I got this idea from watching too many Slayers videos for two days straight.  This one's all your fault Jill!!  You should be proud ;o)

*****

It had been a quiet day so far, so of course the Mighty Ducks should have known something was about to happen. When something did happen, it happened so fast that no one quite knew what 'it' was. For six ducks, all they ever really knew was that one minute the seven of them were in the Rec room, and the next minute, the number was doubled, and two unconscious ducks were lying on the floor, one of them staining the carpet with blood.

Looking back on the incident, Lila still wasn't sure she understood exactly what happened.

Nosedive was sacked out in a beanbag chair, engrossed in a comic book. Grin was off in the corner doing whatever Grin did when he sat in a corner with his eyes closed. Mallory was listening with negligible interest to Tanya describe exactly why it was impossible for the Turbokat to perform the maneuver's T-bone was apparently putting it through. Wildwing was reclined in a chair with his eyes closed, half-dozing, while Duke, leaning against the wall, stared at a point in the center of the floor as if he were deep in thought.

It was therefore no surprise that Duke was the first who noticed when the floor suddenly rippled as if someone had dropped a rock in a puddle. His choked cry barely had time to register before the outermost ring of the ripple began to glow and the section of floor inside the glowing circle began to swirl. Before the ducks even had time to jump to their feet, the whirlpool bulged upward, then seemed to rip, revealing a blinding white glow. The sides of the tear slid off the glowing hemisphere, and the ducks shielded their eyes just in time to avoid the explosion of light that filled the room for an instant.

Then the light was gone, and the team started as they realized they were no longer the only ducks in the room.

The blank but startlingly familiar eyes of a blond woman gazed at them from behind a pair of blue tinted glasses for an instant before the caped female collapsed into the arms of the one-eyed drake that had jumped up to catch her. No one had quite seen her face before she fell, but the image was etched in Lila's memory: The woman wore a long-sleeved pale blue suit, and a light grey cape hung from her shoulders. Her arms were extended over her head, palms facing each other. Her expression was a mixture of desperation and exhaustion as her eyes gazed passed the seven ducks without seeing them for an instant before she gave into darkness. Her face was a perfect match for Tanya's.

The man who leapt up to catch her was identical to Duke, except that his suit was a darker red and tailored in an older style, and a black cape billowed from his shoulders. A slender sword with a gold hilt hung at his waist.

"Duke?" A familiar voice from behind him called anxiously. Mallory started.

"She's okay, she's just exhausted herself," Duke-twin answered, lowering Tanya-twin gently to the ground without taking his eyes off the startled group of ducks in front of him. "But I think we have a bigger problem."

"No kidding." Wildwing tensed at the sound of his own voice. "Mallory, help me, she's hurt bad."

Lila started to move forward, but Wildwing caught her arm. Lila looked up at him, eyes hard, and he let her go. She strode forward. Duke-twin looked at her strangely but didn't stop her as she moved past him. She gasped at the site of blood pooling on the carpet under an unconscious form. Mallory-twin was kneeling there, her hands glowing slightly where she held them over the wounded duck. Lila's heart almost stopped as she realized the injured woman had her face.

"I can't help her," Mallory-twin shook her head, removing her hands. "I'm sorry, Wildwing, my spells just aren't meant for wounds this bad."

"Let me see, please," Lila gently nudged Mallory-twin aside. Wildwing-twin looked at her suspiciously, but he didn't interfere.

Lila bit her lip at the site of the wound. It looked like she'd taken a laser blast or something that had gone right through her. She knew it was hopeless, but she went to work anyway.

"I need to get her to the infirmary," she called back to her team. "Someone get me a stretcher."

"I'll carry her," Wildwing-twin said, standing up. "We don't have time for delays."

Lila started to protest, but Wildwing-twin murmured something under his breath and gestured upward with his hand. Lila-twin rose into the air. Lila stared for only an instant before directing the newcomers to the infirmary. Explanations could wait. Her skill was needed, if only to make this woman as comfortable as possible in her last hours. If even for that long.

Wildwing had seen the wound. "Can you save her?" he murmured, coming up beside her as they rushed to the infirmary. Lila's expression was his answer. He frowned and dropped back to spread the word to the others to be on the alert. If these strangers decided to blame Lila for the girl's death, there could be trouble.

Lila made her twin as comfortable as was possible, then gravely explained the situation to the other team. They stood like stone, and didn't react, except for Wildwing-twin, who closed his eyes for a moment.

"Is she awake?" he asked, in a voice that only Wildwing knew meant he was close to tears. "I need to see her."

"She's conscious," Lila told him gently, "but she's going fast. Whatever you have to say, say it quickly, or she'll be past hearing."

He moved past her and went to the bedside. "Lila. Lila, my love, look at me." She opened her pain-filled eyes and focused them on him with effort. "You must heal yourself," he said softly, touching her face. "Please." Her eyes filled with tears. Wildwing-twin took her hands and placed them over her wound, then placed his hands in the air over hers. Lila frowned. 'Heal yourself? What does he mean? What's going on?' Her eyes widened as Wildwing's hands seemed to glow. At first she thought it was merely the light reflecting off his white feathers, but the glow trailed down onto her twin's hands. "Speak the spells, Lila. My power is yours. Do it, quickly!" The woman's face twisted in pain for a moment, but her mouth moved silently, and she closed her eyes. The glow seemed to flow from his hands to hers, through them into her.

Five ducks watched anxiously, seven more watched in disbelief. The medicom blipped, and Lila moved quickly to the diagnostic console, not believing what she was seeing as the indications all rose slowly toward normal. She looked back at the two, shaken down to the core of her being as she watched them heal the injury that was so far beyond her power. She came back to stand by her teammates, watching in wonder. Her eyes were drawn to their faces. Both had their eyes closed; tears wet both their faces. She sense something greater happening that what she could see, that this was affecting them on a deeper level than any of them, perhaps even their own teammates knew. 'Lila, my love,' his words came back to her, and she cast an involuntary glance at her own captain. If he had noticed, he did not show it. And neither, she knew, would she.

No one was ever sure afterward how long they watched before Wildwing-twin sighed and slumped over Lila-twin's body, obviously exhausted. They got him into a third bed, and Lila checked him quickly. He, like Tanya-twin, was fine, except for signs of extreme fatigue. Shaking, Lila went to her twin and removed the blood-stained cloths binding her injury.

Beneath, there was nothing but smooth skin, bare of feathers, but otherwise whole and undamaged. Lila's hands opened numbly and the bandages fell to the floor. She felt a strong grip on her shoulder; Wildwing stood at her back. "It's not possible," she whispered. "She should be dead."

"But she isn’t," he said quietly. "And I think it's time we found out why." He turned and looked at the four members of the clone team that were still standing.

***

Wraith stared intently out of one of the Raptor's viewports, his face vacant as he focused on his sense of the magical energy around him. Something was different...somewhere, a balance had shifted...the wizard brooded silently as he focused his power on finding the intrusion into this realm of non-magic.

***

Lila looked them over carefully as they filed into the ready room, able now to notice things that had escaped her notice before. All wore capes, all carried what appeared to be weapons save Grin, and all were dressed very differently from anything that the resident ducks had ever seen before.

Mallory-twin, or Mave, as she chose to be called, wore a gold chestplate and shoulder protection over a red bodysuit, and her boots were knee-high leather rather than the traditional militia style that Mallory wore. The cape that hung from her shoulders was a darker red than her suit. She stood with her arms folded, in a stance that was very much reminiscent of her double. She, to Lila's mild surprise (mild compared to that which she'd felt about the preceding events), also wore a sword, but with a musketeer style hilt and a more narrow blade than the one Duke-twin (Who'd chosen to be called Dagan, after a legendary Puckworld swordsman) wore.

Jaden had the same jaunty attitude about him as his twin, but his blond hair was longer. He wore no armor, just a green suit that reminded Lila of the earth hero Robin Hood, with a wide red sash as a belt. Stuck through that was some kind...wand, for lack of a better word, with a handle about a foot long and a clear sphere on the end of it.

Of all of them, Garth and Grin seemed the least different. Their clothes were very similar, even in color, and Garth was the only one of the visitors that didn't wear a cape.

Dagan took charge, explaining to them that their universe was one where magic ruled. Each of the group had their specialties. Dagan was not a sorcerer, but a master swordsman and (unsurprisingly) a former thief and mercenary. Mave specialized in battle magic, which Lila gathered was similar to Wraith's fireballs, with varying degrees of strength, and other attacks like lightening strikes or something equally arcane. Garth dealt mostly with earth magic, though he, like Grin, preferred the hands-on approach. Jaden worked with a magic that Lila didn't fully understand, that attacked the spirit of an enemy rather than his body; apparently it was useful against magically conjured monsters and the like. Therease dealt with transport magics, and of all of them, she understood the nature of magic the most, crafting new attacks and spells for the group. Magus carried a scepter that enhanced his power, and let him locate other magic sources, like that used by the Saurians in their dimension. It was their version of the Mask, passed down by Drake DuCaine in their dimension. Laith was the group's healer; she'd been hit in battle just before an exhausted Therease had called up a Gate to get them out. No one else had the knowledge or the power to heal her, but when Lila had stabilized her enough to get her conscious and aware, Magus had fed her his power, and she'd used it to heal herself.

"So how'd you get here? Why not teleport to your own home?" Wildwing demanded. Dagan shrugged.

"I guess something happened to Therease, or to the Gate. Maybe the blast to Laith while the Gate was being created. Maybe something went wrong because Therease was so tired. Maybe both."

"Do you have any way to get home?" Lila asked.

"You'd have to ask Therease," Dagan shook his head. "I don't know how any of that works." He set a hand on his sword hilt and gave a crooked grin. "Magic ain't really my thing, y'know? In any case, Therease has totally exhausted her power. Right now she's probably dealing with a mage fever, and she won't be able to Gate again until she's gotten some rest."

Wildwing sighed. His head was starting to hurt. This was getting just way too weird for him.

'So what else is new?' He stood up. "Well, since it looks like you're stuck here for the night at least, we'd better get some accommodations set up. I guess we'll just double up the bunks; Magus with me, Jaden with Dive, and so on." He looked at Lila. "Unless those three will be in the infirmary overnight?" Lila shook her head.

"Probably not, right now exhaustion seems to be the only thing they're suffering from. I don't see any reason for keeping them there, and they'd probably be more comfortable with us."

Wildwing turned to Dagan. "Will that work?" He nodded. "Good. Let's do it, team."

An hour later the beds were set up, and Lila was making dinner for fourteen. She watched them drift in as she worked. Dagan first, his walk and expression so reminiscent of Duke that it made her shiver. Jaden bounded in next, followed quickly by Nosedive, begging for a demonstration of the other boy's odd weapon. Wildwing shook his head at the squabbling as he entered, sharing a tired smile with Lila before ending the argument. Therease and Tanya came in next, discussing--something. Laith and Magus came in together. Laith wore a white dress that belonged to Lila, as her own clothes had a large hole in them from the blast. She had requested something white, as her healer's robes were of that color, and as she floated in on Magus's arm, Lila couldn't help thinking that they looked like something out of an old fairy tale. She looked away quickly.

Dinner discussion was as disjointed and chaotic as ever, if not more. Therease and Tanya hadn't ceased their discussion since they walked in the door, eating between sentences rather than the other way around. Dive and Jaden had recommenced their argument, though this time it was Dive who had the upper hand, denying Jaden a look at his Pucklauncher until the other duck agreed to a mystic demonstration. She tried not to think about what the gym was going to look like after this. Garth and Grin were going at it with philosophy. Laith and Magus were talking quietly between themselves, and Wildwing was listening with half-interest to Duke and Dagan compare rap sheets while Mallory and Mave inserted acidic comments regarding their pride in their 'accomplishments.'

She was, as usual, watching, measuring every reaction. It was truly strange to watch people argue with themselves. For some reason, she felt subdued, contemplative, not really interested in taking part in the conversation. She swallowed her food woodenly, and went to clean up the kitchen.

"Can I help?"

Lila jumped at the soft question, glancing back into a living mirror. "If you like," she said amiably, tossing a dishrag at the woman. Laith looked at it strangely for a second, then started helping Lila get the plates rinsed and loaded.

Momentarily lost in her thoughts, Lila wasn't paying attention, and lost her grip on a wet plate. She gasped and jumped back, expecting it to shatter on the floor, throwing shards everywhere. About six inches from the floor it stopped, then Laith sagged against the counter and the plate clattered the floor, the force of gravity still sufficient to break it in half.

Lila barely noticed, already slipping under Laith's arm and guiding the woman through the door. Lila made a mental note to lose weight as Laith leaned heavily on her. Lila bit back an acidic comment on the girl's stupidity, she should know better than to pull something like that after she'd been injured so badly. Over a plate, for crying out loud. In the five minutes that Dagan had spent trying to explain magic, she'd manage to gather that it was just like fighting in that it wore the spellcaster out physically. Laith should *know* that, she better than anyone. Lila was still fuming when the doors to her quarters closed behind her. She put a hand to her forehead and sighed, closing her eyes.

"I take it our guest doesn't have any more worldly sense than you do?"

She opened her eyes and glared at Wildwing, who was obviously trying very hard not to laugh, the result being a sort of half-smile. "She tried to stop a plate that I dropped from breaking on the floor."

"And fainted for her troubles," Magus shook his head. "She's always trying to do too much."

"Sounds familiar," Wildwing said, somehow keeping a straight face. Magus chuckled.

"She'll be all right in the morning. It's...not the first time she's had to use her power to this extent," he looked pained. "Although we've never come so close to losing *her* before, and for that we are all thankful, I'm sure." He paused and held a hand out to Lila. "Some of us more than others," he said quietly. "No, I didn't mean it like that, but she is very dear to me, and I have you to thank for her life." Lila took the hand, trying to keep hers from shaking as she met his eyes. Then someone blinked, and the look was gone.

***

Wraith went to his treasured library, a small room in the Raptor he'd filled with ancient knowledge passed down--or stolen--over the years. He selected one decaying volume and carefully turned its pages.

He'd considered--very briefly--going to Dragaunus with his suspicions, but he knew the stone-headed young Overlord would dismiss his discoveries as unimportant.

It was time to teach the fool the respect his heritage deserved.

But this magic was different, that he felt, it wasn't like his, it was young, vibrant.

Self-renewing. Wraith lifted a withered hand and thought of all he'd done to gain his power and keep it. All that it had cost him.

A cruel smile spread across his face as he looked into the blank eyes of the skull on his staff and thought of all it had cost others. Oh yes, the price for them would be very high indeed. He raised his hand over the staff and began the incantation.

***

"Lila?"

She jumped and almost spat something unladylike. She was getting awfully tired of that. Wildwing winced. She must have let her annoyance show. Yet another loss of control to add to the list today. Lovely.

"Sorry," he said, and she waved it off, turning back to the tea she was making. Somehow she knew he hadn’t moved, and she turned back to look at him. He gave her a measured look back, and it was all she could do not to snap something at him and turn away. Lila was immediately ashamed of the feeling. She had no idea why she was so edgy. "Are you all right?" he finally asked.

"I don't know," she sighed, surprised at her own honesty. "*Something's* bugging me, but I couldn't for the life of me tell you what it was." Wildwing smiled slightly.

"Do you think it might have something to do with seeing yourself nearly die, and not being able to do anything about it?"

Lila stared at nothing. "Am I that selfish?" she sighed. "She wasn't the first that I couldn't save. It shouldn't be any different for her than it was for any of the others." 'So many others...'

Wildwing looked at her gently, feeling a pang of sympathy for all that she'd gone through, all that she remembered from the war. For him, at least, the memories would fade, but they were carved into Lila's mind with painful clarity, and always would be. He went to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "No, I don't think you are. I think it bothers you more that she lived, that she was able to heal a wound that should have by all rights killed her."

"Why should she be so lucky," Lila murmured, twisting a napkin in her hands. "All those others, that could have been saved with that power. Maybe in her world they were. So why did I have to watch them die, Wing?"

"I think every soldier asks themselves that, Lila, why they survive when others don't, why the stranger on his left is still alive when the friend that stood at his right is dead. I don't need to tell you that, you know it, because you were there, and you've heard them ask that question. What did you tell them, Lila?"

Lila looked pained. "War is chaotic, there's no way to control what's going on around you. You can only be secure in the knowledge that you've done your best, and if you don't think that's true, then you can only try harder. Honor their memory, and be ready to give your own life so that others may live." She closed her eyes briefly. "I hope it was more comfort to them than it is to me. It's all so arbitrary..." She sighed.

"Maybe that's true," Wildwing admitted softly. "But think, Lila, how many of those people would give their lives so that others could live? If you knew that Laith was going to die, and there was a way to take her place, would you do it?" Lila nodded slowly. "Because that's the way you are, you can't stand by and watch another die if you can prevent it. You could be her, you could be the one who was able to save all those people. But then she would have to take your place, and would you wish that on her?" Wildwing wished he had her gift for words, he didn't feel as if he were coming across properly. But again, Lila nodded slowly, and he felt her tight muscles relax slightly beneath his hand.

"Thank you," she said quietly. He smiled faintly.

"Just returning the favor," he told her, "I'll be happy to do it again sometime, if you need me." He left her to sort out her thoughts on her own.

Lila stirred the tea listlessly and wondered why there were no easy answers in life.

***

Lila jolted awake, fighting confusion as she tried to understand what was going on. Shocked out of a dead sleep, she saw a figure moving in the darkness and felt a wave of fear before her muddled brain registered that it was merely Laith, lurching out of Lila's bed. 'My bed? But where am--' Again an abrupt click. She was on the floor in a pallet of blankets. Was it morning already? It couldn't be--a quick glance of the clock confirmed it as Lila stumbled to her feet and followed her twin dumbly. She finally shook sleep enough to call the other woman's name. Laith glanced back, confusion reflected in her own face before she remembered what was happening. "Something's wrong," she croaked, her voice still thick from sleep. "Jaden..."

"Go," Lila pointed her to the correct door. "I'll get Wildwing." She was more fully awake now, and she quickly got Wildwing and Magus out of bed. They were a little quicker than she had been. All Magus had needed to hear was that something was wrong with Jaden, and he was up and moving. A half-second later it registered to Wildwing that if Jaden was in trouble, Nosedive could be too, and he too was out the door.

A muddled Nosedive had opened the door to Laith's insistent pounding, and she rushed by him to his twin's side. Jaden had a very faint glow rising from him, misty light that wafted upward like steam and seemed to dissipate into the room. Someone flicked on the light, and it could hardly be seen. Jaden lay as if he were still asleep, but Lila had a terrible feeling that whatever he was undergoing wasn't natural, and it wasn't healthy. Laith had vanished again, and she quickly reappeared with the rest of both teams. Mave rushed in and fell at Jaden's side, being one of the only left with her full magical capabilities still at her disposal.

"Something's sapping his strength," Therease gasped. "We've got to shield him from it or he'll die from overexertion!"

Mave immediately raised her hands above him. At first Lila couldn't see anything happening, then she noticed the energy mist becoming visible again as it seemed to swirl against some kind of invisible barrier above Jaden's body.

"I can contain it, but I can't force it back into him," Mave said, her voice strained. "He's still losing power, but whoever's drawing it out isn't getting it either. Magus, I think you're going to have to--"

"I'm on it." Magus knelt at his brother's side, the Scepter of DuCaine in one hand and the other hand extended over the shield Mave was generating. He muttered under his breath and closed his eyes in concentration. The Scepter glowed, and the glow moved to his arm and over the rest of him, ebbing through the hand he held over Jaden. The mist seemed to grow thicker, and shrink back toward Jaden. It was obviously taking a toll on Magus, even with the Scepter’s aid. Garth moved forward and set a hand on Magus' back, sharing his power as Magus had shared his with Laith. Slowly the mist was forced down. Jaden cried out in pain as it was forced back into him, and Lila cringed. Then Magus slumped forward, and Mave got shakily to her feet. Dagan caught her as her knees buckled, and Mallory got under her arm to support her. Laith and Lila both pushed forward to check on everyone. Jaden was shivering violently, and still looked to be in pain, but he opened his eyes and stared up at the twin faces in confusion. Lila left him to Laith and checked Mave, then Magus. They were both fine, though drained, but Lila frowned as she noticed that Magus seemed to have a slight fever. She was assured, however, that that was normal after such extensive use of his powers. The forced energy transfer seemed to have inflicted no permanent harm on Jaden, but he was weak and suffering from a worse fever than Magus.

On the insistence of both the healers, the two were ushered to the infirmary and preparations made to deal with the mage fevers, particularly Jaden's. Grin physically carried him to the infirmary, since Laith had insisted and Lila had agreed that no one else should further exhaust their powers. Wildwing gripped his brother's shoulder as he watched the boy with Nosedive's face continue to shake and moan. Laith wrapped him in blankets, and Magus watched helplessly from his own bed, where he had begun to tremble mildly as well.

"It'll pass," Laith told Lila tightly, "But it won't be comfortable. I'm staying with them tonight." Lila nodded, knowing that argument was useless, and directed her to a bed nearby that she could use if she needed to.

"Is there any way I can be of help?" she asked. Laith shook her head.

"We've all been through these before, you just have to let them run their course. Fortunately they don't last long, they should be fine by morning."

Reluctantly the rest of the ducks left the infirmary and gathered, all still dressed in their pj's, in the Ready Room. "I want to know how that happened and what we can do about it," Wildwing announced the second they were all in the room. Every head turned toward Therease.

"Could Dragaunus have followed us here?" Mave demanded.

"No way," Therease shook her head vigorously. "*I* don't even quite know how we got here, or where here is relative to our universe. Gates can't be traced, remember? If they could we'd have found the Raptor long ago." She turned to Wildwing. "Is Draguanus here?"

"Yes, but he doesn't have any powers like the kind you do," Wildwing shook his head. "The only one that even comes close is Wraith, and we've never seen him do anything like this."

Therease considered that. "Well, the Saurians in our dimension have powers that are similar to ours, but they work differently. We convert physical energy to magical force, that's why using it makes us so tired. Saurians can do that to an extent, but they have to siphon off magical power from other species to maintain the levels of energy it takes for higher spells. That's why they go around conquering other peoples. But if yours have never displayed any kind of power--"

Tanya snapped her fingers. "Wait a minute. Therease, didn't you tell me that you sensed latent power in us too?"

Therease nodded. "Yeah, you guys could probably learn sorcery yourselves if you had the discipline and the training. But that'd take years, I mean a really long time!"

"We've monitored situations where Wraith has mentioned the ancient powers of his ancestors," Lila put in. "And Puckworld legends do refer to ancient ducks having some kind of power of their own."

"It could be that the difference in your dimension is that somewhere along the time line, the use of magic died out," Therease mused, "Where in ours both sides continued to use it. If that's true, then Wraith could have been trying to take Jaden's energy for a spell that he normally wouldn't be able to handle."

"If that's true," Wildwing said heavily, "We could be in a lot of trouble."

"Tell me about it," Therease moaned. "Saurians in our dimension have never managed to pull power from a distance like that, they always had to be in physical contact with whoever they were trying to drain."

"Can you shield yourselves somehow?" Mallory asked. Therease shook her head.

"It's possible for short periods of time, but you're still losing the same amount of energy as you would if the Saurian was succeeding in draining you. In other words, the energy is still being lost, *he's* just not getting it. Basically you have to burn the energy and hope someone gets you free in time to save you."

"Then you have to deal with the mage-fevers," Mave said grimly. "Unless someone gets to you real early, you're out of the fight at the very least."

"What about a shield crystal?" Dagan asked. "Like the ones we have at home?"

"A what?" Duke frowned.

"There are spells that negate all magical energy they come in contact with," Therease explained. "We have them in our Pond. It shields us from magical attack, but it also means that *we* can't use any magic while we're in range of it. I can create some from here, but only if you have something that I can cast the spell on. Jewels and crystals work best."

"What about Grin's meditation crystals?" Wildwing suggested. "And I'm sure Duke must have a jewel or two stashed around here somewhere." Duke opened his mouth to protest but got a Look from Mallory.

"If you even *think* about suggesting my jewelry," she growled, "I'll make sure it's not your problem. Permanently." Duke scowled but wisely shut his beak. Grin gave up his crystals without argument.

Tanya stayed with Therease when she had selected a few appropriate gems, interested in watching the process and also to keep an eye on the sorceress, as her teammates were afraid she would exhaust herself again. Her strength and power had still not completely returned.

The others all went into the Rec Room and curled on the couch or in chairs or on the rug to wait. Lila noted with a shudder the large stain that Laith's blood had left. The conversation was short, sleepy, and half-hearted. They dozed, but never all at once, on the watch for another magical attack. None came, and finally they slept soundly under the protection of the crystals and anti-teleportation shields.

***

Wraith frowned as he contemplated his stolen energy. They had stopped him in less time than he'd expected, but what he had should be sufficient for his needs. He turned to another ancient spellbook and began crafting his plans.

***

Lila drifted awake slowly and stirred. She was back in her bed, as Laith had stayed the night in the infirmary with Jaden and Magus, and aside from the pallet of blankets on the floor, there was no evidence of the visitor's arrival to be seen. She lay there in comfort for a moment, still half in dreams, and imagined herself back home on Puckworld for an instant, safe in her room with the open sea visible through the window of her spacious house, tucked away in the cliffs of Drakewind Heights, her mother's voice mixing with the music of the waves...

She was jolted back to reality by a yelp and a crash outside in the hall. Her door was unlocked, and it flew open as someone triggered the sensor, dumping Duke, Dagan, and Dive into her room in a graceless heap. She sighed and sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"Dive, you've been *asked* not to run in the hallway," she said in as close to a stern tone as she could manage that early in the morning. He grinned sheepishly, then caught himself.

"Hey! Why'd you automatically assume it was my fault?"

"Because it was," Duke growled, pushing Nosedive off his chest with a grunt. "Ow." Lila sat watching them with mild amusement and a faint smile. Dagan groaned as Duke got off of him, and then caped duck slowly stood himself.

"Are you alright?" Lila was on her feet immediately, all sense of weariness gone as she went to help Dagan. He waved her off.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, I just fell on my sword and got the hilt in the gut." He gave Nosedive a very Duke-like look of irritation tainted with well-concealed affection. Nosedive looked sheepish.

"Sorry about that, man, really."

Dagan just muttered something under his breath and shook his head. Lila cleared her throat. "If you boys wouldn't mind...?" She crossed her arms over her white flannel nightshirt and gave them a look. Duke took the hint and shoved Nosedive back out in the hall. Dagan followed them, and the door closed automatically. Chuckling, Lila triggered the lock and turned to get dressed.

***

Wildwing looked up from the paper as she came in, and pushed a teacup towards her. She accepted it and sat down. "I was starting to wonder what happened to you. You're usually the first one up." Lila shrugged.

"Rough night."

"Tell me about it."

Lila sipped the tea and got up to make herself something to eat. "I'm worried, Wing, there's no telling what Wraith could be up to. We're in way over our heads."

"I know," Wing said in a low voice, putting the paper aside and glancing at the door. "And I'm not sure what to do about it. My first thought was that we need to find Wraith and stop him before he can pull off whatever he's planning..."

"But we don't have anyway of doing so," Lila finished. "What about Magus' scepter? He said it could track other magic users, might it be able to lead us to Wraith?"

"I don't know, when I was talking to him I got the impression that it works a lot like the Mask. It lets him sense if something's been magically altered, the way the Mask works on cloaks, and he can sense the Saurians, but only if they're in the immediate vicinity."

"That doesn't leave us with much to work with," Lila sighed, turning and leaning against the counter. "Other than sit tight and wait for him to come to us."

"*If* he plans to come to us," Wildwing pointed out glumly. "There are a thousand and ten things he could be planning to do, and I'd bet that only the last five hundred and five involve us directly. It may be something that we can't stop unless we get to him before he completes it."

"That," Lila sighed ruefully, "Is not a particularly cheerful thought."

"You know me," Wildwing gave a half smile, "I'm never cheerful in the morning."

"True," Lila smiled, "But that's got to be the most anti-cheerful morning thought you've ever voiced."

"You should know," he grinned back. "Funny how you always seem to be on the receiving end of all my anti-cheerfulness."

"Am I that depressing?" She picked up her food and sat down to eat.

"I didn't mean it like that," Wildwing said quickly, but Lila waved it off.

"I know, I know." They both looked up as the door slid open.

"Mind if we join you?" Magus asked with a tired smile.

"Not at all," Lila stood, picking up her plate. "But I think we'd be more comfortable in the dining room. This table's a little small."

Laith prodded Magus toward the door. "You go ahead, I'll get us something to eat."

"Not a chance," he told her. "*You* go sit down, *I'll* get us the food."

"Both of you go sit down," Lila said firmly, forestalling the coming argument. "You've both been through a lot, you both need your rest, *I* will get the food."

"I'll give you a hand," Wildwing smiled. Magus and Laith looked like they wanted to protest, but they just went through the door into the dining room.

"She's as stubborn as you," Wildwing heard Magus mutter to Laith as they left. He successfully kept from laughing, but only just.

They got together some food and Lila started to carry the plates through to the other room. The door activated and slid open, and her eyes widened. She stepped back hurriedly, nearly bumping into Wildwing. The door closed and she turned her back to it. Wildwing gave her a puzzled look as her face reddened.

"What?" he demanded. Lila bit her bottom lip, still blushing but suddenly looking as if she were trying not to laugh. She took a backwards step to activate the door again, and he looked over her shoulder into the room.

Laith and Magus were kissing softly, unaware of their intrusion. Wildwing's reaction mirrored Lila's, though the flush showed much more vividly through his white feathers. "Oh."

She stepped away from the door and restored their privacy. "Yeah."

They stood in awkward silence for a moment, then Lila took a deep breath and turned toward the door again, covering her embarrassment flawlessly. Wildwing cleared his throat and followed her through, hoping he was doing as good a job.

Wildwing supposed that he shouldn't have been surprised when Magus and Laith brought up just what he and Lila had been discussing five minutes before.

"It might be a good idea to split up and scan the city as much as we can," Magus suggested. "We can't cover it all but we might get lucky. Between your Mask and my Scepter we should be able to track them down."

"The Mask might not do us much good if Wraith is doing this from outside the Raptor," Lila pointed out. "Dragaunus has never been big on relying on magic, Wraith may be trying to prove something. If that's true then it's likelier than not that he's doing this without help."

"True, but it's all we've got to work with for now," Wildwing nodded. "How should we split up the teams?"

"I'll take Dagan, Jaden, and Laith," Magus said after a moment of thought. "Therease, Mave, and Garth will go with you."

"So Tanya, Mallory, and Grin will go with you to fill in. Sounds good. We'll leave as soon as we can get everyone together. Your team can take the Aerowing, we'll go in the Migrator."

They left just before noon, starting an assigned search pattern on opposite ends of the city.

"It's possible Dragaunus isn't even *in* the city," Lila pointed out.

"True," Wildwing nodded as he scanned, "but we have to start somewhere."

***

Laith frowned as Magus stiffened suddenly. He put a hand on Mallory's shoulder. "Let me steer." Mallory glanced sharply at him but relinquished her position, watching carefully to make sure he didn't crash them into anything. She wasn't sure what kind of machines they had over in that alternate hocus-pocus universe, but she was willing to bet this guy wasn't licensed to fly a top-of-the-line military assault vehicle. Tanya glanced over from the radar, watching him with interest. This magic was like a whole new technology to her, she found it fascinating. And, she had to admit to herself, a little frightening.

"Laith," he murmured, and she moved quickly to him. "It's close..." She laid a calm hand on his shoulder, steadying him with her presence. Mallory turned away and raised her wristcom.

"Wildwing, come in. Magus has something."

"What's your position?"

"Deja vu," she muttered, "He's heading for that clearing where we fought Dragaunus the first time."

"We're on our way," came the response, accompanied by the sound of squealing tires and Dive's familiar whoop of anticipation.

'Let's hope he's so excited when this is all over," Mallory thought grimly as her gut twisted, "I've got a bad feeling about this."

She took the controls and landed the Aerowing a distance away from where Magus had sensed Wraith's location, and they waited for the others to arrive.

"He knows we're here," Magus said restlessly. "Defensive positions, team."

***

"How fast can we get to them?" Lila demanded.

"Not fast at all," Wildwing gritted. "Somebody get me a highway map into that area. And remind me to tell Tanya that we need to outfit the Migrator for off-roading."

"We can't wait that long," Mave said decisively. Lila turned and looked at her as the woman closed her eyes and held her hands with her palms facing each other in front of her chest. She began to murmur under her breath and a ball of blue light appeared in the space between her hands. All of the light seemed to be sucked into it, casting the Migrator into darkness as the growing ball illuminated Mave's face eerily. Suddenly a ring of blue fire erupted outward from the ball of light, expanding until it passed through the outer walls of the Migrator and surrounded it, then spread into a glowing dome around the vehicle. The dome sank into the ground, leaving behind a circle that rippled and glowed for a moment, then disappeared.

***

Mallory whirled, drawing her pucklauncher on instinct. In the time it took her to aim it, a glowing disc had formed on the ground and she watched openmouthed as the gate formed, rising and ripping to reveal the Migrator. Wildwing stared slack-jawed out of the windshield at her for a moment, then he shook himself and unbuckled his restraints.

"Are you all right?" Lila rushed to Mave's side as the girl leaned heavily against a wall, but was waved off.

"Just need to catch my breath," the red-head sighed. "Gating isn't my specialty, you know."

"We should split up and try to scale the face," Magus commented, looking up at the mountain. "He's up there. I can sense him."

"Me too," Wildwing activated the Mask. "He's about halfway up. I'm not reading any of the other Saurians with him, but I can't imagine he'd be alone."

"He's not," Magus said grimly. "Come on, let's go."

***

Wraith watched them in the swirling mists of a scrying crystal from a cave in the side of the mountain. His twisted features contorted into a cruel smile. So they'd found him. It was too late. And now they would die. In the space of a night and a day he would accomplish what all Dragaunus's technology had failed to do. Oh, the warlord would never truly accept the old ways as his own, the sorcerer knew that. But Wraith would no longer be the target of his contempt for the old ways, and perhaps when the Saurian Empire rose again, Wraith would lead a new generation of wizards. And perhaps someday long after that, they would once again take their place at the forefront of Saurian society, revered rather than scorned.

He lifted his robed arm and used the last of his stolen power to activate the grotesque creations before him, and channeled it all into the silent command he gave them. His eyes glowed red as the power flowed from him. 'Bring the ones with power to me, and kill the rest!' The mage-constructs heaved and rumbled toward the exit of the cave.

***

"Shrikes!!" Something hit Lila's back and drove her into the rocky ground. She grimaced as sharp points drove into her hands and arms, but kept her head down and lay still until Mave got off her. Only then did she prop herself up on her elbows and twist around, just in time to see the woman fling a large ball of fire at something that passed overhead in a rush of wind, emitting a high-pitched scream that froze the young doctor's blood.

She got to her feet quickly, activating her staff and taking a ready stance. "What was that?"

"A shrike," Mave gritted, forming another flame ball. "A kind of mage-construct. I saw four of them, they all split up after us. There may be more, I don't know." She raised her arms and the swirl of heat grew larger.

Lila got a good look at the thing as it dove. It looked to be made of stone, like the gollums Asteroth had attacked them with, but it was winged, with a hooked beak, taloned feet, and an otherwise human shape. It looked, Lila couldn't help thinking, like an overly-large stone carving of Falcone. It opened its beak and screamed as it came toward them, and flames suddenly burst from its mouth. Mave spat something Lila couldn't hear over the roar of the wind and fire and dispelled her fireball, trying desperately to bring a shield up in time. She wasn't going to make it, Lila could see, and she brought her arms reflexively up in front of her face, knowing it would do no good.

A youthful voice cried out, and all of a sudden the shrike flew sideways, his deadly flame blast going wide of the two but still close enough that Lila could feel the heat from it. Jaden called again, guttural words as he cupped his hands in front of him and then flung his arms outward on the final word. All Lila saw was a flash of light, but the creature spun in the air and crashed into the ground, breaking one of his stone wings. Jaden smiled grimly and started to prepare another blast, but Lila cried out in warning and he dropped to the ground, rolling just out of the way of a second shrike's talons. Mave conjured a concussion blast and sent it streaking toward the shrike, but it changed its angle and swooped up and over the mystic missile.

Higher up on the slope, Mallory drew a bead on it and fired several rounds, chipping pieces of stone off the construct. Too late did she realize her own position--she was on a ledge with her back to the cliff face, a perfect target. The shrike dove at her and opened its mouth to deliver a fire blast. There was nothing for her to do but jump. She tucked and rolled to break her fall, but it was obvious that the abrupt descent was not going to be pleasant.

Therease had seen her fall, and caught her in an invisible grip that slowed her fall enough to keep her from harm.

***

Wraith watched the battle dispassionately from his cave, as the ducks battled his shrikes. The twelve ducks were not winning easily, but they were winning. Of his eight, only three of the shrikes remained, and to his satisfaction most of the aerial assailants had been dispatched by the new band of ducks. Wildwing appeared to be injured, as did the one-eyed caped duck with the sword. He'd hoped for better, but not expected it. He gave a cruel smile as he watched the youngest magic user stumble. Excellent, they were tiring already. He was unsurprised, really, from what little he could tell they had been using their power extensively over the past few days; it was likely they'd not had adequate time to 'recharge,' so to speak. He would have to look into that, when they were his.

Only two of his shrikes remained, and Wraith decided it was time.

***

"I feel rather useless," Wildwing admitted as his double blasted a chunk out of a shrike's stomach, ruining its balance and sending it spinning into the trees. Wildwing grimaced, pressing a hand to his side, where he'd taken a slash from the shrike's talon before Dagan's sword (which he had neglected to tell them was bespelled) had separated the talon from the rest of the construct, followed quickly by the head.

"They do seem to be doing most of the work," Lila panted slightly and rubbed her shoulder. That last one had dealt her a glancing blow, and she was definitely feeling it. 'And it's going to be even worse in the morning. What a fun thought.'

Her shoulder was suddenly the least of her worries as a hulking shape moved towards them. It was like the shrikes, only much, much larger, and carrying a large stone mace in one hand. 'Why is always a mace? Big monsters and maces, I don't see the connection. Wouldn't a really big stick be just as effective in hands like that?'

'Stop talking to yourself and MOVE!!' Lila threw herself to one side, landing on her injured shoulder and rolling with a grimace as the mace crashed down where she and Wildwing had been just moments before. Her balance was off and she couldn't complete the roll onto her feet.

As a result, she missed having sharp talons tear the flesh from her back as a shrike swooped over her, screaming in anger. It shot an angry fire blast at Mave as it pulled up, and she just got a shield up in time. 'They're tiring,' Lila realized. 'This is very, very bad.' She glanced around, taking stock of both their group and hers. A few of them were injured, and all of them were tired. 'Wraith, you shriveled-up, twisted excuse for a living creature, you wanted this to happen.'

Magus shouted orders and his team surrounded the giant and began a coordinated attack. The two smaller shrikes ignored them, redoubling their attack on those whose deaths Wraith had demanded. The grotesque creations had proven very difficult for the six ducks to handle--they were incredibly fast, and the pucklaunchers didn't do enough damage to take them down in a single barrage. 'We should have brought the gliders,' she thought as she dodged another fire blast. The shrike swooped by her, taking a belated swipe with its talons, but it struck Lila as a half hearted attack, and as she turned to follow its trajectory, she saw why. The shrike banked abruptly and lashed out with its heavy clawed feet, and tearing into Wildwing's shoulder with its beak even as its feet raked at the unprotected area where his armor ended over his stomach. It veered upward again with a cry of victory.

A horrified scream filled with more fear than she'd ever thought herself capable of ripped from Lila's throat as she saw Wildwing fall. She ran, not even registering the explosion above her that shattered the shrike until the concussion wave from the blast threw her to the ground. She heaved back to her feet as pieces of the stone creature fell around her, continuing her wild sprint with her heart pounding in her throat. 'No! Not now!' She skidded down the incline and fell to her knees beside the badly injured duck. He was bleeding from several places, but he was alive and conscious, though only barely. Lila felt sick as he moaned his brother's name, mumbling incoherently.

"Stay with me, Wildwing," she pleaded, digging in her pack. "I can't do this without you, *please*...you can't..."

A shadow fell over her and she knew from the choked cry that it was Nosedive. Rubble rolled down the incline as he turned wildly and ran, nearly falling on the loose earth, calling for the mystic healer.

Wildwing's eyes rolled toward her, flickering with recognition. "Lai...I'm sorry, I failed...Canard...Dive...Tell them I'm sorry, all of them..."

"No!" Lila screeched, tears blinding her. It was hopeless and she knew it, but she couldn't let him go.

Then Laith was at her side, and Lila's eyes met hers in a silent plea. The mystic healer set her hands on Wildwing, and the healing glow seeped into him. Lila set herself to tending the minor wounds furiously. There were so many, and her tears were rising in her throat to choke her. She kept working anyway, knowing that if she stopped, she would break down.

Laith gasped, and Lila looked at her sharply. The woman was tiring, it was obvious, between the physical demands that had been placed on her and the extensive use of her powers, she was weak. Lila wasn't sure how much it would take to heal an injury like this, and she prayed that Laith's strength would be enough.

It wasn't. Laith was clearly tiring, and behind them the battle continued--no one else would be able to spare a moment to come to their aid. "No," Lila whispered. "I won't let this happen..."

"Help me," Laith croaked hoarsely, "I'm too weak, I can't do it..." Lila laid uncertain hands over her twin's and said a silent prayer. 'Please, let this work, let me help him, even if I die from exhaustion for trying!' Laith took a deep breath.

"This isn't going to be easy for you," was all the warning she gave.

Lila gasped and fought back a wave of nausea as her strength suddenly left her. She felt light-headed, fuzzy images swirled through her mind, thoughts, feelings, memories. Her mind blurred together with Laith's and Wildwing's until she was no longer sure whose thoughts were whose. It was frightening, overwhelming, and something in her realized that this was what Laith felt every time she healed. "Everything has a price," something whispered to her, and she didn't know if it was her father's voice, or one of Laith's teachers, or Wildwing's. She whooped and cheered as Nosedive scored his first goal, she smiled at the feather-light touch of a child's mind she healed his broken arm, she threw her arms out and breathed the salty ocean breeze coming through her window. She felt pain and anguish as she wondered what had become of her family, especially her little brother, her muscles burned as she swung a heavy pick into the ungiving rock. She knelt on the battlefield and shared the emotional trauma of everyone she touched, she locked it away and moved onto the next, offering what comfort she could through her hands and her thoughts as her soul joined with those she healed. She felt the blood flowing beneath her hands, the life ebbing away as she fought desperately to save it, the anguish and desperation and hurt when she knew she could not, the terrible pain that came with thinking somehow she should have done more. She felt warm sympathy, and understanding, and love, but she couldn't separate where it was coming from, whether it was Laith's feelings for Magus or hers for Wildwing, whether she felt Wildwing's love for her or Laith's memories of the golden warmth that was Magus' love. She felt for the first time the strength of Wildwing's bond with his brother, and shared Laith's terrible homesickness. She--

She was alone, she was falling, dimly aware that the link had been severed before blackness claimed her.

***

For a long time, all she knew was pain and evil dreams. She felt hot and cold alternately, feeling at times as if every muscle in her body had tightened and cramped, and at others as if she was too sick to move. She drifted toward consciousness on occasion, just close enough to be aware of voices, that she was laying down, to feel a hand take hers, or someone touch her face. It never lasted, the fight was too hard, and she sank once again into nightmares that took the form of all the worst things she had seen during the war, as well as some she hadn't. They were all replayed with perfect clarity, and she wanted nothing more than for it to end.

Then, finally, it did. She won the battle to open her eyes, and breathed a shaky sigh as her perception widened. She was lying on her back, a white linen sheet cool on her bare legs. She dimly recognized the ceiling--she was in the infirmary, in a patient gown. There was an IV in her arm, and she was hooked into monitors that she was accustomed to being on the other side of.

A familiar face appeared above her and she gasped in surprise before she remembered. Laith looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"What happened?" Lila wanted to know, trying to shift into a sitting position. Laith helped her carefully.

"I was able to pull power from you," Laith said in a soft, soothing voice that Lila recognized with some irony as the one she often used when talking to a disoriented patient. "But it took more out of you than I expected. You've been suffering extreme mage-fevers for almost two days now."

Lila's hands clenched on the sheets. "Wildwing?"

"He's all right. Or he will be, he's still injured, but not in any danger."

"Thank you," Lila sighed, relaxing. "Thank you, for everything, he would have died--"

"Without you," Laith said gently. "We saved him together. I could not have healed him without your strength."

"When you...I felt..."

Laith nodded. "That's the price of healing someone so near death. Healing energy creates a bond between the healer and the healed, and the worse the injury, the stronger the bond."

Lila held the other woman's gaze for a moment, understanding the sacrifice she made. Yes, she had the power to heal wounds that Lila never could, but the personal cost was at least equal to the anguish Lila felt for those she could not save. Each understood, now, and in that silent instant each knew she would not want to be in the other's shoes. 'Perhaps there is some order to it after all,' Lila thought.

"Laith? Has there been any--" Wildwing smiled in relief as he saw Lila sitting up. "You're awake." He went to her and took her hands.

"I'll tell the others," Laith left the room.

"We were worried about you," Wildwing said when she was gone. "If you ever scare me like that again--"

"Me? What about *you*?"

Wildwing considered that. "I guess we're even, then."

'Not by a long shot,' Lila thought sardonically, but she didn't say it. "What happened? Is everyone all right?"

"Everyone's a little worse for the wear, but we all made it through. I heard all this from Duke, so you can ask him later if you want, but that last shrike wasn't enough to keep our half of the team pinned down. Between the five of them they managed to chip him down to size. Mallory took a nasty knock in the head, though, and that put her out of the fight for good. The others weren't having much luck with that big rock thing, they'd already spent most of their energy fighting the shrikes. Jaden did his best, but it was his energy that Wraith stole to make the thing, so for some reason his spells weren't as effective as usual. You'll have to ask Therease if you want to know why, basically all I got from her explanation was that Jaden's magic is the best suited for fighting monsters like that, and that's likely why Wraith picked him as the target in the first place. I got the impression that Grin and Garth pretty much saved our collective tailfeathers. They decided that Garth had the best chance of beating the thing, since it was made of stone and Garth specializes in Earth magic. The four left in our team, along with Dagan, kept the mega-shrike busy while the others concentrated what was left of their power into Garth, and he set up some kind of a resonance between the mountain and the stone that the mega-shrike was made of. Caused a huge rockslide, and as soon as the mountain rock hit it, the thing fell apart. Magus said that Grin took out the thing's mace and made it mad enough to go after him for a while, and that was what really bought them the time to pull off the spell."

Lila closed her eyes and pressed a hand to her forehead. "That's going to take a couple of weeks to process, but I suppose the important thing is that we won, and everyone's alive. What happened to Wraith?"

"He made the usual cowardly exit," Wildwing said in disgust. "But he left in a hurry, and he didn't have time to take the books he'd been using with it. Therease is going to take them back with her, she thinks maybe she can learn more about Saurian magic and maybe formulate some better ways to fight it."

Lila frowned. "Is that wise?"

"I said the same thing, actually, but I think those books will be safer with them than they would be with us, we just don't know how to handle something like that properly."

"I suppose," Lila still looked a little trouble. Something just didn't seem right about giving them the secrets of the Saurian Dark Powers, but she shrugged it off. Wildwing smiled and stroked her loose hair away from her face.

"It's good to have you back, Lai."

"It's good to have you still here," Lila smiled back at him.

The door slid open and the rest of the team piled in, anxious to see that their doctor was all right. Tanya gave her cousin a thankful hug, and Duke gave her a lopsided grin that said he'd been far more worried than he was going to let on. Mallory stood back and looked gruff, but a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth and Lila knew she'd been worried too. Nosedive was his usual hyperactive self, bouncing and chattering about the fight. Lila listened and nodded patiently, and congratulated Grin on his heroics. He predictably shrugged and gave a cryptic answer that she took to mean 'It was nothing.'

Magus had come with them, and he stood with his arm around Laith looking on. Lila watched them out of the corner of her eye as they exchanged an affectionate look, and couldn't help feeling a pang of jealousy. Involuntarily she looked to Wildwing, and his eyes met hers at the same instant. How much, she was suddenly forced to wonder, had he felt when they were linked in the healing trance. 'It doesn't matter,' she told herself firmly. 'We can't afford to take that kind of risk. Maybe someday, later. When we get home.' She smiled for her teammates, careful not to look toward the two again.

***

"You're sure this is going to work?" Wildwing asked in concern.

"It should," Therease shrugged. "I mean, if I Gate home, it should, y'know, take us home, even if we're already at the Pond. Worst comes to worst, and we'll end up back here. But we won't know until we try it, and we can't stay here forever. We have our own battle to fight."

"We understand," Lila nodded with a smile. "Good luck to you all, and safe journey."

"Thank you," Magus took her hand and then Wildwing's. Laith came and hugged them both, and the rest of the team said their good-byes as well, then six of them stood back while the other six gathered in the center of the Rec Room. Laith took Magus' arm and smiled up at him, and he gave her an affectionate look.

"They look so happy together," Lila murmured.

"Is it so hard to believe?" Wildwing asked her softly, touching her shoulder with a hand that seemed to her to tremble slightly. Her heartbeat quickened and her face warmed, but her training was complete and she kept her voice steady and her face neutral as she answered quietly.

"No. No, perhaps it isn't."

He slipped an arm around her waist, and she moved closer to him. It wasn't much, but for the moment, it was all either of them dared. Love in the middle of war was very dangerous. There was just too much at stake to do this wrong.

Therease gave them one final smile before closing her eyes in concentration. The gate formed in a ring of blue fire, obscuring them from view and sinking into the ground. A circle of the carpet glowed blue for a moment, and then faded. The Mystic Ducks were gone.

The others all drifted out after a moment, and Wildwing and Lila were left standing there together.

***

Wraith was in a foul mood. His plans were in ruins. He'd lost several of his most precious books. He'd spent a great deal of time and energy. He'd been lectured and then ridiculed by Dragaunus. Siege and Chameleon were even now enjoying a good laugh at his expense.

In short, he'd failed.

Wraith was never one to take failure lightly. And he would have his revenge. He would not let Dragaunus wipe his kind from the Saurian race because of one setback. "Next time, duckies," he growled. "You will die. All of you."