The figures of Demise and Sorrow faded into the distance. Now there was
nowhere to go. Jadax started for any nearby town, but first heard shouting
in the distance. He got out his binoculars, one of the few things he still
had after being taken by the Manotic Order. He saw several people in blue
robes rushing towards him. "Oh yeah." He quickly raced through the forest to
another road. It was deserted, as the eclipse would began in about fifteen
minutes. It was already darker than normal for this time of day. Several
roadside carts were still there, though no one was trying to sell the goods.
Probably because the merchants lived to far away to take the extra weight
with them and get home before the eclipse. Jadax took an apple from one cart
and started eating it. He passed a cart with mostly small antiques, nothing
really useful. There was a ring of keys, but one caught his eye. It was a
copper thing, with a small red symbol on the circular part. "Why does this
look familiar?" Jadax asked himself. Oh well. He took the keys with him. The
sun was now almost completely hidden.
                           **********
This is what Hyru saw. He could not believe this man. First, he led Nick
Swindle away from his legions. Now he had a key which could lead to Spyre's
ultimate victory. He could still be stopped, however. He left the room, a
feat which had not been accomplished in over a day. He summoned one of his
generals and ordered him to have Jadax killed or be killed himself. He gave
him a brief description of target. "Do not worry, sir. This Jadax Firestorm
will be dead in less than six hours," assured the general. "He better be."
                           ***********
Two hours later. An arrow stuck in a tree centimeters from Jadax's head. He
saw his assailant, and threw his sword at him. He was dead. Then a man on a
horse came charging at him, sword ready to strike. Jadax dived out of the
way just in time. He ran back to the road he had started on. The horseman
had trouble getting the horse through some thorns, so Jadax got some time. A
bit further down he saw lights from an eclipse party in a nearby town. "If
only I could get there" he thought. He had almost reached the town now. Then
he realized the lights weren't from an eclipse party, but from a clash
between Spyre and the Manotic Order. He got to the town and jumped through
an open door. Several corpses lay here, one of a Spyre agent the rest of a
family of citizens. He took the dead agents ax. The man with the horse had
to dismount because the sounds of battle had spooked the creature. The
assassin entered the room, and Jadax was ready to fight...