that a matching set?"

She looked down, wondering what he meant. Then she noticed her open blouse with her red bra in view.

"Yes," she said. She reached down to fasten the buttons that had come un-done, and suddenly felt how damp her blouse was. She had been sweating so much from all the running and panicking that it was completely wet. She sniffed at herself.

"Oh, God, I must stink," she muttered to herself.

"You smell great," Craig replied with that cheeky grin. "I love the smell of hot, sweaty women!"

Amy didn't react to his remarks. Instead she looked at him and shivered. "I feel cold," she said.

It had come over her all of a sudden. She suddenly felt very cold and very light-headed. It must have been the cool air under the bushes. She came out in goose-bumps.

Craig crawled over to her. For the first time, his expression held concern rather than amusement. "It's probably a bit of shock, that's all," he said, taking off his jacket. "Here, put this on." He draped it over her shoulders and pulled her closer.

Amy didn't resist, instead she fell off her knees and ended up sitting in his lap. She was still shivering. He wrapped his jacket tightly around her, his arms doing the same. She still made no moves to fight him off. Instead she rested her head on his shoulder, and slowly her shivering subsided. She began to breathe evenly.

"Are you alright now?" Craig asked her.

Amy didn't reply.

He looked down at her. Her eyes were closed.

He sighed. "Trust me," he muttered to himself. "The first time I find myself with a gorgeous young girl in my arms, and I have to come over all paternal."

Craig sat cross-legged in the middle of the clump of bushes with Amy sat in his lap, sleeping soundly. He stroked her blonde hair, running his hand along its length, feeling how fine and straight it was. He brushed some loose hair from her face and caressed her cheek and jaw. His hand moved down to her throat and then back up to her chin. Her skin felt so smooth and silky. He touched her lips, pulling at them slightly with his fingers. She moaned softly, but didn't wake.

"Gosh, you are beautiful," he said to her. She wasn't listening.