Eldion woke up to the sound of birds and insects in the jungle and found that he was alone inside the cart. He was able to rest well after being exhausted with the events of the previous day such that he feared that he might have slept too long. He wondered where Wen had gone to and looked out of the covered cart."He's awake!" said Casser and beckoned for Eldion to join them. Beside him was Mira who smiled when she saw Eldion's head poke out of the cart. Eldion knew it was Mira from her confident posture and how she behaved around Casser."Come and have breakfast, Eldion," said Mira.Eldion got off the cart and joined his two companions who were having breakfast under a large tree. He was immediately given a plateful of rice, dried fish and vegetables by Mira and some water by Casser."Where are we?" asked Eldion as he ate his breakfast. "Are we still in Alnoc?""He really does not know, does he?" Casser asked Mira.Mira caressed Casser's a

The three traveling companions followed the trail which led through the swampy forest. Tall reeds grew densely from each side, making it difficult to tell if there was any swamp creature waiting to pounce on them. Water rose past their ankles and they had to be careful with their steps should there be a deep hole or protruding rocks that could throw them off balance or make them twist their ankles.Casser took the lead, wading through the swamp water as fast as he could while Mira followed closely behind. Eldion took up the rear and wondered if he had made a mistake. With the stories about Alanca still fresh in his mind, Eldion was on edge and would jump at the slightest sound of reeds snapping underfoot. He looked constantly behind him to see if there was anything that could pounce on him from behind and tried to discern any movement from the reeds rising at his sides. Quite a few times, he was startled by what he thought was a swamp creature hiding behind the reeds, expecting a large

There was a loud sound of thunder that came with flashes of lighting and rain started to pour heavily over the ancient city."Looks like we'll have to stay here for a while," said Mira, looking out of the window at the heavy downpour that hid most of the temple ruins and the encroaching jungle outside. Curtains of rain fell from the leaden sky and threatened to break the tiled roof over the room where the three travelers were staying. Mira thought how difficult it was going to be to find Noha and the creature within that complex of ancient ruins. It was fortunate that Casser was able to track the creature to the ancient temple, but they may have to search room by room to find Noha. Then, she wondered what they would do should they encounter Alanca, if it was indeed Alanca who took the carabao. Mira thought that they should prepare for the worst. She had not seen the snake creature before, but the tracks she made in the reeds was quite telling – the creature was enormous. How the creat

Enzir was pushed backwards as Alanca landed between him and Lankko. It seemed that Alanca wanted to separate the two men and pushed Enzir away with her tail. Lankko was caught by surprise and dropped both Kora and the bottle of elixir that he was about to open. With his remaining power, he confronted Alanca.Alanca glared at Lankko who remained standing in front of her. She hissed and revealed her fangs as she prepared to attack. Then, with amazing speed, she lunged at Lankko, aiming for his neck. Lankko was quick to react and jumped high to the air. Alanca missed Lankko and quickly turned around to look where her opponent went. Lankko landed a short distance away but he turned in the air such that he faced Alanca when he landed. Alanca held out her hands and made another lunge at Lankko. The keeper of secrets was quick to react and was able to hold Alanca's wrists. Alanca tried to wrest her hands away, but found Lankko's grip to be too strong. She pushed forward to try and sink her fa

Wen broke away from Casser and Eldion and approached Alanca, but careful not to come too close. Despite everything that Alanca did to them, Wen could only feel pity for her. Alanca reached out to Wen, pain visible in her eyes. Then, she dropped to the ground, her exhaustion visible on her face. Wen rushed to Alanca's side and lifted her head. Alanca's eyes were closed and she was breathing laboriously."She needs help," said Wen to her companions who were still looking at her in disbelief. "Hurry, let's bring her inside the gallery."Eldion went to Wen and helped her lift Alanca. Casser still could not believe what they were doing. He tied Noha to one of the statues and helped Eldion and Wen lift Alanca to the gallery."I can't believe we're doing this! She wanted to kill us just a few hours ago," said Casser as he held Alanca.Eldion was silent, but Wen heard Mira’s voice, "We're doing the right thing, Wen. "She could have killed us earlier, but she didn't. I think there's more to Ala