STORY=========== There wasn't time to do a thorough job of blocking the hole....Mayata slid a board across the opening and shoved Lydia against the wall to hold it in place. Lydia would have protested but the door opened and she was suddenly saw the biggest and ugliest man she had ever had the misfortunate to see. He looked inside the room and grunted. "Hmmm, tasty," he said. He might have said more but, as he stepped into the chamber, he fell forward onto the floor. Another man stood just behind him. He held a bloody sword in one hand and a spear in the other. He tossed the spear to Mayata who picked it out of the air. He stepped inside. "You're late, Arathon," Mayata said. "I nearly had to rescue myself." Arathon shrugged and began pulling at the body to move him inside. "Guard rounds soon." Mayata nodded and looked over at Lydia. "Come on, help us." Lydia didn't like being given orders at the best of times, but even she realized this was not the time to argue. They pulled the body inside, closed the chamber door, and then shove the massive man against the door. "I don't think we can leave the way I came in," Arathon said. He took a hard look at Lydia. "Who is this? She is not of the village." "She is Lydia, a stranger." Lydia felt Arathon take her measure and somehow sense he found her lacking. Mayata showed him the hole she had made in the wall. "This is our way out now." "Are we taking her?" "I'm not going anywhere with you two. This is all some huge joke and I'm not playing anymore. The lights are going to come up and I'm going to find out that I'm on that reality series, 'You Gotta Be a Fool.' And I can tell you, heads will roll." "If you don't come with us," Arathon said calmly, "Your head will roll." Every bit of logic in Lydia told her this was all an elaborate fiction; every instinct in her body told her that escape was her only chance at survival. She had lived her life, up until this point, depending on her intelligence; but it didn't seem to be adequate for this situation. ------------------------------- "So, is our prisoner comfortable?" Maddox didn't really care if Lydia was comfortable or not, but he needed to break the silence. Having just passed through the portal, he was still dressed in a business suit and carrying his attache case. Lord Snaketooth, draped in animal and lizard skins, was drinking from a glass that was filled with something thick and red. "They are secure. What do you bring me?" Maddox felt for his gun. He never came here unarmed. They were allies but not friends. He didn't trust the fanged man before him. "What you wanted." "You have the world in your square sack?" His lordship drew out the s's into a hiss. "For I want nothing less." ========STORY Claymor's turn.