The JNCOBOY Story - part 1


Part 2 | Part 3
colour codes: chani cati suzi linda jon x0tix jasp feralchicken

It was a cold and frosty morning and the all the children in the village were out playing in the light dusting of snow that covered the ground. All, that is, except one. Nigel was hidden away in his small attic bedroom, with nothing more than a small computer for company, the likes of which hadn't been seen since the tape age and certainly couldn't connect to the internet, infact, Nigel doubted the internet even existed when the computer was made. But here he was, tapping away at games such as spy hunter whilst his PIII was being fixed. It was just as he was nearing the large helicopter, rocket launcher strapped to his car, that he noticed it.

 Turning his head slowly, he fixed his gaze on the strange object which had torn his attention away from the enthralling game. With two large blue eyes, the object gazed back at him. After some time, Nigel finally realised what the object was. Immediately a multitude of questions was racing through his mind, the predominant ones concerned with 'what was he going to do now?' As if providing an answer, the object suddenly leapt towards him! Nigel screamed.

 His scream was cut short by a strange, hand-like thing covering his mouth. The creature wrapped two more hands around his arms before he had a chance to move. He struggled for a second, but the blue-eyed object pulled out an even stranger object, which looked surprisingly like a gun, and shot him.
"I wish they'd put up a better fight," said the object, "it's almost sad to see so many of them like this."
"I know, Jibba, but we have a job to do. You won't get paid for feeling sorry for them, you know." said the creature, unwrapping its hands from around Nigel's body.
"Well, on to the next one. Hurry up, Ommi." Jibba put the gun away and jumped out the window. Ommi followed, dragging Nigel behind him.

 When Nigel came to, he immediately closed his eyes and wished he hadn't. His head swam with vertigo and he felt paralyzed. Then he heard a luxuriously throaty voice breathe into his ear. "So, you've decided to rejoin the living..." And then the voice laughed. It was a delightfully feminine laugh, but it made Nigel shiver just the same. He opened one eye and his vision tried to make sense of what he saw, but it was as if he'd been hurled into another dimension. someone --or something-- was leaning over him, long black hair barely shielding lissome curves. 'Very human curves' he thought to himself, just as she turned her head toward him still laughing that tinkling laugh. He screamed for the second time that day. And fainted.

 The next time he awoke, he could hear nothing but silence. He slowly opened his eyes and groaned. Every muscle in his body was aching. Cautiously, he sat up and examined his surroundings. He was in a small cavern, sitting on a rock ledge. There was a small wooden table in one corner, and on it was a pitcher of water and a lump of cheese. Above him was a grate, and an eerie light filtered through. All he could see through it were some strange, green grassy plants. In one wall, there was a heavy wooden door. Nigel wondered if it was locked, and began to get up, then froze. He listened carefully. Yes, he knew that sound. Those were footsteps. But not any ordinary footsteps...

 The sound became louder, and there was the jangling of keys. The door swung open, and a horrifying sight met his eyes. A giant creature, perhaps nine foot, lurched through the doorway, propelled by its four feet. Its arms seemed to be double-jointed, as were its knees. It turned and seemed to only just become aware of Nigel's existence. Its mandibles moved in complex patterns. "Damn your speech! If human talk were easier to understand..." Its cursing trailed off into incomprehensible mutterings and it grabbed Nigel with one insectoid claw. It carried him, struggling, through the doorway. It half-carried, half-dragged him towards a lighted doorway. In the bright light he could make out some sort of chamber. The insect-thing placed him down on the marble floor. Nigel stared at the other insect-beings that surrounded him. The first one spoke.
"We are the Zy'ans, a race unlike any other. I am Ke'jhal, the gatekeeper. My job is to find those with the gift"
"What gift?"
"The gift of..."

 *BANG!* The explosion made Nigel's ears ring, and he jumped as the floor rippled under him.
"I though you said we had an hour!" shouted Ke'jhal to a smaler Zy'an.
"Well, Sir..."
"Come on! We have to get out of here!" Ke'jhal picked up Nigel like a sack of potatoes and ran over the rippling floor.
"Ouch! What's going on?" Nigel looked up, and saw the other Zy'an following, carrying rather unpleasant looking pieces of equipment. He looked past them, down the corridor, and saw something that made his blood run cold. Coming towards them was the most grotesque thing he had ever seen. It charged towards him, each step making the floor ripple like water. He screamed. Then fainted again.

 When Nigel woke up,he was not a mushy gushy smear as he had expected to be, but was instead flat on his back... on a dining room table? He sat up, rubbing his eyes, and saw a girl with spiky black hair chasing a miniature version of the grotesque thing with a broom and a whip, trying to splat it. He cleared his throat, causing her to look up from the creature, which escaped through a hole in the wall. She leaned against the wall above the hole, posing to show off her leather jacket, black jeans, fingerless gloves, and high-heeled boots. (She's not being vain, it's just a habit.)
"Well, hiya." She said. "I thought you were dead over there or something. What was that thing, anyway? It nearly got me, but I got it with my miniaturizing ray." Nigel hopped off the table, no less confused that he had been a moment ago.
"Umm...I'm not sure what it is. Was. Whatever." He said. "I was playing on my old computer when I got kidnapped by a bunch of aliens that said something about 'the gift' and then that thing came along. And...miniaturizing ray? Who are you, anyway?"
The girl pointed at a nearby chair and a ray of light hit it,turning it to a doll-sized toy in no time.
"Well," She said, grinning, "That was a miniaturizing ray, and I'm Psyche. The ray, by the way, I got from Puck. It's only for a day, but it still has a snag. Occasionaly, a portal pops up and something comes through. Usually they're harmless, but that thing was FREAKY. What gift? Umm... teleporting, telekenisis, mind-reading, levitation, flying, what?" Nigel shrugged.
"I have no idea." he said. "I'm just glad I'm still in one piece." The girl smiled,then turned towards a staircase leading up.
"HEY! GUYS!" She yelled, and Nigel looked up the stairs. The sight of the four people coming down made him faint for... what? the fourth time that day?

He awoke quickly, due to Psyche and a jug full of water. He shook himself, and saw that the Zy'ans had returned, and were still undertaking their complicated descent down the stairs. One of them was mumbling under his breath, cursing continuously. After a few minutes they finished their long descent and strode into the centre of the big hall. The tallest one nodded at Psyche, and then turned back to Nigel. "Before we were so rudely, how you say, interrupted, I was about to divulge the nature of your gift."
Nigel swallowed hard.
"Which is?"
"You can instantly travel through space and time, spanning billions of lightyears. Unfortunately, other things are attracted to you, and follow you through. Like that."
He extended a claw behind Nigel, who turned pale.
"I'm dreading this..."
He turned, and saw a little blue animal sitting on the floor. It twitched its tail and wrinkled its nose. It squeaked.
"Friiiiin?"
Nigel coughed.
"That thing followed me here?"
Ke'jhal shrugged a multi-hinged shrug.
"So did that."
He pointed up to the ceiling. They all stared for a minute. Psyche smiled.
"Nice try. Like we're going to fall for that-"
There was a dreadful splintering sound as something like an enraged alien dinosaur dropped onto the floor, crushing the little blue thing. It roared at the group. Psyche sighed and pulled out her ray at it. The dinosaur seemed to make a reptilian grin at her, and shot out a jet of flame, melting the ray. Psyche dropped it and held her hand. "Er, suggestions?"
Ke'jhal crouched low, the other Zy'ans doing the same. He grabbed Nigel and Psyche both by the arms.
"We run. Hold on tight."
The Zy'ans pushed up suddenly, launching themselves through the hole in the roof the alien lizard had made. It roared up at them, belching flame. Nigel looked at the building far below.
"How do we get down?"
Ke'jhal grinned an insectoid smile, and there was a tearing sound. Giant insect wings unfolded from his back. The others did the same. "You take us somewhere. Your call, Nigel."

 At that point Psyche managed to move over to Nigel slightly and whisper in his ear. "New Orleans! I wanna go to New Orleans! Nigel, pllleeeeease?"

 Nigel opened his mouth to reply when the world seemed to explode. A shockwave slammed into them, tumbling the group around like a rag-doll in a hurricane. Nigel felt Ke'jhal's grip on his arm weaken, then be torn away with such a force it ripped his shirt. Torn clothing, however, was the least of his worries as he was now plunging to the ground faster than he cared to think about. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Psyche a few feet away from him, spinning head over heals as she plummeted. The ground was coming up faster now, wind sucking at his face. If they hit the ground at this speed they'd be picked up in a slop bucket. He felt paralysed by fear, but something that had been said flashed up in his mind: 'You can instantly travel through space and time...' Away from here would be a good plan. Trying desperatly to ignore the close proximaty of the ground, her reached out and grabbed Psyche's arm.
"Hold on!" He yelled, concentrated and the world... Shifted. It was difficult to describe the feeling of having your entire being switched to a different dimension, but Nigel didn't have time to dwell on it. The fact that he wouldn't want to was pretty irrelevant as they popped into existance somewhere else.
Nigel kept his eyes tightly closed for a second, he didn't really want to see where they'd ended up.
"This doesn't look much like New Orleans to me," Psyche muttered, prompting Nigel to open his eyes. He was lying spread-eagled in the centre of a very large room. The entire place was white, totally white. Psyche helped him up.
"Any idea where we are?"
Nigel shook his head.
"Not a clue. I..."
He was cut off as...

 Psyche's little bitty catch manifested itself. Again. Another portal opened up, mid-room, in mid-air, and a girl with blonde-brown hair in a ponytail, in dusty jeans and a t-shirt fell through, followed by a white cat. Psyche grinned sheepishly and tried to hide behind Nigel. "ummm... Mehitabel! Hi?" The girl, who was apparently named Mehitabel, sat up, running her fingers through her hair.
"Call me Hetty, PLEASE." She said. "If I must be thrown through portals more than once a day, you have to call me Hetty. I like it better, 'member?"
Psyche relaxed somewhat and turned to Nigel. "Um, can we go to New Orleans now?" She said, as the cat settled down to the extreeemely important job of licking between its legs. o.-
Hetty sighed and glared. "Still on the vampire kick, Psy?" She said. Psyche looked confused.
"Vampires? Huh? Oh... no."
Hetty shook out her hair, thinking for a minute, then picked up the cat. "Then why New Orleans?" She asked.
Psyche developed a little light bulb above her head, for a few seconds. "Oh! Right! Never mind, Miami! I wanna go to Miami!" She turned to Nigel and gave him the Bambi Eyes treatment. "Pleeeeease??" Just then....

 The entire end of the room slid open. Hetty whistled.
"That is one hell of a door."
"And that is one hell of a large dragon," Nigel squeaked as the massive, green scaled beast stalked out of the door. Slitted pupils stared out of gleaming golden eyes as the creature spotted the group. Nigel looked up as it towered over him. The cat hissed at it, then recoiled behind Psyche as the dragon let out a roar that practically eradicated Nigel's eardrums.
"Okay Davin, you tell me how the hell we got here, and what that thing is and you'll actually be useful for once."
Nigel turned at the new voice. Standing behind them were two figures. The one who had just spoken was female, dressed in a pair of khaki trousers and a baggy T-shirt, with short dark blonde hair arranged in floppy spikes in the top of her head. Pale blue eyes were fixed on the dragon, jaw set in determination. The other figure was male and taller. He had dark hair, almost black with a single lock of white on the right side of his head. His clothes were much smarter, obviously designer, black trousers, white shirt and black jacket. He also had the most hyoperactive eyebrows Nigel had every seen. The girl, she couldn't have been more than fifteen, looked at him and flashed him a grin.
"Hi. Please tell me that's a friend of yours."
"Er..No."
"I guessed as much. Move!" She suddenly threw herself at Nigel, knocking him flying as a massive claw slammed into the ground where he had been standing a few seconds ago. The dragon roared, and turned its attentions to Psyche. Before she could react it lunged for her, cavernous mouth open wide. It stopped, literally, as if it had hit an invisible brick wall.
"Could anyone find a way to get out of here now? This is not as easy as it looks!"
Nigel glanced with suprise at the male. He was stood, staring intently at the huge lizard, one hand out in front of him, small muscles twitching madly in his face. Nigel's mouth dropped open, but the girl grinned.
"Nice one Davin. Just, don't pass out yet okay?"
"I'm making no promises. Get a move on!"
"How about it then Nigel? Miami?" Psyche helped him up. The girl grinned at her.
"Like the hair. How'd we get here?"
"Kasha! I can't hold this much longer!" The man yelled. Nigel looked around and tried desperately to think of Miami. Miami, Miami... Images started spinning round his mind, a strange feeling building up inside him. At some unspoken signal, Pysche grabbed Nigel's arm, her other hand gripping Hetty's wrist. The girl beckoned to her friend, and the man slowly made his way over to them, sweat pouring down his face. The girl grasped his shoulder and Nigel's in her hands. The man gasped and his hand dropped. The dragon suddenly span towards them, a massive fireball belching forth from its mouth.
"Now would be a good time!" The girl yelled and Nigel suddenly knew what he had to do. He concentrated and the world changed.
They landed heavily on a pavement. The girl stood up and grinned at Nigel.
"Not bad. I'm Kasha by the way. And the guy passed out on the floor is Davin Raul."
Psyche grinned back and pulled herself upright.
"Psyche. This is Mehitabel..."
"Hetty!"
"...and Nigel."
Kasha grinned again.
"How'd you do that anyway?"
"What?"
"The teleport thing?"
Nigel shrugged.
"I've got the... Gift of something," he frowned, "How did he do that? With the dragon?"
Kasha looked at Davin's unconscious form.
"He's psychic, telepathic and telekinetic. Whenever he does something big he has an irritating habit of passing out. Apparently it's draining."
Davin groaned and opened his eyes.
"Ow. Okay, where are we, and what's happening? Whoa this is going to annoy the Senate."
Psyche frowned.
"Senate?"
"Yeah, I'm the Head of the Constitution. A kind of president."
"How old are you?"
"Nineteen."
Nigel was about to reply when...

There was a sudden explosion from the ceiling, masonry raining down on the group. As they dodged the falling bricks Nigel saw a dark figure seemed to glide down gently on sharp black wings. As he stared closer they became more distinct in the light. Could it be a hang-glider? The shape touched down on both feet lightly, discarding the damaged glider on the floor. He pulled a light fabric mask which covered most of his face from his head, revealing all of his features.
"Greetings."
Nigel groaned.
"And you might be?"
The man pulled a long black crossbow from his back and fired it over Nigel's head. A pterodactyl-like creature fell to the ground with a near-comical squawk.
"A friend."
Nigel sighed as the creature's blood trickled around his shoes. "I have a lot of questions. Why are these things after me? Why am I here? Why are you lot here? What the HELL is going on?!"
The man in black nodded carefully at each question and lay his head to one side.
"Those are interesting questions. A pity I can't answer them."
Nigel pounded his fist in anger, veins standing out on his neck.
"THEN WHY DID YOU SAVE ME?"
The man stepped back a touch.
"You aren't a robot. I trust people who look like me and don't try to kill me."
Nigel held out his hand, smiling suddenly.
"Ah well, I might as well enjoy this trip. Give me a weapon."
The man pulled a large rifle from his backpack.
"Take this. Pull that to fire, and that's pretty much it. Now we have to run."
Nigel hefted the weapon's strap over his shoulder and raised a quizzical eyebrow.
"Why?"
The man gestured to the crossbow bolt stuck in the dead creature. "A normal bolt doesn't damage a cyborg. That's why it blows up after a minute."
Nigel look at his watch, turned sharply on his heel and ran for the door at full speed. Glancing behind him, he saw the rest overtaking him and...

 grabbed their hands. "Hold on!" he shouted, and the world shattered. Then he was falling. The ground rushed up at him, and he screamed.
When he woke up he was lying on his back, on soft grass. He groaned, and tried to sit up, but gave up when he moved his left arm. "Ow... ouch." he said.
He looked around slowly, and saw Psyche lying unconscious near him, the man -he hadn't said his name yet- leaning against a tree, and Davin sitting up, rubbing his head.
"Well, i seem to be getting the hang of this gift thing." Nigel slowly sat up, cradling his left arm, and grinned. "Hey, Psyche, you okay?"
"Whah... uh. Yeah, I'm alive... damn that hurts. Where are we now?"
"Well... it *should* be Miami."
"Sure doesn't look like it."
"Uh, yeah, well, I remembered something. Ke'jhal said I could travel in space _and_ time... so i kinda tried it."
Kasha appeared from behind a rock. "Okay, then... When are we?"
"Umm... well, i'm not quite sure."
"Not sure? Oh, this is great. Don't you have *any* idea where -uh, when- we are?"
"It's a long time ago. I was kinda in a hurry... if we're lucky, the dinosaurs are already dead."
By this time, Davin had stood up, and was walking around. "Hey, guys... can you see Hetty anywhere?"

"Hello down there? A little help?"
Nigel looked up, shading his eyes from the sunlight. High, very high, above them, dangling precariously from the branch of a paricually large tree was Hetty.
"Can anyone see a way of getting me down? I don't think this branch is going to hold much longer," she yelled. Nigel looked at the rest of the group.
"Anyone climb?"
Kasha threw a sidelong glance at Davin, who shook his head, wincing slightly.
"Not for a while. I'm having trouble staying upright at the moment." Nigel looked up again at the indistinct shape of Hetty. Kasha tapped him on the shoulder.
"Since you think you're getting the hang of the gift thing, may I suggest you use it before Hetty ends up as a small splat mark on the grass?"
Nigel turned to her, she did have a point, but...
"I'm not..."
"Very good at landings, we know. Just have a go, eh?"
"Visualising what you're trying to do could help," Davin chipped in. Nigel looked up, crossed his fingers, closed his eyes and... Suddenly found himself hanging in mid-air next to Hetty's astonished face. As gravity seemed to notice him, he grabbed her wrist, the world blurred and they appeared about a metre off the ground, landing with a bump. Kasha helped him upright.
"Not bad. You okay Hetty?"
"Yeah, fine," Hetty picked herself up, "It beats plunging out of a tree."
"Uh, guys?"
Nigel turned round. Davin had wandered over to a rocky outcrop and was standing on top of it.
"What?"
"We have a problem."

 The group looked over the outcrop at the scene below. The man in black turned to Nigel.
"Those don't look like dinosaurs."
Nigel moved back a bit from the edge.
"You know what dinosaurs are?"
The man nodded.
"I'm as human as you are. I was a scientist in the 24th century before I got propelled the wrong way through time. Instead of studying living fossils I had to fend off robots. The name's Asheron, by the way. Frank Asheron."
They looked back at the landscape below.
"It looks kinda mad."
Nigel grunted.
"You would too if you were being attacked by that thing."
In the distance far below a titanic battle was being played out. A giant cat-like creature seemed to strike at nothing before a blue flash showed the presence of something smaller. Asheron pulled a pair of binoculars from a concealed pocket and peered through them.
"Whoa! This can't be right!"
Psyche grabbed the binoculars from him and looked down at the fight. She then handed them to Hetty, a vacant look on her face.
"Tell me that isn't a giant six-legged panther with silver skin and light blue stripes attacking a nine-foot Arab carrying a twelve-foot staff with his hair made out of golden fire?" She said.
Hetty stared down at the fight and passed the binoculars to Davin. "No, that's what's happening." He said.
"Oh. Damn."
Davin frowned, concentrating hard on the scene below.
"Although... Both creatures appear to be psychic like me, but the larger one is worried and wants to leave."
The cat-thing suddenly leapt into the air and vanished in a sudden blur. Psyche turned to Nigel.
"That's what you do, y'know?"
Davin suddenly went silent, seeming to have a conversation with no sides at all. Davin smiled.
"It's okay, he's our friend."
The air in front of them blurred as the figure teleported onto the outcrop. He bowed gently and slid the cloth from his face. Two brilliant pure white eyes blinked in the savage daylight and a mass of golden fire continually burned from his head. It spoke, though its mouth didn't move.
"I am Rdel Bjis." He said simply. "Your friend here claims not to know of the great war three thousand years ago which killed many of humanity."
Everyone turned to look at Nigel. He grinned nervously.
"Everyone makes mistakes, right?"
Rdel continued, ignoring the interruption gracefully.
"You must come to our city. It is not wise to stay out in the desert."
Davin nodded.
"Where are we?"
Rdel looked thoughtful for a moment.
"I suppose in your time period you'd call it Miami."

 Nigel saw a portal beginning to open. "Oh, not that stupid catch again... I -" he stared at the two figures that appeared.
One of them spoke. "Ah-ha! found you at last. You'd better come with us, or there'll be big trouble."
"Says who?" Psyche walked up and pulled them off the ground, then shook them.
"Says Mulira. You don't wanna get her angry, believe me. Now if you'll just put me down, and we'll take Nige-"
"You're not taking him anywhere. Now who are you, and why do you want Nigel?"
"I'm Jibba, and he's Ommi. You really shouldn't hold him like that, he'll probably suffocate. Now you really must give Nigel to me-"
"Hey! Don't I get any choice in this? I'm not a piece of luggage, you know... Aha! now I remember who you are, you kidnapped me!"
"Well, it wasn't really-"
"Say... I remember seeing someone before i woke up in the cell." Nigel shuddered at the memory. "I'm not sure it wasn't a nightmare, but she looked kinda... half-human, half-reptile. Was that Mulira?"

"Hmm, slightly reptilian, wouldn't want to get angry. Sounds a bit like Xerthiri."
"If we meet *her* I'm going to hide in a box," Davin shuddered. Kasha grinned.
"Nah, she'd only set fire to it and laugh."
"Um, hello? Nigel's future in peril here?" Hetty waved a hand at Kasha.
"Sorry."
Nigel looked at the one who'd called himself Jibba.
"Well? Who's Mulira, why does she want me, why did you kidnap me and WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"
"If you come with us you'll find out," Jibba said, trying to look persuasive. Kasha laughed.
"Whoa, you must think we're *thick*. Why would we let you take Nigel?"
Jibba looked slyly up at her.
"'Cos you don't have any choice," he jerked free of Psyche and lunged for Nigel. Nigel froze. So did Jibba.
"No, I don't think so," Davin leaned against a tree, a finger pointed at Jibba who was floating in mid air.
"Feeling better then Davin?" Kasha grinned.
"Yup."
Ommi groaned.
"Oh, not again. I *knew* this would happen. He's attracting."
"What?" Psyche looked down at the figure in her grip, then at Jibba, who was fighting against the invisible wall holding him in place. Nigel stepped away, and Davin lowered his hand, sending Jibba sprawling to the ground. Asheron trained his crossbow on him. Nigel looked at the spread-eagled figure.
"What do you mean I'm attracting? Attracting what?"
Ommi mumbled something. Psyche lifted him a bit higher.
"What?"
"Um. attracting, attracting your. er. team."
"Team?"
"Well, not team exactly, more, um, army?"
Kasha snorted.
"Army? Us?"
Ommi nodded, well, as best as he could.
"It's. I shouldn't be telling you this."
Psyche smiled sweetly.
"Just say you were pressured. Now, you were saying?"
Ommi stared at the floor.
"The Gifted have always attracted a group of fighters, Mulira doesn't want. Um."
"Doesn't want what?"
"I. Can't say."
Psyche leaned forwards, glaring at him. He writhed under her gaze. "What? What fighters?"
"There is always. The thief, the warrior, the thinker and the, um, king. the others depend on the Gifted themselves."
Nigel looked at the group of people surrounding him.
"Anyone fit any of those categories?"
Kasha raised a hand.
"I bag thief. Hey, I grew up on the streets, it was a living. I guess he," she pointed to Asheron, "Is the thinker. As for the king." She grinned in Davin's direction. He raised an eyebrow, something pretty noticable on him.
"Me?"
"Hey, you're the Head. Gotta count for something. Now, warrior." Suddenly the wind appeared. It hadn't been there a moment before, but now it definitely was, blowing up tiny tornadoes in the dust and directing most of it into their eyes. Rdel looked up, white eyes scanning the sky.
"A storm comes. We must return to the city now."
Nigel looked at Ommi and Jibba.
"What about them?"
"Take them with us. We'll ain't finished grilling them for info yet."
Kasha grinned again.
Nigel turned to Rdel.
"Well? Where is this city of yours?"

Rdel's milky gaze stared blankly forwards at nothing. Kasha rolled her eyes.
"More than one psychic could get annoying."
Rdel turned to Nigel.
"To the east. Your friends can be transported there with ease."
"How about walking? Nigel isn't too good at hitting the mark when it comes to teleporting," Kasha grinned. Rdel looked at her.
"The city is four days walk from this position. Attempting to traverse the desert for four days is unwise."
Nigel looked at him.
"Can you, er, make sure I get to the right place?"
Rdel nodded.
"Yes."
"Let's go."
Psyche grabbed Nigel's hand and the rest of the group attached themselves, Ommi and Jibba under the Asheron's gaze. Rdel's eyes closed and Nigel copied him. A vision of a flat, sandy plain crossed his mind. And they landed with a bump. Kasha stood up, brushing sand out of her hair.
"Getting better Nigel, at least no one's stuck in a tree this time." Nigel grinned at Kasha and looked round. His first impressions were right; there wasn't a single building here. He glanced at Rdel. "I thought you said that there was a city here."
Rdel ignored him and raised a hand. Nigel saw Davin frown, his eyes glazing slightly. Suddenly, a chunk of the ground began to move open. Nigel blinked as the doors hissed apart, exposing a set of steps. Rdel headed off down them. Nigel glanced at the group.
"Any volunteers to go first?"
"Two," Psyche shoved Ommi and Jibba forwards. Casting nervous glances behind them as Asheron kept his crossbow close by, they made their way down the steps, everyone following. Nigel jumped as the door closed behind them, leaving the tunnel lit only by a faint bluish glow. There was a click as Asheron produced a small torch and flicked it on, illuminating the stairway. The group continued in silence. They rounded a small corner and Nigel gasped. The tunnel they were in opened out here, into a massive cavern. Tall, domed metallic buildings were set out in rows, wide paths running between them. A small waterfall could be seen running down the wall of the cavern close to them, while large walkways hugged the walls, stretching as far along the cavern as Nigel could see. Hetty whistled.
"Pretty good."
"Come with me, there are those who wish to see you," Rdel said quietly from behind them. Kasha spun round as he spoke.
"I though you were in front of us."
Rdel stared at her for a second.
"That is unimportant. Follow me."
The rest of the group headed off after him. Nigel was about to follow, when Kasha grabbed his arm.
"I don't trust this guy," she said quietly. Nigel frowned.
"But. Davin said."
"Yeah, I know, I know; Davin's a psychic, he should be able to tell. But he's not *always* right. I just think we should be careful." She dropped his arm and set off after the others. Nigel hesitated for a second, then hurried after her. Rdel seemed friendly enough, a bit odd, but friendly. Kasha was probably over-reacting.
"Earth, and I'm taking a guess that it *is* earth, to Nigel?" Psyche's voice jerked him back to reality. They'd stopped, outside a set of huge silvery doors. Nigel looked at Rdel.
"Here?"
"Yes."
The doors slid apart suddenly, revealing...

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