Because of the effort it takes to raise the portcullis, the gates of Castle Yadout are rarely ever completely shut. The mechanism used to raise and lower the portcullis had rusted over many harvests ago and even when it was in pristine condition it would take a great deal of effort to raise them. During Hudson's time in power there was only once that he had to shut them, but the events of that day have been lost to time.

My mind begins to spin with possibilities, how could the man within have recovered so quickly? Will Tom be able to defeat the stranger on his own? Had the Stranger already incapacitated Tom? How can the man expect to hold the castle when an army of Ogres couldn't stand in the way of Amber's will?

I hurry to the side of the castle and scan the ocean for a ship, turtles or anything else that could possibly hide an army. Has he not signaled them? Will they come at night? Surely the man cannot hold the castle until nightfall. What is his intent?

Abandoning Amber's new throne in front of the castle I race across the bridge leading to Military Island. My footfall sound loud on the wooden bridge as Amber steps onto the bridge after having paid her respects to the dead. Her shoulders sag and her eyes are down on the bridge as she walks, her staff is held limply in her right hand..

“Amber!” I call out to get her attention. She looks up and seems to come out of a trance, immediately her back snaps into place and she smiles sadly, wiping her eyes. “Amber, bad news, the portcullis is down.” I tell her.

Amber's eyes spark. “The Stranger?” She asks. I nod. “No.”

Amber pushes past me and hurries to the castle. I hurry after her, my soft leather shoes kicking up dust behind us. My longer strides quickly let me catch her as we run to the castle.

Amber spits on the ground in disgust and hits the portcullis with her staff to no avail. I grab her staff before she can swing it again. “Amber, we have to act quickly.” I tell her.

“Get the people.” She orders. “Get Gordo, get the swords, get every able man up here. We're retaking my castle.” Amber says firmly. Her jaw set in anger as she pulls the staff away from me.

“It's only one man.” I tell her. “Only a few of us should go in, eliminate him. The people would never need to know this happened.”

“Tom's in there!” She protests. “He could be in danger!”

“Believe me, Amber, I'm more worried about my brother than you are. We can't let the people believe that losing the castle will be a daily event, though. We deal with this quietly.”

Amber breathes heavily, her gaze resting harshly on the castle. “Get Stuart and Chris.” She concedes. “And be quick about it.”

Hurrying down to Kevin's Gate, I arrive just as Stuart and Chris put the final touches on their map. They shake hands and nod to one another having come to some sort of compromise regarding the directions to the land to the north. Explaining hurriedly the situation to the men they hurry out of the shop and up to the castle as I order Kevin to remain quiet regarding the situation. The barkeep nods and I race out of the shop.

“Deany!” Ryan says catching me as I leave the shop. “I heard a stranger washed up on the shore. Where is he?” The priest demands.

I push my friend aside and try to continue to the castle but the man steps in front of me again. “Deany, this could be who I've been looking for.” He tells me.

“Listen.” I shoot. “You have no authority in Yadout and refuse to tell me about your work here. I have business to attend to.”

“By the gods.” I hear Ryan whisper as I push past him again. “He's already used it.” He finishes. Behind me, Ryan hurries in his dirty clothes up to the castle along side me, his eyes wide in fear.

“Why is he here?” Amber demands of me as I arrive with Ryan.

“There's still a chance.” Ryan says. “He'll be exhausted, unable to move. Did he have a pendant?”

“What is he talking about?” Stuart demands. I shake my head and shrug my shoulders to respond to both men.

“Explain yourself!” Amber demands.

Ryan hesitates but looks around at us, he knows that he'll need our help. “I've been sent here by the temple to retrieve a lost artifact. We found it missing about ten days ago. After a thorough search of Zibwee the temple dispatched me to Yadout to search here discretely.”

“What does the artifact do?” Stuart demands.

Ryan wipes his brow and shakes his head. “It can create things.”

“Things?” I demand.

“What kind of things?” Amber asks as Chris risks a glance at the Castle.

“Weapons?” The young man asks.

“Depends.”

“Stop wasting our time,” Stuart demands, “what does it do?”

Ryan sighs. “It creates nearly whatever the person can imagine, but they're sentient.”

“You mean people?” Stuart demands. I curse and reach for the repostem. I summon my bird to me, the others pay no attention to my actions.

“People, creatures, the possibilities are limited only to the imagination of the one who uses the artifact. Those summoned can be used for good or for evil.”

“I think we already know this man's intent.” Chris sighs as my bird approaches.

“The summoned will be a reflection of the personality of its summoner.” Ryan explains. “Magic can destroy the summoned, but weapons will have no effect.” Ryan shifts his belt uncomfortably, a dagger hanging from his side hits the pouch that is also attached.

“If the man dies?” Stuart asks hitting his fist against his palm.

Ryan shrugs. “It may stop them, but we can't be sure.”

“Do we even know that the man has used it yet?” Chris demands.

“We'll know in a minute what we're up against.” I tell the young man as my owl lands on my shoulder. “Enter through this window” I say pointing up at a window left open to continue to ventilate the castle “fly to the throne room and back out through the opposite window.” I point across to the other side of the portcullis. “Make sure you travel down both ends of the hall.”

The bird hops off my shoulder and flaps its wings hard to reach the window. Resting on the sill a moment, the bird leans forward and falls out of sight.

“We've got two points of entrance.” Amber says. “The hole in the back of the castle Ryan created during the battle and the secret entrance underneath.”

“We should wait to see what we're up against before we act.” I whisper.

“We never should have sent the bird in!” Chris argues. “Don't let him know we're onto him already.”

“Better to know what we're up against, boy.” Chris' father argues, the old man eying the castle intently from under his bushy eyebrows. “I'm not going in there blind. I can't begin to imagine what some people may conjure up.”

“I'll need to get to the throne room as soon as possible. I left the wand in there.” Ryan tells Amber. “Without it you're the only one who can fight these things.”

“The back is the fastest route to the throne room.” Amber observes. “We should move, now, before that man has himself firmly entrenched in the castle.”

“We should wait for the owl.” Stuart argues.

Amber turns and starts for the back of the castle. “No. We move, now.”

The old man growls angrilly but follows her lead. “She doesn't want to be Yadout's only hope.” I whisper to the Admiral.

Stuart shakes his head. “She's the Lady Mayor. She needs to be their hope.”

Unimpeded we hurry through the hole blasted in the rear of the castle. The dust has long since settled but is now being stirred up again by our feet. Looking at the dust on the ground though, it seems as though a small army of creatures has already come through. A three clawed paw that makes its way easily over the rubble can be seen clearly in some parts of the pathway.

“Animals.” Ryan says, seeing the same thing. “We're dealing with animals.”

“Long claws.” I say as we emerge in the rear of the throne room, blowing in the repostem at the same time, the throne room is empty. No creatures, no man. “What do you make of that? Do you recognize it?”

“Looked like bone to me.” Stuart says as Ryan dashes for his wand that rests on a table. The seemingly harmless stick holds in it more power than Amber's staff it seems. While the staff will exhaust Amber, the wand seems to give no negative side effects to its wielder.

“Where to?” Ryan asks Amber, his wand held firmly in his hand. The hall behind us and ahead fills with crackling as my owl swoops into the throne room from the left wing of the castle.

“Sounds like they're all around us.” Stuart says unhappily as my owl lands on my shoulder.

“Deany?” Amber asks, pulling her staff close to her chest and glancing at me from over her shoulder.

“Show me.” I order the bird.

I dive through the window and into the warm air inside the castle. Warmer, it seems, than is should be.

Odd, I don't recall having the sense of warm and cold the last time I saw through the owl.

The halls are clear, the light coming through the windows cast peculiar shadows on the wall. Are they peculiar? Or am I simply unused to seeing the castle at this time of day?

I swerve around the first corner, looking into both the throne room and the banquet hall. Nothing. The halls are quiet in my sight.

Another corner reveals the foe that we now face as well as the army that he has summoned. Immediately, I come under attack from these creatures, their relentless assault causing me to spin hard and return the way I came, nearly struck many times by the orbs that flew from their mouths.

Before I turned, however, I saw both the man and my brother unconscious on the floor. My brother holds an amulet in his hand, the man is thrown back against a wall. The creatures had been moving both of them when I arrived. Tom was too late to stop the stranger and now he was at their mercy as well.

Turning around, the owl begins to head back for the market.

Returning to reality I fall to the floor and away from the wall. My eyes wide in fear. “By the four.” I whisper.

Stuart and Chris look back at one another, their eyes wide. Amber and Ryan stare at me, my fear painfully obvious to them. “What were they?” Ryan asks.

I shake my head. “I... I don't know.” I reply.

Ryan sighs. “Wherever he's from, he's brought the memory of them here to aid him.” The priest says. “We have to get out of here.”

“And go to where?” Stuart demands.

“Zibwee...” Ryan begins.

“No!” Amber shoots back. “I'm not abandoning my country. Block that entrance!” Amber demands pointing at the large throne that has yet to be replaced. Stuart runs hard towards it and pushes the seat back into the hole, nearly blocking the entrance.

“Get the doors!” Amber orders pointing at the large double doors that lead into the throne room. Chris runs for them, hoping to get there on time. Ryan stares in horror as the quickest exit is blocked. I stare at the owl in disbelief. The bird itself seems to shake at the memory.

Chris grabs the first door and pulls against the weight with all his might. The door grates against the floor and comes to a stop. He starts to pull on the other door when he stops, staring through the opening. His eyes flash in fear as he hesitates, the one door still wide open.

“Chris!” Amber demands. The young man is suddenly struck in the chest by a flying orb. He cries out in pain and grasps at his wound, a hole burned into his clothes and searing his flesh. A second shot hits his arm and he spins. He faces us, agony painted across his face, and falls to the floor.

“Chris!” Stuart shouts running forward, the rest of us are frozen in our places. The old man reaches his son and lifts the young man up. He looks up and gets struck in his right shoulder. The old man howls as he stands to his feet, his son in his arms.

The crackling behind us is loud and we know the creatures have reached the blockade. The throne begins to move. I throw myself against the seat to keep them from entering the room and being at our backs.

Stuart runs towards us, his son in his arms and an orb still burning in his shoulder. Smoke rises from his arm as he rushes away from the creatures, they flood through the door. In a moment the old man staggers and falls forward, his back littered with the orbs.

Amber raises her staff and begins casting her spell as the creatures, half her height, begin through the solitary door. Ryan, regaining his wits, strikes the creatures furiously with his magic. The bolts of lightning streaking across the throne room and hitting the abomonations, causing them to disappear in a shroud of light. He only manages to destroy three of the creatures before he is hit by an orb and falls backwards, cracking his head against the ground.

Amber tries to cast her spells but the creatures wash against the floor like water, their bony feet carrying them quickly towards her by the dozen. Amber, unable to focus on casting spells through her fear, doesn't strike one of them down before falling under the pressure.

Amber, Ryan, Stuart, Chris. I am the only one left. A weaponless Scholar against a horde of illusionary, undead, flightless birds. We have lost.