The following morning Alex awoke to find that he was no longer in his 21 year old body, but that he had retro aged to that of a 16 yr. old. When Andrew woke up and saw this he made a few odd noises, twitched a lot, and scampered backwards across the room and into a corner, saying that he didn’t know the person he slept with was only 16.
     “What’s his problem?!” Gateau asked, running his hand through his hair as he came out of his slumber.
     “I don’t know,” Alex said, shrugging, “I think it has something to do with this body. Anybody know a way to reverse this thing?”
     In the middle of the room there was a puff of pink smoke, which pulled the occupants of the room into a pocket dimension for a short period of time. Floating in the middle of the room was a small girl with angel wings. Behind her appeared the image of a large woman, a goddess, with long silver hair.
     “Big Momma,” Chocolate yawned, scratching her head. “what brings you here?”
     “My children, hunters Ice and Orion, what has happened, happened, because of your bond of friendship. Ice gave some of his life energy so that Orion might be reborn, just as Orion gave his body up so that Ice might live on.” the woman said.
     “Is there a way to get my body back to normal?” Alex asked, “I liked being 21, but being 16 again just plain stinks.”
     “Don’t cry Ice,” the girl with the wings said, fluttering down and hugging Alex, “I’m sure Momma can do something for you.”
     “I think I can Dotta,” Big Momma said, “hunter Ice, hunter Orion, please step forward. Or should I call you Warriors Saturn and Orion.”
     “Call us what ever you wish, Big Momma,” Alex said, stepping forward and kneeling before Momma. Andrew did as Alex did, only he didn’t say anything.
     “Ice, Orion, the two of you are joined closer now than you have ever been. Can you feel it?”
     “I feel it,” Andrew said, a glow forming over his heart.
     “I feel it as well,” Alex said, his cleric’s robes appearing once again, “it feels warm.”
     A column of light surrounded the pair, blinding those who looked on. Inside of the column Alex’s body changed from that of a 16 year old back to that on a 21 year old, and Andrew remained the same, except his power was diminished ever so slightly. When the column of light died away Big Momma said, “It is done. The two of you are more or less back to normal.”
     “That’s good,” Tira said as she pounced on Andrew, “I have my sweetie back.”
     “And I have Ice all to myself,” Gateau said, putting his hands on Alex’s shoulders. A moment later Gateau found himself on the floor, an impression of Alex’s boot in his face from a flip kick.
     “You touch me like that again, Mister Mocha, and I’ll do more than kick you in the face,” Alex said, grinning evilly, “I might just have to.... punish you.” Tira and Chocolate fell over.
     “Looks like another one who doesn’t like Gateau’s advances,” Marron said.
     “So, do we have a mission?” Carrot asked, waking up to see Big Momma and Dotta.
     “Yes my children, you have a mission,” Big Momma said, “another of the magic fortresses has been activated. It is your job to go and make sure this one doesn’t destroy any towns or get as far as the church.”
     “You can count on us,” Andrew said, an energy spear forming in his hand, “we’ll go and destroy that thing.”
     “I’ll gladly blow it up,” Alex said, grinning wickedly as he calculated a spell to use on the magic fortress.
     “It’s going to be difficult to do that,” Dotta said, “these fortresses can only be blown up from the inside, and only from the control center at the top of it.”
     Gateau whistled. “Hopefully this is going to turn out better than the last time we fought one of these things.”
     “One more thing,” Big Momma said, “be sure to meet with a hunter called Rune before tackling this thing.”
     “Where do we meet them?” Chocolate asked.
     “You’ll find her in the village of Thyme,” Dotta said. Chocolate immediately flushed red.
     “Rune is a woman!?”
     Dotta and Big Momma shuddered, as did the other hunters, who inched away from Chocolate. Carrot began to say something, but when he saw the others shaking their heads he knew it was a bad time to comment.
     “The only way there will be another female hunter joining our group will be over my cold and dead body!” Chocolate growled before transforming into her hunter form.
     “Oh dear, Chocolate’s gone crazy!” Tira exclaimed as her sister exited from the pocket dimension. “We have to do something!”
     “Rune is important to the completion of your mission,” Big Momma said, “If Chocolate offends her in any way she’ll refuse to have anything more to do with the hunters.”
     “Our job gets more difficult by the minute,” Gateau said.
     “And Chocolate is getting more and more of a head start every second we stand around here chatting,” Marron said.
     The other hunters sighed and took off after Chocolate, leaving Dotta and Big Momma to blink in shock before returning to the church and their home.

     In the village of Thyme, in a small cafe, sat a woman with long green hair and sparkling blue eyes. She had a pair of violet barrettes in her hair to pull it back from her face. She was clad in tight black leather pants, violet ankle high boots with red gems on the tongues, a white tank top and a violet midriff jacket. Around each wrist was a bracelet made up of rune stones, and on each finger she had a ring inscribed with a different rune for each ring. Clipped to her belt was a pair of short swords, each in a leather scabbard with intricate gold and silver work. Also clipped to her belt were several pouches of rune stones.
     “What a beautiful day,” she said, running her fingers through her hair to move some from her shoulders and behind her ears. Set into each ear was a golden ring, and in her left ear a pair of studs with small rubies inlaid in them. The sky suddenly darkened over, and people began to panic and run. “What in the world?” she asked nobody in particular as she finished her tea and tossed a coin to the fleeing waiter.
     Once outside she craned her neck upward to see the top of the magic fortress over the tops of the buildings.
     “Damn!” she said as she reached into a pouch on her belt to pull out a rune stone. “Big Momma said the others would meet me here, but they have yet to arrive.”
     She fired off a Rune Flare, which exploded in the sky like a fire work or a signal flare. A large tentacle slammed down on the cafe in front of her, the shockwave throwing her through the air. She managed to perform some fancy flips and such before landing on her feet.
     “They had better hurry up and get here,” she said, leaping onto a rooftop before leaping onto the tentacle and riding it up to the midsection of the fortress.
     On the outskirts of the town Chocolate whipped a few of the fleeing people before leaping onto a rooftop and stopping when she saw the magic fortress beginning its advance on the city.
     “What in the world?!” she said moments before the other hunters caught up to her.
     “Damnit!” Andrew said when he saw some of the town going under, “We’re too late.”
     As he said that a second signal flare blew up in the sky above the magic fortress.
     “That must be a signal from Rune,” Alex said, “that’s a Rune Flare that’s being used.”
     “Brilliant deduction Einstein,” Carrot said as he began to leap from building to building. ‘I’m going to score with the new hunter.’
     A whip wrapped around Carrot’s legs, sending him sprawling on his face. He turned to see a very upset Chocolate reeling him in, the other hunters glaring at him.
     “You’re encouragable, you know that Carrot?!” Tira growled, “Just because we’re going to be joined by another female hunter doesn’t mean you get to do anything with her!”
     Two more Rune Flares exploded in the sky above the advancing fortress, and Alex sighed.
     “Can we finish this later?” he asked, “Rune might be in serious trouble.”
     A fifth Rune Flare exploded, this one less brilliant than the first four. Chocolate and Carrot called a truce before they, as a group, leapt from rooftop to rooftop towards the magic fortress.

     Meanwhile, on the fortress, Rune was fighting for her life against several monsters that seemed to regenerate after each defeat. Her swords were glowing, runes inscribed on each blade, and each time she slashed the blades would glow a different color.
     “Where are those guys?!” she growled as she used both swords to hack one of the creatures to ribbons. The creature regenerated a moment later and resumed its attack. “Why do I always get thrown into the dangerous situations?!”
     An energy spear sailed over her head and lodged itself in one of the creatures, destroying it instantly to the point it couldn’t regenerate. A scythe of ice passed by her on the left and slashed a couple of monsters to ribbons before returning to the hand of the user. Rune whirled around to see Alex, Andrew, and the other hunters.
     “You must be Rune,” Tira said as she ducked an incoming monster attack before flipping upward and kicking it in the head. Rune nodded.
     “You can thank us later, “Gateau said as he punched the head off of one of the monsters.
     “What makes you think I’m going to thank you?!” Rune exclaimed as she whirled about, slashing two more monsters to pieces before firing off another Rune Flare, which vaporized a third and fourth, “You guys took your sweet time getting here!”
     “Blame Chocolate for that one,” Alex said as he fired off a Burst Rondo, which quickly brought an end to three more of the monsters. Four more quickly replaced those three. “Sheesh, is there no end to these?!”
     “Haven’t found one yet,” Marron said as he stuck magic seals to two of the creatures. The seals burst into flames a moment later, frying the monsters. He turned his head in time to see the two monsters regenerate, making a note of the central foci of the assailants. “Say Ice, do you see where the tails of these creatures join?”
     Alex looked past the three monsters he was currently engaged in combat with to see a pulsating blob, from which came the monster tails. “Sure do Marron,” he said, “however, I’m a little tied up with the current situation.”
     “We’ll cover you,” Andrew said as he and Rune slashed the three monsters to ribbons, “you just make sure you don’t get hurt.”
     “New plan?” Gateau asked when he saw Alex take a spell casting stance. A low hum filled the air a moment later. “Guess so.”
     “Just make it fast,” Rune said as she fired off yet another Rune Flare, which brought an end to six monsters, which were quickly replaced by ten more.

 <music: Giga Slave music from Slayers NEXT, track 15 of Sound Bible 3>
     “By the twelve signs of the zodiac, I pledge my life so that they may be summoned forth. By the blood red tides of hell I command the celestial gate to be opened. Unleash the crushing blow of Destiny. Demon Gate!!”
     A globe of darkness formed between Alex’s palms, red swirling inside of it, waves of gold washing over it. The globe vanished, a magic circle forming beneath the pulsating thing. The center of the star vanished before the points of the star retracted. The pulsating thing was instantly swallowed by the gate, the tails of the monsters breaking away from the regeneration center. The gate sealed itself a moment later, black smoke rising from where the circle had been moments earlier. As Alex turned back to the fight, one of the monsters attacked him. Before he even had a chance to produce his scythe he found a blade buried in his stomach, the warm blood oozing from the wound. The monster’s momentum carried him through the air and over the edge of the platform they were on.
     “Ice!” Tira shouted as she leapt over the edge after Alex, “Hang on!” she added as she transformed in freefall. Alex managed to destroy the monster, but was weak from the loss of blood, and Tira noted this as she cracked her whip, which caught onto an outcropping. She swung like Indiana Jones, catching Alex in mid fall. Unfortunately both were stuck at a point lower than they had been.
     Andrew, unaware of the miraculous midair save, screamed, “Alex! Tira! NOOOO!” before he leapt over the edge after them. During freefall he passed the now transformed Tira, who held a very weak and injured Alex in one arm. A quick casting of Ray Wing brought Andrew to their side.
     “You had me worried,” he said, sighing with relief, “How is he?”
     “In pretty bad shape,” Tira said, “he needs a healing spell.”
     “Unfortunately he’s the one who majored in healing arts. I can only cast a detoxification spell and detect magic in the realm of white spells. I specialize more in....”
     “Put a sock in it,” Alex mumbled, “just once stop talking and take me to Rune. I sensed curative magic from her.”
     Tira handed Alex to Andrew, who kicked in the afterburners to get Alex to the one person who could save his life. Once he touched down he approached Rune and said, “My friend here says you possess some sort of curative magic.”
     “That’s true,” Rune said, taking her jacket off and placing it on the ground, “Please, lay him there.”
     Andrew set Alex down, who cried out in pain. Rune placed her palm to the wound, the rings on her hand glowing in many different colors. She incanted something under her breath in a language nobody could understand. A white light flowed from her hand, healing the wound and restoring some lost life to Alex. When she finished the spell she said, “It’s amazing that you didn’t die.”
     “Tell me about it,” Alex sighed, casting a Recovery spell of his own, “I have come incredibly close to death way too many times to count. I know what hell looks like, I’ve seen a lot of other realms, and I’ve grown much stronger.”
     “And if he ever died on me he knows I wouldn’t be too far behind,” Andrew said, punching Alex in the arm. Alex cursed under his breath and rubbed his arm.
     “Enough chit chat,” Gateau said moments before a laser cut through the ground next to them.
     “The damn fortress knows we’re on our way up,” Chocolate said, “let’s move before we’re extra crispy!”
     Another laser blast came near them, cutting through the rock before moving on a trajectory right at them. The hunters braced themselves for decimation, but found a barrier of protection surrounding them and taking the force of the laser blast. The source of the barrier was a combined effort of Rune and Andrew, whose talisman bracers glowed a warm reddish - gold as the barrier remained in effect.
     “We’d better hurry before we’re cooked to a golden brown,” Carrot said.
     “You could always let the beam strike you,” Chocolate whispered in Carrot’s ear.
     “I’d rather not,” Carrot replied, his eyebrow twitching, “I’m still sore from the last whipping you and Tira gave me.”
     “We can’t sit here forever,” Gateau said, “the town is getting cooked.”
     “Burst....” Alex said, pointing towards the laser, his finger tip glowing, “Flare!”
     An energy beam fired form his finger, growing in size until it struck the laser. A battle of will and force ensued, the laser beam losing the battle in a spectacular explosion.
     “He still has some fight left in him,” Gateau said as he lifted a very exhausted Alex onto his shoulders and back, “and now I have my own spell slinger.”
     “I’m too tired to think of a decent put down line,” Alex sighed as he rested his chin on Gateau’s head, “just get me there safely and I’ll be happy.”
     More laser fire rained down upon the hunters, and once again Andrew’s bracers provided magical cover for them. Alex fired off spells when he had the strength to, and Rune used her special rune magic to provide cover and knock out whatever got in their path. As they grew closer and closer to the control center atop the fortress the monsters they encountered grew stronger and stronger and took more to defeat.
     “We can’t afford to get pinned down here,” Tira said as they found a veritable army of imps surrounding them just under a hundred meters from the top.
     “Is it me or is our spell caster getting tired?” Carrot asked, noting that Alex’s spells were losing effectiveness. He looked over to see Alex draped over Gateau, his eyes barely open.
     “I feel like this thing ran over my head,” Alex mumbled, his face drooping into Gateau’s blonde hair. He mumbled a moment later, “Gateau, your hair smells nice.”
     “Something tells me he’s not feeling well,” Gateau said as he shifted Alex’s weight on his back. He then punched some sense into an imp that got too close to them. “Say Ice, you hang in there and I’ll make sure you get the rest and relaxation your deserve.”
     “Just keep him out of danger,” Andrew said as he skewered a couple of imps with his energy spears. As he did that several more hails of laser fire rained down upon them, “Doesn’t this ever end?!”
     “Not that I’m aware of,” Marron said as he stunned a few imps with his magic seals, “Rune, got anything in that bag of tricks to help us out of this?”
     “I’m doing everything I can Marron,” Rune said as she fired off several more Rune Flares, these ones splitting into hundreds of mini flares that struck many of the imps, knocking them out of the sky, “We’re gonna need something BIG to take out the central core.”
     “Ice, think you can handle a big spell?” Chocolate asked as she skewered an imp before slamming it into several others, her garrote slicing the wings off of others as it passed by them. A mumble from Alex sort of answered her question, but when he repeated what he said a big sweat drop formed on her head. “What do you mean Gateau and Marron would make a nice couple?!”
     “This has gone far enough,” Tira said as she grabbed an elixir from Andrew’s belt and tossed it to Gateau. Gateau popped the top, flipped Alex into his arms, and poured the concoction down his throat. Alex blinked a few times before realizing what was happening, leapt onto Gateau’s shoulders, and began to chant a spell.
     “Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows. Buried in the flow of time. In thy great name let those who stand before me be destroyed by the power you and I possess. Dragon SLAVE!!”
     A large beam of dark energy fired from his hands, expanding into a wave that struck the imps around them and vaporized them instantly. More laser fire came from the control center, and Alex combined a protection spell with Andrew’s barrier. The hunters quickly scaled the remaining few hundred meters before coming face to face with a giant eyeball that was the fortress’ control center.
     “We have to destroy THAT?!” Carrot chuckled when he saw it, “Oh man, you have to be kidding!” Several more hails of laser fire quickly told him it wasn’t a joke.
     “Ice, you’re on,” Rune said, smiling as she bounded up the support beams to the control center, her rings, bracelets, and swords glowing.
     “All right,” Alex said as he took out his spell book. He flipped through the pages for a brief moment before putting it away. He raised his hands above his head, a globe of aqua blue energy forming between his palms.
     “Never underestimate the destructive forces of nature, for what may be beautiful one minute can be destructive the next. I call upon the powers of thunder and lightning, wind and rain, to strike down all those who dare to oppose me. Goddess of the sky, deliver your smiting blow! Storm STRIKER!”
     A beam of light shot through the sky, piercing the clouds above. The clouds quickly darkened, blacker than night around the beam. The winds around them began to pick up, going from breeze to powerful to gale force in a matter of seconds. There was no rain for this casting of the spell, only a massive electrical storm crackling through the clouds above. With a massive clap of thunder the lightning split the sky, striking the command center with several gigavolts of energy. The clouds vanished a moment later, and a somewhat toasted Rune dropped into Marron’s open arms.
     “Oh boy,” Rune coughed, smoke rising from her body, “That hurts like a bastard!”
     The command center looked down at the group before breaking away and dropping like a rock. The giant eyeball impacted and splattered like rotten fruit, spraying those around it in eye goo. The fortress stopped its forward advance, and with a shudder began to sink into the ground below. The velocity at which it sank increased until the hunters had no other choice but to jump and leave their fate to the winds, which were favorable that day thanks to a twin Diem Wing spell from Andrew and Alex. From a safe distance away the incredibly exhausted hunters watched the fortress sink into the ground and vanish forever.

     A few hours later, in the part of Thyme that wasn’t destroyed by the oncoming fortress, the hunters, more specifically Alex, Andrew, and Rune, were laying in the sun, tropical drinks near where they sat, sunglasses on and eyes shut. Gateau and Tira appeared periodically to refresh drinks and rub suntan oil on the sunbathers.
     “MMMmmm..... I love the smell of coconut,” Alex sighed as Gateau rubbed some coconut oil on his back.
     “I promised you some rest and relaxation when we finished the mission,” Gateau said, rubbing the back of his hand across his forehead.
     “Well done my hunters,” Big Momma said as the pocket dimension opened, “especially well done hunters Rune and Ice.”
     “What about us Momma,” Chocolate said as she brushed some tangles out of her hair, “did we do a good job?”
     “Of course you did, my child. You all did especially well.”
     “I feel like I had one of those things dropped on my head,” Alex sighed as he took a sip of his drink, “but I discovered it’s not too bad having someone like Gateau on your team.” Gateau blushed a moment later.
     “Well, you go back to your relaxing,” Dotta said, “and don’t worry. You’ll get your hazard pay and other recompensation for this mission, especially Ice and Rune, who both almost wound up in the great beyond.”
     “I still want to know about those Demon Gate and Hells Gate spells that were used,” Momma said. Alex sighed and rubbed his temples. Big Momma noticed this and said, “But it can wait for another day.”
     The pocket dimension closed a moment later, returning the hunters to what they were doing before. Alex motioned Gateau over to him, and when Gateau leaned down to see what was up he was surprised when Alex kissed him on the forehead.
     “Thank you for lugging me around today,” Alex said, “it was nice of you to do that.”
     “What about me?!” Andrew demanded, several fireballs forming around him, “I brought you to Rune when you were critically injured!”
     “You’ll get yours later, darling,” Tira said as she kissed Andrew passionately on the lips. Andrew stopped protesting and gave in, kissing Tira back in such a way to make anybody jealous.
Gateau, Alex, and Rune sighed.
     “I need a drink,” Gateau said as he plopped down next to Alex. Alex passed him his mixed drink and Gateau took a long swig before passing it back. “Thanks.”
     “Don’t mention it,” Alex said as he took a long drink himself, “watching that would get anybody overheated.”
     The Spooner continent, where a handful of wizards hold the rest of the people in fear. Defending these people is a small group of people who are chosen for the task. They are the Sorcerer Hunters.

END.