". . . shit!" Robbie shouted. He, the Strays and the Raptors were fighting for their lives in the jungles of South America trying to capture a magical jewel called the Heaven's Eye from a maniacal shaman. The adversary conjured up a set of massive earth golems to aid his followers in the defense of the jewel, and all hell had broken loose. Robbie found himself lying on his back, scrambling to get out of the way of the descending foot of a golem before it crushed him like an insect.'If I let that thing step on me, Red will have my hide,' he thought absently. Then he felt hands on his shoulders and was pulled out of the way just before the foot came down."I'm not explaining to your sister that I let you get killed," Natasha said as she helped Robbie to his feet. She looked pissed. The Strays and Raptors were generally too fast for the golems but the golems were too tough to be readily destroyed. Most of the shaman's followers had been incapacitated or had run off,

--------- -----------------------Twelve hours later . . .--------- -----------------------Red had only had a hangover once before in her life. She remembered suddenly why she didn't drink. But last time, she was pretty sure that the only symptoms had been nausea and a headache. This time, her entire body ached as if . . ."Wait," she mumbled. "I WAS in a fight." Bits and pieces of her night on the town were coming back to her."Red?" came a voice at the end of the bed. Jane had been reading and had fallen asleep again in a chair next to the bed. The younger girl quickly moved to Red's side."What did you do? What happened? What . . .""Red?" This time it was Talia at the mouth of the cave. "Good God girl, what the hell did you do last night?""I . . . went patrolling," Red said."By yourself?!" Talia said. "Dammit, that's just the kind of dumb-ass stunt your brother would pull!""I had

--------- ---------------A week later . . .--------- ---------------Robbie and Natasha were both cranky as hell by the time the Strays arrived at the slaughterhouse. They had gotten a message on Natasha's cell phone on where to go, but then her battery went dead so they couldn't call back. They had returned the car, taken cabs out to the nearest gas station and then hiked back in. Lothar got help carrying the heavy magical jewel all the way. His magical battle had taken a lot out of him. That, and not having ever been to this new Den before, prevented him from teleporting."They're back!" came a cry from a window as the weary travelers approached. Talia and Tarloh came sauntering out and embraced their friends, happy to see them all still alive. Robbie explained that the Raptors would be joining them that evening when darkness allowed them easier passage through the skies."This is big," Natasha said, "and they wanted to be here for it

---------- -----------------------A few hours later . . .---------- -----------------------The crowd walked or glided in silence. Walking to the gates of Armageddon seemed to have a sobering effect. Lothar was staring deep into the Heaven's Eye. He'd wanted to be part of an adventure. He was beginning to wish he had nothing to do with it.Croc and Anya walked next to each other. Chris hadn't spoken to either of them since the accusation earlier, and it was eating Anya up. But she didn't know how to approach him, so she decided to wait until after this was all over.Red walked hand in hand with Jane. Red was almost ashamed to admit to herself that she felt relieved. She was just along for the ride on this one, and she had meant what she said. They would win or lose in a matter of moments. No more waiting and then, one way or the other, she would get some rest.Jane wanted to kiss the warrior goddess she had become so dependent

--------------- -------------Six months later . . .--------------- -------------Jane leaned the broom up against one of the front windows of the Kwik-R Stop where she worked. It was a warm summer night, so she was able to clean up the parking lot without a jacket. She paused and ran her finger over her name pin, which was now done up in faux gold rather than the regular white plastic."Assistant manager," she muttered happily. The promotion only meant an extra dollar an hour, but it was still special for her. She had done a good job, and she had been rewarded. Of course, it also meant extra responsibility, but she didn't mind. It was good honest work. She still worked nights, but never alone. Her company insisted on having at least two people on graveyards. Her coworker for the evening was a pimply-faced college student named Earl, trying to save some extra money over the summer. He was a nice kid. He had tried hitting on Jane for a while befor