Eric was the silent one this time, as he lead his sister and Alexis further to the east. The two of them hadn't disturbed him, as it was plain that he was deep in thought.
  They were also afraid of being sent away.
  Neither of the two knew exactly what had happened early yesterday morning. When they had awakened, it was only them once more. Eileis, Jon, and Cain had all been gone. When asked, Eric had replied only that the trio had "needed to return home", and left it at that.
  Alexis wondered if, at some point in that morning or the night before, Eric had ordered the other group back. It wouldn't be too difficult, she supposed. And what if, after that, he decided that bringing the two of them along to whatever destination they had was too dangerous? What if he ordered the two of them back, too? Then what?
  While she was nearly certain that Eric would never abandon his sister, she was less sure that he wouldn't send her back.
  And, unlike the three who had left earlier, she had no place to go.
  She supposed she would try her best to resist the command, if such a thing were possible. She didn't know if anyone could, or if his power was absolute. She had a very good reason, besides not wanting to be alone.
  She had a task to carry out.
  Her eyes moved to her waist where, concealed underneath the clothing, a dagger in its sheath was strapped to her side. She had discovered it that morning, on a small hill - exactly where her increasingly tumultuous dreams had indicated it would be. According to the dreams, there was a very specific purpose for it, something that only she could do.
  She hoped to the Goddess that the dreams were wrong.
  Eric had, in fact, turned the other party back. After learning the origin of his foe the day before, all six of them had marched to the east. It had taken him some time and thought, but he had finally decided to do so. They were likely to get themselves hurt or killed in the upcoming confrontation, after all, and he refused to have more death on his conscience. So, after he had failed to convince Eileis to turn back through conventional measures - she had proven very unwilling to abandon her holy quest - he had used his ability to order them back. It was for the best, after all. He frowned to himself - that cold, calculating part of his mind simply wouldn't abandon him, no matter how much he had reformed himself. Some things, he reflected, never change.
  His first indication that he may not have done the right thing was when he started to think about Alexis.
  His responsibility to Alexis was just the same as it was to the other group - none. The only person he had been charged with protecting was his sister, and therefore she would always come first. Alexis was in the same danger that the other group had been in.... He had considered sending her back.
  Eric had stopped that line of thought, alarmed. There was a crucial difference between the group of three and Alexis, he had realized. He had promised Alexis not to abandon her. He had promised her that she would never have to return to the life she had known before. If he ordered her to leave this place, that was almost certainly where she would end up.
  He was not about to break his word.
  There was absolutely no question about Chrystle. There was nowhere on this earth that he would have her than by his side. Only he could protect her - and if he were to fall against the Nemesis, then her life would be forfeit no matter where she was. She needed his protection, and he needed her support. She would come with him too.
  He had decided all of that the day before. Now he wished he hadn't, as he had nothing to occupy his mind except thoughts of the battle ahead. At least if he were still uncertain, he would be able to distract himself.
  The land had been rising slowly for the entire day - it seemed to Eric that they were climbing up the sides of a volcano. It probably wasn't one, as it didn't seem nearly tall enough and there was no steam emanating from it, but he had never before actually seen a volcano, so he was unwilling to rule the possibility out. His senses were on edge, ready for the least provocation - if a mile-wide stream of lava were to erupt, he was going to do his best to rescue his companions before they all ended up as ashes.
  There were no rumblings, or anything else for that matter, to mark their passage up the slope, but Eric did not allow himself to relax. Instead, he grew more anxious as time passed. All signs of life besides themselves had vanished long ago, even though the climate seemed hospitable to weeds, at the very least. The quality of the terrain around him evoked images from the tales Eileis had told him of the great battle long ago. He wondered, if he were to hear a sound from behind some stone formation, would he be greeted by one of the monstrosities which drove men mad before devouring them? Would he be able to save his companions? He didn't like these thoughts - he might not even make it to the former guardian before losing everything.
  If the former guardian was the same man who had visited him the other night, then he had reason to believe they would run into none of the Nemesis' tricks. The guardian had seemed very eager to meet Eric in person.
  He hadn't said anything about Eric's companions, though....
  Eric shut these thoughts from his head - they weren't going to do him any good. He could defeat this thing. It seemed his whole life had been destined for this - he had been trained to fight, and not give any quarter. He would do it, even if it meant losing himself in the process. Because his sister would not be safe in a world where the Nemesis was free. He couldn't care less about his own fate, but his sister must be kept safe, no matter what. It didn't even matter to him that he had been tasked with guarding her. If her life ended, he went back to the eternal torment which he deserved - but that didn't affect his thinking at all. He loved his sister, and he was going to protect her no matter what.
  All these thoughts were silenced as he neared the top of the volcano. Everything inside his mind simply came to a stop, and there was nothing. For sickening moments, he stood unmoving at the crest of the volcano, as the waves of raw power emanating from within battered at his mind.
  "Eric?" Chrystle spoke up, her voice wavering. She felt it too, it seemed, though to a lesser extent.
  Eric stumbled backwards, ending up on the ground next to his two fellow travelers. Chrystle and Alexis were at his side in moments.
  "What's wrong?" Alexis asked, a growing feeling of dread welling up inside of her. Things were going sour already, and they hadn't even met the old guardian yet.
  Eric looked up, blinking a few times before he spoke. "I was wrong. It's not a volcano...." The elder Andrews missed the confused stares of the others as he climbed to his feet - he hadn't told them what he thought the formation was, and neither of the other two had the education or experience to guess. He walked to the edge again, this time steeling himself against the onslaught. It seemed less this time, though it could have been his imagination. Watching his companions, he beckoned them forward. Chrystle seemed to falter a bit as she reached him, and he had to help her up. Alexis didn't seem to be affected at all. Eric turned slowly, and looked down the sloping ground to the center of what he had initially believed was a volcano. It wasn't, though, and he didn't at all like what he now realized it was.
  "It's a crater...." he whispered.
  The Nemesis had come from the skies... and this, apparently, was where it had landed. His gaze traced down the terrain - terrain which was barren and lifeless - until it came upon the center of the depression.
  In the middle of the crater stood a stone structure, tall and thin. Decay covered it, but it still seemed to be stable. It was ancient, and may once have served as the prison for the Nemesis. Clearly, however, those times were long past. Gathering his courage, and his readiness, he walked slowly down toward it.
  Alexis and Chrystle followed him, though how they did so not even they were entirely certain. Alexis was terrified - she hadn't the ability to sense the power lying semi-dormant underneath the ground at this place, but she could see the tension in Eric. For something to frighten Eric, who had never once failed to protect either her or his sister, it must be dreadful indeed.
  A low humming noise slowly suffused the air as the three came close to the ancient structure. Eric was in the lead, trying his best not to let the nature of this place overcome him. There was no door on the building, simply an opening into a room, apparently the only one in the building. As the elder Andrews entered into it, he heard the familiar voice calling out.
  "Eric Andrews. Welcome to the center of your world - or at least it may well be." The man stepped forward into the light, and Eric realized with a sickening sensation, exactly who the man was.
  The man nodded. "My name's Reacc, but I don't believe you ever asked before, so you likely would not remember it. But you know who I am, do you not?"
  Eric advanced further in the room, trying to keep his anger under control. He barely noticed when Alexis and Chrystle stole into the room, so focused was he on his adversary. "You're the man who entered my court, long ago. You claimed yourself a worker of magic, but you took my plans and used them against me." Eric managed a wry smile. "You don't seem that surprised to see me."
  Reacc returned the smile, but there was no humor in his eyes. "I am not - when I planned your dispatch, I was not in the control of the Nemesis.... That's something that you probably aren't aware of. At the time, it was you who were being affected by it, even so far away. Somewhere in your lineage, if you were to trace back, there was a guardian. But this guardian broke one of the many, many rules, and had a child. Your family was marked, Andrews. If you hadn't been killed, the Nemesis would have found a second home in your kingdom. I did my task as guardian, and destroyed you."
  Eric's gaze was level. "What a nice story. It seems I would actually be in your debt, then." Eric spoke with honesty, but he was still wondering where this was going. "You still have not explained how you anticipated my arrival."
  Reacc seemed to regard the other man. "Upon returning from your kingdom, already in disarray from the death of its patron, I began to reflect upon what I had done. The being that had sent me on the quest had ensured that no innocent lives were taken in the raid on your household. Guards died, and of course you died, but nobody in the outlying cities was harmed. In fact, only one innocent life was taken in that battle. Hers." the aged wizard pointed toward Chrystle, whose eyes were growing wider. She hadn't been told any of the true story, and Eric had hoped she would never be burdened with having to know.
  "You find it surprising that the Nemesis would allow an innocent girl to be killed? I would think you would know your master better than that." Eric retorted.
  "You speak as though you know of the Nemesis, when all of your knowledge comes form that small group of people you met out here. You know nothing, Andrews, but you will learn." his eyes seemed to glow with eager harm. "But, you have not been listening closely to me. I repeat - when I was tasked with your demise, I was not under the control of the Nemesis. I was still the guardian, you see. You might have imagined I'd lie about my state, try to convince you that the Nemesis was not growing, feeding. But you'd see through such a lie - the Nemesis is part of you, and it always has been. That was the reason I was tasked with destroying you. The Goddess knew you had to be stopped, and she used me to stop you."
  Eric restrained himself from lashing out immediately. It couldn't be true! His anger didn't come from the perceived lie, however - his anger came about because he knew on some level that the man was telling the truth. He did have to be stopped - likely, his entire family had been the pawns of the Nemesis. It certainly was nicer to believe that he had been influenced by some unknown evil, rather than he being responsible for his own actions. There was one thing that struck him, though.
  "Right now, you're wondering the same thing I was, when I was returning from my task." Reacc had continued. "Why, if all the innocents were spared, was Chrystle allowed to die? It was this question that eventually made me doubt the Goddess, and allowed the Nemesis to claim me. Because, you see, I realized the answer. When the Nemesis broke through my defenses, it showed me many things.... I was wrong about it - we all were. It's not a force for destruction, it just wants life. Life is how it powers itself, you see. It wants to leave this world, and go back to where it came from, but it needs the life of the world to do so. I help now, because I could not understand what the Goddess had done, and once the Nemesis showed me, I could not allow it.
  The Goddess let her die, Eric, so that you would want to bring her back. You would not have made your pledge without your sister to rescue. The Goddess used you, Andrews! Not only that, but she made it so that you would be willing!"
  Eric felt anger coursing through his body. Was the man right? Could it all have been foreordained from the very start? He shook his head - his duty here was clear. He raised his voice loudly. "Reacc, creature of the Nemesis, I command you to abandon it and all its trappings. Go from this place, as far as you can, and never practice your dark craft again."
  Silence greeted the reply. Eric felt none of the power which had earlier ventured through him, only the sickly pulsing of the greater power in the ground below. He fought off panic - this was not the time. His power had failed him, though....
  "I warned you before, Andrews. Your Goddess does not control all. In this place, she cannot help you." Slowly, the other man walked to a small table alongside one of the walls, and picked up a throwing knife.
  "It was never your task to confront me, I want you to know that. Your task was to keep your sister. Her task was to go about and do good, slowly reversing the trend that my master has begun. Eventually, we would clash. I'm sorry, Andrews, but I must now take care of that problem."
  Andrews moved in front of his sister swiftly. "You'll do nothing, Reacc. I'm not sure exactly what it is you're trying to accomplish, or even what's brought me where I am today, but I do know that I cannot allow you to harm her."
  Reacc glared at him, and made a sudden motion with his arm. Eric flew to the side, feeling as though he had been hit with a portion of the wall itself. He scrambled to his feet, rushing back toward his sister. He was going to be too late, he could see. His old instincts coming to the fore, he darted toward the table, picking up a thin blade that was lying there. Spinning more quickly than the wizard could react, Eric plunged the blade into the old man's chest.
  Reacc fell forward, grinning up at the warrior even as the life faded from him. "You chose, between your soul and your sister.... You chose her...." The old man fell to the ground, dead.
  Eric felt a numbness overcome him. He had killed a man. In spite of his vow to himself, he had taken up a weapon, and killed a man. He hadn't enjoyed it, at least he had that. It had been instinctual - the man was going to harm Chrystle - but it has still been done. He turned to his companions - Chrystle, who was staring in shock, and Alexis, who was taking something from her clothing.
  "He... he was going to hurt her...." Eric felt himself explaining. Too late, too late. He saw Alexis moving, and understood what she was going to do at the last moment. He wasn't going to stop her, though.
  Alexis thrust the dagger into Eric's chest, then instantly recoiled, looking shocked at her own actions. "Eric!" she cried in dismay.
  Eric looked down at the dagger, vaguely recognizing it as one that Eileis had brought with her - and apparently left behind. A blessed dagger, one supposedly forged by the Goddess herself. As he felt the metal warming within him, he knew that it was truly such a creation.
  "Thank you...." Eric whispered, and then was gone.
  The dagger clattered to the ground.
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