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Kyasha had no idea how she had gotten back to Carnivex, Dirge's home city. She looked around quickly, trying to figure out what was going on. She was surrounded by shadowy, translucent figures, bustling around her but never touching her.

She was certainly confused, but she had little time to really sit and wrap her head around it. Kyasha suddenly felt drawn to look behind her, like a force was turning her head. She caught sight of a crowd gathering at Dirge's palace, one that seemed all too familiar. Walking literally through the crowd, she found herself at the front, looking up the courtyard stairs at the execution platform in front of Dirge's large, ornate palace doors. There was someone kneeling before the beheading block, black-bagged head resting against the cold stone. The doors behind the prisoner suddenly yawned open, revealing an abyssal darkness from which no figure emerged. There was a loud growl and instantly there were two large, yellow eyes staring through the veil of darkness, scanning the crowd. When they reached Kyasha, they stopped dead...

Kyasha found herself staring at the monstrous eyes, equally immobile. They pierced her, penetrating and violating her very being with something as simple as a look. Her soul felt cold and empty all of a sudden, her knees growing weaker. The prisoner rose to an upright kneeling position and reached up, pulling the bag from his face. The face was red with an ornate black tattoo running across it...

"Grimlock?" she heard herself whisper as the image of her lover's face burned itself into her brain.

"Kyasha..." a deep voice growled, shaking the ground. The vixen looked back at the open doors as a black vapor began to billow forth from around inside. The eyes floated out in a dark cloud, floating over the ghostly crowd towards her. "Where are you hiding?"

Kyasha screamed and the world around her shattered as the dream fell away. She awoke feeling sick and clammy, while Dirge's wretched, yellow eyes snapped open miles away in his castle. He growled and rubbed his temples angrily.

"Damn..." he whispered. "She's clever. She knows not to dream of her location."

"She can do that?" Kane asked. Dirge stood on his balcony, his shadowy cloak flowing in the breeze. Kane stood behind him, waiting for him to speak.

"Not intentionally," Dirge said, spinning around and walking inside. "But she's doing it, regardless."

"Damn," Kane cursed. "How can we find her then?"

Dirge began ascending the stairs to his throne before flopping down into the regal chair and gently massaging the bridge of his nose.

"Find a way," he said tiredly. "I'm not in the mood to go hunting for a runaway pup. Least of all one that poses no threat to me."

"But what if she rebels?" Kane asked curiously, pressing the Serga Carnivex for more action.

"Then she'll be struck down," Dirge said, equally emotionlessly.

"But what if--" Kane's protests were cut off by the sharp boom of an energy bolt zapping the stones less than a foot away from him!

"But...nothing..." Dirge growled. He lay back and retracted the outstretched claw that had just very nearly killed Kane.

"Very well, my Lord," Kane said, shaking his head. Dirge rested his head in his hands and clutched it tightly. "You could send Grimlock to track her down?"

"He's too connected, don't you smell it?" Dirge answered, looking down at Kane.

"Smell what, Lord Gride?" the gryphon asked.

"His passion. Whenever he even thinks about the girl, his scent becomes...foul," Dirge explained, standing up and walking down the stairs again.

"I hadn't noticed," Kane said. "Although now that you mention it, he does seem to get a funny sense about him whenever Kyasha comes up in conversation."

"He would warn her, or let her go," Dirge continued. "Either way, I would lose her and probably Grimlock, too. He's weak...pathetically weak. I should kill him..."

Dirge's eyes flashed intently, making Kane's stomach drop. He couldn't be serious! He was just going to kill his top general out of the blue?

"Lord Gride! Lord Gride...surely you can't be serious?" Kane tried to reason. Dirge looked at him, his back arched predatorily.

"Why shouldn't I be?" he asked. "He's compromised, he's weak."

"But think of all the good he's done you in the past!" Kane said, hoping for an appeal. Grimlock may not have been his best friend, but he certainly owed him this one. "Think of how useful he still is. His only flaw is the girl, so get rid of her and then he's back on your side again, right?"

"One would think," Dirge said, thinking it over. "You pose an interesting point."

Kane's heart fluttered, happy to hear that he had bought his friend another day of life.

"Very well, he lives for now," Dirge grumbled. He went back up to his throne and sat down, groaning as he held his head tightly.

"You alright, my Lord?" Kane asked, noticing the painful groans. Dirge's mind reeled; his head was in terrible pain for some reason, had been for a few weeks now.

"Yes, I'm fine," he growled, not wishing to talk to anyone. "Go away, you useless thing!"

Kane nodded a look of concern on his face. "Very well, Lord Gride."

The gryphon left through the large wooden doors and turned the corridor to his room. As he walked, he noticed a shadow on the roof outside. He was in the tower, so the only higher level was the turret...but who could be up there at this hour?

Kane had a pretty good bet.

He scampered up the stairs and walked out onto the turret, looking at the cloaked figure overlooking the scenery. It had started to rain slightly, a light but steady sprinkle coating the two.

"Grimlock, how long can you stay up here?" Kane asked. Grimlock shook his head and turned around slightly.

"Why does it matter?" he asked.

"Because you've spent almost this entire week just standing up here," Kane reminded him. "Even Gride is starting to think something's wrong with you."

"Is he?" Grimlock chuckled. "Let him worry."

"He's not worried, Grim, he's threatened," Kane warned. Grimlock turned around to face him and was instantly right in front of him. Kane instinctively teleported a few feet back, making Grimlock chuckle again.

"You're really getting very good at that, you know?" he said. Kane smiled a bit, but continued his sentiment.

"I'm serious. Gride was going to kill you just now!" Kane said, hoping to break Grimlock's slump. "You'd actually be dead if I hadn't stopped him!"

"Oh?" Grimlock chuckled again. His features suddenly grew serious. "Why didn't you let him?"

"Is that what you want?" Kane asked. Grimlock shuffled on his feet for a moment before teleporting back to the wall, Kane behind him. The two looked out over the city, bathed in the red light.

"I won't ask for my death," Grimlock began. "I won't do it myself, and I won't make it easy for certain people...but yes...it is..."

"Because of Kyasha?" Kane asked.

"Why ask?" the lizard asked, looking down. "You know the answer."

"Why waste your life on her?" the gryphon asked. "I mean, I sorta had feelings for her too...but I'm not all broken up that she's gone..."

"You didn't have what we had," Grimlock said quietly. "I don't know...it was like...it was like she was the piece of some unfinished puzzle I had been working on. I can't explain it."

"I'm not going to try and put myself in your shoes, it's really not my business," Kane said, nodding in agreement. "But I will say this: if you think you love her that much...why not go after her?"

Grimlock lifted his face towards the rain, letting the drops splatter across his inked skin.

"Because I don't want him to follow me," Grimlock admitted, turning down to look at the gryphon. "If she dies because of me, I'll never forgive myself."

"She may be dying out there right now!" Kane said forcefully. Grimlock slammed his fist down onto the stone rim of the turret angrily, cracking it.

"I know!" he growled. After a second, his features softened and his fist uncurled. "I know...but...I just can't think of anything else to do."

"I think you can..." Kane said cryptically. Grimlock looked down at him curiously.

"Why did your voice change like that? What are you saying?" Grimlock asked.

"I'm saying if you want to go and try to find her, you'd just need the perfect escape," Kane said.

"The perfect escape?" Grimlock asked.

"You'd need a time where nobody knew where you were, when you only have...maybe...ONE witness..." Kane elbowed him. "And then you'd just have to get out alright and Gride wouldn't even know you went after her."

"Faust, what are you suggesting?" Grimlock spun around and faced him.

"I mean...seeing as I'm the only WITNESS up here with you..." Kane hinted further. Grimlock's face became a mask of shock.

"You can't be serious?" he asked.

"As a heart attack," Kane smiled.

"You're suggesting that I just go ahead and trust you at a moment's notice, running on blind faith that you won't report me, and leave the palace in search of a fugitive?" Grimlock asked.

"Pretty much," Kane shrugged. "I used to do crazier things..."

"You must regale me sometime with those stories," Grimlock chuckled. "Maybe after all this nonsense is over I'll come and find you."

"Can't wait," Kane smiled.

"Vinson?" Grimlock asked. "Do you trust me?"

Kane raised an eyebrow at the question. "Very much, why?"

Grimlock smiled and turned around, his hands unfolding slowly. Kane felt suddenly compelled to turn around, as though some force was controlling him! Grimlock's arms suddenly wrapped around Kane's feathery throat, his thumb pressing into his carotid artery and sealing its blood flow! "Then trust me now."

Kane struggled hard for a moment as his whole world went black, his view fading until his reality was only darkness. He felt nothing for a few moments, nothing but weary blackness. Then he felt the world rushing back to him like a freight train!

The reality hit him hard, making him gasp and hyperventilate. His paws were numb, his claws shaking as he stood up slowly. He looked around, the gentle rain helping him ease back into things. Grimlock was nowhere to be seen.

"What...was that...for?" Kane managed to gasp out to nobody. He knew that Grimlock did it for a reason, to cover his tracks, to ensure that Kane had no idea where he was going so if Gride found out, he wouldn't be able to probe his mind for his location. Kane didn't hate him...but did he have to squeeze so hard?

"Dammit," Kane said, turning towards the door. He rubbed his neck and headed down to his bedroom to sleep off the knockout he had just received. "I'm gonna get you back for THAT one you scaly bastard."

He chuckled as he slumped into his bed and fell fast asleep.