Sorceress' Scheme

The walls were rock and a slight red-brown tint, and there were no windows. The room they were in had a small chair and a fire place which didn't seem to have a fire.

Micky looked around the room which was lit for some reason although there didn't seem to be a source of light. Jenny, Fiona, Thomas, and Mari were there as well.

Jenny looked around. "I don't see anybody," she observed.

"Neither do I," Thomas agreed.

"That's because they aren't here," Mari replied smugly. She had a grin plastered to her face.

"Then where are they?" Thomas asked.

Mari just chuckled and shook her head. "I told you my conditions, little boy. They will be freed if you agree to my terms."

Thomas narrowed his eyes and Micky saw that he was angry. "I'll never agree to your terms," he replied in a low, calm voice. He was managing to control his temper, but just barely.

"Then you want them to die?" she asked.

"Now wait just a second," Micky spoke up. He stepped forward. "What exactly do you want from him?"

Mari regarded him for a moment, confused. "He will cause the destruction of my race, pitiful human. It is his destiny."

Micky and Fiona and Jenny exchanged glances. "I thought his destiny was more like saving the world?" Micky asked.

"Saving your world perhaps, pitiful human," she replied. "But that will bring the destruction of my world."

Fiona stepped forward. "No it won't," she replied. "I am from your world. This boy won't destroy it."

"You have not lived in my world for many years," Mari replied. "How could you know what would destroy it?"

"I lived in that world long enough to know that one small boy won't destroy it," Fiona replied. "If that world is to be destroyed it will be destroyed from within. Not by an innocent boy."

"You know nothing!" Mari answered with a contemptous laugh.

"I know more than you think I know."

Mari ignored her. "You will not come quietly? I will convince you to come," she said to Thomas.

"How?" Thomas asked.

"A duel of the minds."

Jenny and Micky's eyes both widened. They didn't know exactly what that meant, but they knew it sounded bad.

"You can't! He's only a child," Fiona protested.

"He was deemed ready by the lady of the stone," Mari replied, pointing towards the rock around his neck. "He is no longer a child in my eyes."

"I am ready. Tell me what I have to do," Thomas spoke up, determined.

"A duel of the minds is a fight between telepaths," Fiona explained in a fearful voice. "It is a test of mental strength."

"You are a strong boy," Mari admitted to Thomas. "But are you strong enough to defeat me?"

Thomas stared back at her. "I am and I will," he replied.

"Very well. No assistance from the outside," she warned Fiona. Fiona nodded, agreed. "Then let us begin."

Mari and Thomas both stared in each other's eyes. A war was being waged. Micky, Jenny, and Fiona could see that both had fire in their eyes, unwilling to give up, ready to fight to the end.

"Does he have a chance against her?" Micky whispered to Fiona.

"I don't know," Fiona admitted. "He's strong. But she has magic on her side. "

Micky and Jenny and Fiona sat on the ground to watch the proceedings. It would most likely be a long wait.

Davy had returned to pacing. He could still feel the presence in the air, but it wasn't getting any stronger. He couldn't tell who was there or how far from him they were or if they were friendly. He could only sense that they were there.

He grew tired of pacing, and sat down again. He shut his eyes, and tried to concentrate even harder. The magic Mari used had prevented him from communicating with even Mike or Peter, so he had no hope of organizing an escape.

He could feel only one person, and that was his captor. And she was powerful, so he had limited access to his mind. But he could sense she was distracted.

An idea entered Davy's mind. If Mari could be distracted enough perhaps she would let down her guard long enough for him to contact Mike or Peter. But how to distract her?

Thomas and Mari were still standing, staring at each other. Neither showed any outward signs of tiring even though it had been a full hour since they had begun.

Micky forced back a yawn. A duel of the minds was not by any means a spectator sport, and he was tiring. He stole a glance at Jenny and Fiona and saw that they, too, were bored.

"Hey," he spoke aloud, though quietly. "Why don't we amuse ourselves?"

Jenny and Fiona looked interested. "Amuse ourselves?" Fiona asked.

"I think I know what you're thinking," Jenny told him. "You're thinking..."

"That we should explore this place.." Micky filled in.

"And try to find the others," Fiona finished. She shook her head. "It won't work. Her magic's too powerful."

"Yeah, but she's distracted right now," Micky pointed out. "Maybe distracted enough so we can look around."

Fiona looked doubtful. "Well, we can distract her even more," Jenny decided.

"No," Fiona said. "There's not supposed to be any outside interference. If we distract her then we're interfering in the battle."

Micky looked at the two standing there. It didn't look like much of a battle to him. "Well, I guess we'll just have to hope she's distracted enough," he replied.

Fiona looked doubtful. "You two go," she decided. "I'll stay here and keep an eye on them."

"Okay," Jenny replied. She turned to Micky. "Where do we start?"

Davy was aware of something all of a sudden. Suddenly, he found he could sense things again. He could sense Mike, and Peter, and he could sense others...Micky, Thomas, Fiona, and Jenny. Jenny? Why would she be there?

Not as if it mattered, he thought. He simply had to take action now. So he sent a message to all of them at once. Something to the effect of 'I'm here, what's going on?'

'Davy?' he heard Micky's response first. 'Where are you guys?'

Davy shut his eyes, trying to focus harder. He managed to get a mental picture of where Micky was in relation to him. Jenny was with him, he could tell.

Davy found after some probing that the only way for Micky to get to where he was would be to open a door that was built into the rock. It couldn't be opened from his side, only from the outside.

He figured out how close Micky was to him and somehow managed to give him directions to about where he was. He had just finished giving these directions when he heard a response from Mike and Peter...at the same time. He sent directions of where they were to Micky, and he told Jenny to go in that direction to help Mike and Peter.

A few moments later Micky managed to open the door and Davy was let out. By this time he had a pounding headache from concentrating so hard, but he was recovering.

"Man I thought I'd never get that door open," Micky commented as Davy stepped out of the rock room. "You okay?"

"Yeah I think so," Davy replied. He shook his head slightly. "What's going on?"

Micky filled him in on what was happening - how he and Fiona and Jenny and Thomas had come here searching for Mari, what had happened between Mari and Jenny, and the "mind battle" that Thomas and she were now involved in.

Davy took a moment to absorb it. "Okay," he replied after a minute of thought. Then it sunk in. "Wait a sec- Thomas is involved in a battle of the minds?"

Micky nodded. "Yep."

Davy nodded in agreement. "That must be why i could find you guys," he realized. "She was distracted enough with Thomas. Where are they?"

"Come on, I'll take you there."

They arrived back in the main room to find that the two combatants had not moved an inch. Both were standing in the same positions they had been before.

Mike, Peter, and Jenny entered the room right after them, and there was a joyous reunion between them all and Fiona.

Mike observed Mari and Thomas. "I don't suppose this is gonna be endin' any time soon?" he asked.

Fiona shook her head. "From what I can tell they are both pretty strong. And these things can go on for...days...weeks even."

"We can't hang around here a whole week!" Micky whined.

"I don't think we have much of a choice," Peter replied sensibly, and Micky groaned and sat down on the floor again.

Nicole left Joanne's bedroom carrying the bottle of medicine in her hands. She was getting better, but it was a slow recovery.

It had been two days since the others had left, and she was very worried. Nicole hadn't had much time to sit around and mope, though, not with three sick children on her hands... plus Robert!

He was a quiet baby, and didn't cry often. But when he did cry, he easily out-cried the twins in loudness. Several times, she had awakened from an impromptu nap, certain that something was very wrong, only to see that he had merely wanted a bottle, or needed a changing.

Nicole was worried about herself, as well. Caring for the three babies, was hard, and she was tiring out. She hadn't eaten much lately except sandwiches, and she felt weak and worn out.

But there was no way she could rest.

She heaved herself into the rocking chair in the babies' room, sighing heavily to herself as she rested. She had only just gotten comfortable though, when she noticed that Amber was beginning to awaken.

Easing herself out of the chair again, Nicole lifted her tiny child and carried her across the room to the rocking chair. She had only been asleep for about an hour, and so Nicole decided to try and see if she couldn't sleep some more. Rocking the chair back and forth, she rested her own eyes and both she and the baby were soon in dream land.

"I can't get a message out," Davy reported. "There's too much interference. But I can tell that they're okay."

The others heaved visible sighs of relief, and Davy shut his eyes, massaging his head to rest his mind. "That's hard work," he commented as he leaned back against the wall.

"I wish there was someway out of here," Jenny said, frowning. Over the past few days she had tried everything to break through the walls of the cave. But it appeared that magic was the only way out. Fiona's magic was not strong enough, and none of the others possessed magic, so they appeared to be stuck where they were, for the moment.

Peter was watching Thomas. The boy was getting slightly weaker. But Mari was weakening as well. "I wish I knew what was happening," he commented.

Micky stared at the thick walls above him. "I wish we had some food," he stated, hungry as usual. "I'd kill for a cheeseburger right about now."

"I think I'd settle for a salad," Davy replied.

"Don't talk about food," Jenny ordered. "You'll just make me even hungrier!"

"There's not much to talk about," Fiona pointed out. There was silence for a few moments.

"Well, we've gotta talk about something," Micky said. "It'll keep my mind off my hunger." He stared at his rumbling stomach and moaned.

"Anybody know any good stories?" Peter suggested.

"Stories without food," Jenny added.

There was silence for a few moments. No one could think of any stories.

"How 'bout you, Jen?" Mike spoke up. He had been quiet until then, and his statement took everyone off guard.

"Me?" Jenny asked.

"Yeah," he replied. "Tell us how you discovered your power."

"That's a good story, there," Davy agreed, sitting up eagerly.

"I wouldn't mind hearing it myself," Peter added.

"I bet there's no food in it, either," Micky said, rubbing his stomach.

"Actually, there isn't," Jenny replied. "It all started when I was eating, though." Micky groaned.

"Leave that part out," Fiona advised, and Jenny agreed eagerly.

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