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CHAPTER 7 - IN THE TOWER OF THE SORCERER

Draig sat on his bunk, his anger slowly simmering. "It's simple, he said." The wolf-man mumbled to himself. "Sneak into the tower, defeat the evil wizard, save the world."

He glanced around at his cell, with it's four dank stone walls and solid wood door with barred window.

"Of course, he didn't take into account us being vastly outnumbered and getting captured." He moaned to no one in particular. "Such details never even cross his mind."

He checked his shoulder again. It was still aching after the beating he'd taken at the hands of the creatures the sorcerer used as henchmen. They were humanoid amphibious beasts, as far as Draig could tell.

It was an effort, but the Wolven Knight pulled himself to his feet. He couldn't sit around resting much longer. He had to find a way out of his cell and retrieve his sword. Then he'd have to rescue Max. Again.

He staggered across the cell to the door. The wood was old yet surprisingly strong. He doubted he'd be able to break his way out.

That damn human was really starting to annoy him. He seemed to be completely oblivious to just how much Draig was fed up with having to save his life wherever they went. Max just wanted to 'explore' even if it meant him getting into large amounts of trouble. After all, he had Draig to pull him out of it.

The wolf-man sagged against the door, trying to figure out an escape route.

Sometime soon he would have to have a serious talk with Max, assuming this wasn't the situation that would get them killed. He needed a break from having to constantly rescue Max. How long had they been travelling now? Six months? Seven? And most of it had involved him having to save the Traveller's butt from the assorted dangers he threw himself into.

Suddenly, he heard a key being fitted into the lock of the cell door. He stepped back, ready for a fight, if one were necessary.

The door was open for barely a second. Just long enough for someone to be thrown in, crashing to the floor. Then the door was slammed and locked again.

This new arrival was one of the residents of this world Draig and the Traveller were currently visiting. The knight had found them a very unimpressive species.

They were short, thin creatures, humanoid, with grey skin that felt slick to the touch.

They were completely hairless, with shiny black eyes and a short muzzle. As seemed standard with these beings, Draig's new cellmate wore clothing made from some sort of brown leather.

He sat up, shaking his head and glancing at the cell around him. He spotted Draig.

"Hey, you're alive!" He said, in surprise.

The wolf-man frowned. "Do I know you?"

"Not really." The newcomer said as he got to his feet. "I'm Narick. I was there at the town when you and the Traveller set off to deal with the Sorcerer"

Draig remembered, there had been a lot of people there at the time, to wish them luck in their quest. It was certainly plausible that Narick had been among them.

"When neither one of you returned and the Sorcerer's magical storms continued to ravage the land, it was assumed you were dead." Narick explained.

"So what are you doing here?" Asked Draig. He wasn't really interested, of course, just keeping his new companion distracted and out of his way while he checked the walls for weak spots he could make use of.

"Someone has to stop the Sorcerer" Narick said, simply, watching Draig running his hands over the stones of the walls.

Draig stopped what he was doing and looked at him. "And you thought you could succeed where the Traveller and his comrade failed?"

"No." Narick had to admit. "But someone had to try. I decided it might as well be me."

"You've got a lot of courage." Said Draig, getting back to work. "I'll grant you that much. How far did you get?"

"Um." Narick seemed a bit embarrassed. "I only made it to the front gates."

Draig stopped again to look at him. "You went to the front gates? You didn't try to sneak in or anything?"

"Well, I don't normally do this sort of thing!" Narick protested. "I wasn't sure how I was supposed to go about things. The front gates seemed to be the logical way in."

The Wolven Knight sighed and returned to his search for a weak spot. "Then you're not a warrior or a soldier or anything like that?"

"No." Said Narick sadly, sitting himself down on one of the bunks.

"Then what do you do?" Draig asked, not really caring what the answer might be.

"I'm a locksmith." Came the reply from Narick.

Draig stopped what he was doing. He gave his companion a solid glare. "A locksmith? As in someone who is skilled with locks?"

Narick nodded. "Yes."

"As in someone who is capable of picking locks?" Draig added.

"Yes." Said Narick, as if there was some point he was missing.

"As in someone who could pick the lock on the cell door over there?" Said the wolf-man

Narick gave the door a glance. "Yeah."

There was a pause.

"Do you really need me to explain further?" Said Draig, restraining his annoyance.

"You want me to pick the lock on the cell door?" Said Narick.

"If you wouldn't mind." Draig replied.

"Why?"

"Oh, I don't know." Said Draig. "I thought I might try and escape, rescue the Traveller, kill the Sorcerer and save the day."

"Oh, yes, of course." Said Narick. The grey-skinned creature wandered over to the door and crouched down, examining the lock. "I'll need a piece of wire or something."

Draig grabbed the mattress from the nearest bunk and ripped it open, spilling rusty springs and fragments of wire across the floor.

"Take your pick." Said the wolf-man

Narick picked up the nearest piece of wire and bent it into the appropriate shape. "This should do it."

Draig had to admit to himself that Narick was good. It took him less than a minute to get the door open.

"I'll go first." Said Draig, gently pulling Narick back from the now open door. "I'll check it's clear."

The Wolven Knight slipped out the door into the corridor beyond. It was cold and gloomy, made of dull grey stone and lit by flaming torches. The corridor was also empty.

"Very cosy." Draig mumbled, surveying the scene.

"C'mon, Narick, let's go." He called back into the cell.

Narick stepped out nervously, continually glancing up and down the corridor. It was if he was expecting some of the Sorcerer's monsters to suddenly appear and attack them. Draig noticed.

"If any of those things turns up, I'll handle them." The wolf-man told him.

"If you say so." Narick replied. He seemed slightly reassured.

"Follow me. Stay close." Draig said. He led his companion along the corridor. Prison cells similar to the one they'd escaped from lined the walls. He was tempted to take a glance at their occupants, but didn't. He had to find his sword.

The corridor turned to the right ahead and Draig crept toward the corner. He stopped and felt Narick bump into him behind.

"Sorry." His companion whispered.

Draig restrained himself from responding in the way he really wanted to. Instead he leaned forward and glanced around the corner.

The corridor opened out slightly ahead at what appeared to be some sort of guard post. Two of the Sorcerer's creatures were stood on guard, their backs turned on him.

They were big beasts, tall and muscular, even more so than Draig. They had slimy, scaly skin that was dark green in colour and wore only simple loincloths. The webbed fins protruding from their forearms and backs gave them an amphibious look. Their vicious talons also drew plenty of attention.

After having fought these things, Draig believed they were almost completely mindless, but he had found out the hard way that they made up for their lack of intelligence with a vast amount of speed and strength.

The Wolven Knight looked back at Narick. "You stay here. I mean it."

Narick nodded in silence.

The wolf-man crept around the corner and towards the two beasts. He tried planning strategy, but had trouble coming up with an appropriate plan. Oh well, he thought, looks like I'll just have to use extreme violence. He preferred that idea.

He slowly and quietly drew in a deep breath, preparing to make his move.

And then he made it. He crouched quickly and jumped, launching himself into the air. As planned, he ploughed into the first of the monsters, landing on its back and wrapping his arms around its thick, corded neck.

With all his strength, and before the beast had a chance to react, Draig twisted the head suddenly and sharply. Bone cracked. The monster became limp in his grip.

The wolf-man dropped to the floor as the monster's now dead body crashed to the floor with an almighty thud.

Draig knew he wouldn't be able to do the same with the other beast. The element of surprise was gone. The second monster was already charging at him, displaying its incredible speed.

It was all Draig could do to duck the massive fist aimed at his head and dive aside.

The fist hit the wall, shattering the stone slightly. Fragments flew through the air.

Draig rolled, coming up into a crouch. Without wasting a second, he threw himself forward, intending to tackle the beast, pull him to the ground.

But his opponent was too fast, and had already recovered from punching the wall and turned to face Draig. The wolf-man skidded to a halt, dodged a badly aimed blow and kicked the monster in the stomach.

It was like kicking a brick wall. And it seemed to have no effect whatsoever. The beast grabbed Draig's leg and swung him around, throwing him against the wall. Draig hit hard, sending waves of agony through him. He slumped to the floor beside the first creature's corpse.

He knew that this fight was not going well. He hadn't recovered fully from his last encounter with these things and now he'd been thrown against a wall. Vaguely, he wondered if he was going to make it through this alive.

The beast stalked towards him. Draig struggled to get up, doing what he could to ignore the aches wracking his body. His hand fell on one of the stone fragments the monster had knocked out of the wall. An idea occurred.

A moment later, the monster was upon him. With one hand it grabbed Draig by the shoulder and hoisted him off the floor, lifting him up until the wolf-man and he were face to face. It pulled back a fist, ready to strike.

Draig struck first. He shoved the long fragment of stone he had in his hand directly into the beast's eye, shoving it in as far as it could go. The monster screamed and dropped him. The wolf-man hit the floor painfully.

The beast stumbled back a few paces, it's cries dying away. Then it fell, collapsing to the floor alongside its fellow.

Sitting against the wall, Draig allowed himself a quick sigh of relief. He hoped he wouldn't be facing many more of those things. At least, not before he got his sword back.

"That was incredible!"

Narick came running. "I watched the whole fight!" He said. "That was amazing! You truly are a great warrior."

Draig smiled. Since starting this journey of his with Max, he wasn't often recognised for his skills. "Thank you."

"And if you're just the Traveller's sidekick," Narick went on, "I can't wait to see what the Traveller himself is capable of!"

Draig frowned. "Sidekick?" He didn't like that.

"Yeah!" Said Narick excitedly. "Let's go find the Traveller!"

"Sidekick?" Draig growled, struggling to his feet.

"Yes?" Said Narick, getting the feeling he'd said something wrong, but not sure what.

"I am not his sidekick!" The wolf-man snarled.

"You're not?" Said Narick. "Then what are you?"

"Good question." Draig replied. "I'm often trying to figure that out myself. But I can tell you definitely that I am NOT his sidekick!"

"If you say so." Narick shrugged. Draig got the impression that the grey-skinned being didn't believe him. Draig didn't care. Much.

He pushed past Narick and continued along the corridor. But he stopped suddenly as he passed an open door just a short distance from the guard post. It looked like an armoury, with weapons of all sorts arranged neatly on racks.

There was a table in the middle of the room. On it lay Draig's sword in its scabbard.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he stomped over to the table and retrieved it. He unsheathed it, checking it to make sure nothing had been done to it. It felt good to have it back in his hand again. He'd been feeling a little incomplete without it.

"Nice sword." Said Narick, who'd sneaked up behind him. "Can I give it a try?"

"No." Said Draig, returning the weapon to its scabbard. He strapped it across his back.

"Why?" Narick was disappointed.

"You're not a warrior." Said Draig. "You wouldn't know how to use it."

"I'm sure I could pick up the basics pretty quickly." Narick said.

Draig replied quietly, in a low growl. "No. You couldn't."

Narick was about to protest further, but Draig kept him silent with a glare.

"Let's get moving." The wolf-man said.

He led the way, Narick trailing behind as he stalked out the door and continued along the corridor.

The corridors twisted and turned as the two of them wandered. Draig chose their route completely at random. Along their way, the wolf-man noticed that the few rooms they found were empty, and that there were no windows about. He was starting to suspect that they were underground somewhere. Which meant he had to find some way up.

The key to finding Max would be to find the Sorcerer, and he would probably be in the most secure room, somewhere high up in the tower. That meant...

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Narick asked.

"And how would I know where I'm going?" Draig snarled at him, annoyed for the interruption to his thoughts.

"Hey!" Narick snarled back. "There's no need to be so angry all the time!"

"If I want to be angry," Draig said, "then I'll be angry."

"Fine!" His grey-skinned companion said. "Just don't take your anger out on me! If it weren't for me, you'd still be back in that cell! You didn't even thank me!"

The wolf-man was about to shoot back a retort, but stopped himself. Narick was right. When had he become so angry and argumentative? That just wasn't him. He was a Wolven Knight, for goodness sake! Knights were not supposed to lose their tempers so easily or vent their frustrations on innocents. What was happening to him?

Draig took a deep breath. "You're right. I'm sorry. I should have thanked you for getting us out of that cell."

Narick shrugged. "Apology accepted. So where are we going?"

Draig shrugged. "Up."

* * * * * *

Their wanderings did eventually take them to a wide staircase that led them upward.

There were no guards about. Draig guessed that either they were in short supply, or that the Sorcerer had them most of them guarding more important areas than the empty corridors they were wandering.

The two of them went slowly and cautiously, Draig taking the lead with his sword drawn, and Narick bringing up the rear.

The staircase took them up to another corridor, which led them to another staircase and then another corridor.

"Whoever designed this place had very little imagination." Narick mumbled at one point.

It was the third staircase that led them to the main area of the tower. What there was of it.

They emerged from the top of the staircase in the middle of a vast circular room. To one side, Draig saw a pair of big wooden doors, bound in bronze. Unless he was mistaken, they were the same doors he and Max had glimpsed outside as the main entrance to the tower.

Together, Draig and Narick looked up.

"Now that's a surprise." Said Narick. "The tower is hollow."

It was a surprise, Draig had to agree. From the outside, the tower was an impressive structure, a vast imposing building of black polished stone. But on the inside, it seemed a little... silly.

The interior of the tower was completely hollow. Looking up, they could see all the way to the very top of the tower. There were likely a few chambers up there, yes, but the rest of the structure was completely empty. Just the main doors and the circular wall.

There was a way up to whatever chambers were up there. A basic stairway built into the wall, circling around the inside of the empty tower, all the way up to the top.

"Definitely little imagination." Draig mumbled.

"I can't believe my people have always been so afraid of this tower." Narick said shaking his head. "Looking at it like this, it's just laughable."

"Do you want to stay here?" Draig asked his small companion. "Or come with me to the top?"

Narick glanced up, scratching his muzzle and looking thoughtful. "I think I'd like to see the top. Might be interesting."

"Could be dangerous." Draig added.

The grey being frowned. "Your point being?"

Draig grinned and shook his head. "Never mind. Let's go."

It was a long way to the top. As before, Draig took the lead, sword at the ready. They followed the staircase as it wound round and round the interior of the hollow tower toward the top. Although the stairs were wide and solidly constructed, it was a little dizzying. They had no rail, and it would be too easy to fall off and plunge to one's death below.

They were about halfway up when they had to stop for a rest. Even Draig found himself out of breath. They sat down side-by-side, backs against the wall.

Searching for something to occupy his mind, Draig turned to his small companion.

"Tell me," he said, "Why did you decide to try and take on the Sorcerer?"

"As I said," Narick replied with a shrug, "someone had to. Besides, I have a family to protect and that includes against evil Sorcerers."

For some reason he couldn't fathom, this surprised the knight. "You have a family?"

"Yeah." A smile appeared on Narick's face. "A wife, three young children. Hey, once this is done, maybe you'd like to meet them? I'm sure they'd love you."

"I'd like that." Said Draig, with a smile, meaning it.

"That's great!" Narick was positively beaming now. "I can have my wife make Harus Stew. It's her speciality. She's famous for it..."

Suddenly, the wolf-man jumped to his feet, bringing up his sword, looking back the way they had come. "Get behind me, Narick, now!"

Narick glanced back down the staircase. One of the Sorcerer's creatures was rushing up toward them. He scrambled up and hurried to get behind Draig. And stopped.

Another of the creatures was rushing down toward them from above.

The wolf-man glanced back and forth between the two oncoming enemies. In a few seconds he had weighed up the options and decided that the one coming from below would reach them first. So that would have to be the first to be dealt with.

Brandishing his sword, Draig went on the offensive, attacking the first creature. He had to defeat it quickly in order to turn and face the other.

He ducked a clumsy blow from the monster as it came within reach and swept at its legs with his weapon. The blade dug deep into its leg, drawing blood, but it didn't show any sign of feeling any pain. With a growl, Draig put all his strength behind his sword, shoving at the creature. He only managed to make it stumble sideways, but that was enough.

The knight pulled back his sword just as the monster fell over the edge of the staircase and plummeted downwards, out of sight.

There was barely time to turn before the other creature reached them. Draig shoved Narick behind him and brought his sword up. The blade struck the creature's forearm as it tried to bring a fist down to strike him. The wolf-man was knocked back a few steps.

The second monster barely noticed the bleeding cut across its arm and pressed forward its attack, swinging its massive fists with furious intent, forcing Draig to back away.

He was all too aware just how dangerous it was to be fighting on this staircase, so far up. He had to end it quickly.

Taking a step back, Draig crouched, and then dived forward, tackling the big beast's legs with as much force as he could muster. The two of them struck the stone stairs hard, but only Draig seemed to notice.

He let go of his sword, dropping it on the stairs. He'd need both hands free for what he intended.

Wrapping both arms around the creature, he rolled with it toward the edge of the stairs, pulling them both over, out onto thin air.

At the last possible instant, Draig let go of his opponent and grabbed at the staircase with both hands. His fingers brushed against the stones and he took hold as best he could, struggling to get a good grip. With a snarl and a growl, the monster fell. Draig didn't watch it go.

"This was not a good idea." Draig mumbled as he hung from the stairs. His grip was starting to slip a little and his arms were aching horribly. He refused to look down at the vast empty space below him.

Suddenly, Narick was standing at the edge above him, crouching down and grabbing his arms.

It was something of a futile and unnecessary gesture, but Draig appreciated it. Narick was not strong enough to pull him up, and Draig didn't need it anyway. He swung himself sideways and up, and managed to get a leg over the edge of the staircase. Then, he was able to pull himself up onto the stairs.

He lay there on the steps for a few minutes, catching his breath. He needed a little time to let the pains of his battered body subside some. When he sat up, he found Narick peering over the edge of the stairs.

"I think I can see them down there." He said. Then he pulled back. He was looking a little ill. "They've made quite a mess."

"I imagine they have." Draig agreed, retrieving his sword from where he'd dropped it. "We'll probably get a closer look when we go back down."

It was obvious that thought didn't appeal much to Narick.

"But for now." Said the wolf-man, getting to his feet. "We'd better get going. There's still a long way to the top." He set off again, climbing the stairs, Narick following.

All in all, it took them a couple of hours to climb to the very top of the tower. The staircase led up into a dark opening in the ceiling of the hollow space that was the interior of the building.

Draig kept his sword raised as they proceeded up into the opening. The dark didn't last for long as they stairs soon took them to a wide hallway lined with burning torches. An occasional door of simple wood was set into the walls along the hallway.

However, at the end of the hallway was a big set of double doors, cast in bronze and intricately sculpted with a variety of bizarre patterns and shapes. Draig was sure it was supposed to look impressive and menacing, but it actually just looked garish and very, very ugly.

The sound of evil laughter reached Draig's sharp ears. It was coming from whatever room lay behind the ugly doors.

Draig nodded to the doors. "Come on then. Let's confront the cackling villain, indulge in a final battle, and put an end to this. That's usually how things like this go."

"Really?" Said Narick.

"Unfortunately, yes." Draig nodded. "Situations like this are usually quite predictable."

The Wolven Knight stalked along the corridor and threw the doors wide open. He stood there for a moment, taking in the view of what lay beyond.

It was a large chamber, with a high domed ceiling of glass and lead, and a floor of polished marble. For the most part, it was empty. There were burning lamps lining the walls. And an altar in the middle, with a statue beside it. The statue was stone, of a squat, creature of some form, with lots of tentacles. But that was all. It was an incredible waste of space.

There was activity at the altar. Max was there, strapped to the slab of stone with leather straps. Standing over him was what had to be the Sorcerer He was one of Narick's species, but was slightly taller than his companion, although still shorter than Draig. The Sorcerer was dressed in dark robes and held a short dagger in one hand. He was laughing in that evil, sinister way that only true bad guys can pull off.

"Stay here." Draig told Narick. "I'll take care of this."

He padded across the empty space of the chamber toward Max and the Sorcerer As he approached, he could hear their conversation in more detail.

"Nice evil laugh you have there." Max was saying. "Do you practice?"

The Sorcerer's laugh cut off. "Why, yes, actually. Thank you for noticing."

"No problem." Said Max. "Can you let me up now?"

"No." Said the Sorcerer "As I said before, I have to sacrifice you to my Dark God here." He motioned vaguely to the statue with tentacles. "In order to keep my power."

"Ah." Max said, knowingly. "A standard 'deal with a dark power' set up. So much for my hope to encounter something original..."

"Okay, this has gone on quite long enough." Said Draig, interrupting. They both looked at the wolf-man

"Draig!" Max was cheerful. "Welcome to the party! Pull up an altar! Sit yourself down!"

"Can we save the sarcasm for later, please, Traveller?" Draig sighed.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?" The Sorcerer cried. "My creatures should have slaughtered you on the stairs!"

"Your creatures aren't as tough as you think." Said Draig, defiantly. "They took a tumble off the staircase. They didn't survive."

The Sorcerer stared at him agape. "Do you have any idea how much time and effort it takes to create one of those things? I worked for days on them!" He was almost on the verge of tears.

"Sorry." Said Draig, not sure why he was apologising.

"I only have four of them!" The Sorcerer moaned.

This wasn't going the way Draig had imagined it would. He sighed.

"Isn't this supposed to be the point where we fight, I beat you and this all ends for the best?" He said.

"Hey!" Said the Sorcerer "I happen to be a Dark Being of Infinite Power! You can't beat me!"

"If you're so powerful, why is your tower hollow?" Said Draig.

"Well, what am I supposed to fill it with?" The Sorcerer shot back, angrily. "Thousands of rooms I'm not going to use? All I needed was the dungeon and my personal chambers here. But it had to be a tower to impress the locals."

"That is just ridiculous." Said Draig.

"Well, I don't see you with a Dark Tower." The Sorcerer sneered.

Draig shook his head. "Enough. Let's just fight."

"Me brawl with a beast like you?" The Sorcerer said. "I don't think so."

"Fine." Draig shrugged. "I'll do the brawling, you just stand there and get beaten."

"Or I could just do this." The Sorcerer stepped out from behind the altar, taking a few steps toward the wolf-man and raising a hand. A ball of crackling bright yellow energy enveloped it. He pointed at Draig and the energy blasted toward the wolf-man

Draig dived aside, and the energy blast struck the floor where he had been. There was a flash, and the floor there was left blackened and scorched.

"That's not fair!" The Sorcerer said. "You were supposed to stand there and get blasted!"

"You really are pathetic." Draig said.

"I may be pathetic, but I have power." The Sorcerer raised his hand and shot off another energy blast. And another. And another.

The Wolven Knight ducked and weaved his way across the chamber toward his opponent, dodging blast after blast. He was surprised at how easy it was. The Sorcerer had terrible aim.

Suddenly the energy blasts stopped. The Sorcerer tried again and again, but there was no more. He started panicking.

"No! No! No!" He screamed. "My power's gone!"

"Well, isn't that just a shame?" Draig laughed. "Then this is over."

"Not quite." The Sorcerer raised his dagger. "I can sacrifice your friend, get my power back, and then take care of you!"

He turned and rushed back toward the altar. Draig broke into a run, but could see he wouldn't catch the Sorcerer in time.

The Sorcerer passed the big tentacled statue on his way to the altar. As he went by, it toppled forward, landing on top of him. He was knocked to the floor, losing his grip on the dagger. It skidded away across the floor, beyond his grasp.

Draig stopped, looking at the Sorcerer pinned beneath the large hunk of badly carved stone, struggling and screeching. Narick was standing where the statue had once been.

"That thing was heavy!" He said.

The wolf-man laughed. "Well, Narick, you ended up stopping the Sorcerer after all!"

It was only then that Narick realised. "Hey! I did, didn't I! But you helped. You kept him distracted, and I was able to sneak around to the statue."

Draig stepped over and punched the Sorcerer across the face. He went limp, unconscious. The knight lifted the statue off him and threw it aside. It was easy, since he was much stronger than Narick. It shattered into a thousand pieces as it struck the floor.

"Um." Said Max, still on the altar. "A little help here?"

Using his sword, Draig cut the straps that held the human down. He then used the straps to tie up the defeated Sorcerer, making sure he was restrained securely.

He had just finished, when Max called over to him. "C'mon, Draig. Time to go."

The wolf-man stood, glancing at his human companion. The crystal of his Traveller Device was glowing fiercely. He sighed.

"But we're not finished here." He protested.

"Yes, we are." Max said. "The Sorcerer is defeated. His power is gone and he is no longer a threat to anyone. Your friend can take of things from here, I'm sure."

Narick puffed up with pride at hearing the Traveller say this. "Don't worry, Draig. I'll take care of it. Now I've seen what the Sorcerer is really like, I'm not afraid. He's just pitiful."

"It's just..." Draig said. "I was looking forward to meeting you family."

His small grey friend laughed. "It can wait until you next visit this world. Now you have a friend here, you'll come back, won't you?"

Draig just didn't have the heart to tell him that it was highly unlikely he'd ever make it back to this world. Somehow it seemed kinder to let him have his hope. But he himself would have to do without hope. He would never see Narick again.

"Yes." He answered. "Of course."

There was a familiar flash of light and Draig turned to see that Max had opened up the dimensional hole to the next world.

"Farewell, my friend." Draig gave Narick a quick hug and turned away. He didn't want Narick to see the tears welling up in his eyes.

He didn't particularly want Max to see either, so he took a few quick steps and jumped through the dimensional hole into the void beyond.

As he went, Max closely following, Draig's thoughts wondered how many friends he would have to leave like this during the journeys ahead. If they were going to be as painful to leave as Narick, then the future to him would hold nothing but pain and sorrow.

It was a saddened and depressed Draig that left that world with Max.

To Be Continued...