Chapter 11   The Search Begins   author: Veyanne - yellow , Temptress - orange  
Ezekiel crept silently down the dark hallway. His infa-red goggles scanned ahead. No sign of anyone. He checked his other instruments. Nothing. He signalled to his men. One by one they moved in behind him. Then they watched him make his way to the next intersection.

"The gadget kid" was what they liked to call him. He prefered Zeke. He had a fondness for anything electronic. His uniform was covered with high-tech toys. Even the silver cross he wore was a gadget. It would play any of 524 hymns when he said the name of it. He'd made it himself.

For this mission he had stripped down to just the essentials. Only 35 little devices to help him. He felt almost naked. But it was a stealth mission. He had to travel light.

The last successful scan of the stronghold showed that the children were close. Zeke's locator showed another 20 meters to that position. The last scan was a few days ago. Zeke didn't know how far away they really were.

The glass shattered on the floor by her feet; shards of glass skated across the marble surface.  The pain wasn't excruciating but her hand had gone weak from it.  This wasn't the first time either.  There had been one other time... and that one did hurt.

The Temptress had experienced unwarranted fear and anxiety for weeks now. She'd pushed it to the back of her mind each time it arose.  This time the emotions were to strong to ignore.  It was crucial that she find the cause this time.

Zeke was at the door to the children's room. He held his lock opener up to the handle. He heard a click. "Yes!!", he thought to himself. He quietly opened the door. No one was there. "No!!", he silently exclaimed. He looked down at his scanner. It showed a power surge nearby.

A light flashed brightly outside the door. Then the darkness returned.

"Crap, it's a trap.", thought Zeke.

Zeke tip-toed over to the door and peeked down the hall toward his men. They had taken off their infa-red goggles and were rubbing their eyes. He looked father down the hall and saw the figure of a woman walking toward them.

"Guys, behind you!", he yelled out to his blinded men.

He watched his men struggle for their lives. It was to no avail. In seconds they were breathing their last.

The Witch Queen stared at Zeke. He pulled out his gun. Her hand was a blur. A knife smashed into his gun, knocking it to the floor. The knife had cut Zeke. He rubbed his palm. [OK, so everyone's doing it] He slowly backed away from the dark woman. She slowly moved towards him. Soon he was trapped in the corner of the children's old cell.

Zeke desperately started pushing all the buttons on his gadgets. Something had to work. Nothing did. He began a frantic prayer. He never saw the blow that knocked him out.

She called out to her chamber maid, "Please clean this.  I have pressing matters to attend."

In her chambers, the Temptress sat on the floor in front of the fireplace... waiting for the trance to overcome her...

Images flashed before her eyes while terror mounted... the children!  How could she take so long to find out?  Why didn't anyone inform her?  Her stomach turned with horror... panic set in..  She had to find her babies and fast.  There was only one person who might be able to tell her where they were... the sorceress.

She arrived at the sorceress's castle and approached the heavy wooden doors. Without a summons, the door opened to her.  Upon entering, she came face to face with the sorceress once again.  In a calm but demanding voice she spoke.

"Where are my children?"

"I'm trying to find them. Come with me.", said the sorceress as she led the temptress up to the tower.

"Trying to find them?", the temptress exclaimed. "You mean you don't know where they are?"

"I did. I don't anymore. I fear they are in trouble.", the sorceress broke the news in a not so gentle way.

"Don't anymore! Trouble! Where were they? What's going on? Tell me!", the temptress demanded.

The sorceress didn't answer. Instead she waved her hand over the reflecting pool. A scene became clear. A young boy was on a table. His belly was opened up as if he was being prepared for surgery. Next to him stood Kendra. Her hands were pitch black and covered in flames. Next to the table sat a servant recording the confession.

"Henos!", exclaimed the temptress before looking closely.

"No, another son of the Cruciator.", spoke the sorceress calmly, "He was sent to capture your children."

They both watched the scene. The Witch Queen glanced up at them. She didn't look happy. That was nothing new. She lowered her hands down into the young boy. Searing pain tore through his midsection. He groaning in agony. His eyes bulged. He felt more pain than he thought he could ever feel.

"Why are you here?", demanded Kendra. She withdrew her hands.

Zeke was weak. Death he could handle. Torture? No way. He spilled his guts.

"We were sent here to capture to overlord's children.", he said between gasps of breath.

"Oh dear.", whispered the sorceress.

The servant stopped writing and started praying.

A lifetime of anger began to build within the Witch Queen. Zeke watched her face turn into a vision of rage. His eyes bulged further. He realized where her hands were. He swallowed hard.

"It's true. I'm not lying. It's true. Honest.", he pleaded.

Zeke's death was quick but excruciatingly painful. The servant ran out of the room before he met the same fate. Kendra pulled her hands from the smoldering body. She pointed a finger at the sorceress. Steam rose from it. Her red eyes glared.

"You bitch!", she screamed, "How dare you trick me."

The sorceress said nothing. Her worst fears were being realized. Another plan had failed.

"I'll find the children, sorceress.", Kendra spoke through clenced teeth, "Mark my words I'll find them."

The Witch Queen drew her sword and ran out the door.

The temptress turned towards the sorceress. Anger was growing inside her as well. She spoke slowly her voice rising to a scream, "What did you do to my children?".

"We must follow. She will leads us to them.", the sorceress said ignoring the temptress' question.

There was no time to explain, they had to act now. The sorceress began to cast a spell.

The temptress felt a myriad of emotions all at once. She didn't trust the sorceress at all, but her love for her children also strong.

The sorceress tried to reassure her, "I'll explain when your children are safe."