shook before the explosion. The whole place was soon a disaster area, it was not long until there came the thundering of falling rocks. The ground broke up into brittle sections, spreading quickly out from the gap near Mitch and Cascy. "Cascy, get up!" Mitch grabbed Cascy and seized him under his arm. Cascy pulled himself to his feet and forced his legs to move with Mitch's. They both ran under the falling rocks, some as big as their heads. Mitch was looking up as he ran, dodging them as best he could. Several rocks about the size of his fist rained down onto his shoulders and onto Cascy, but he kept moving constantly, until they reached the familiar heart of the cave. Mitch thought quicly about which route to take bakc, but had got disorientated in the hurry. With no time to waste, he dragged Cascy quickly through the tunnel entrance nearest to him. He could see light on the other side. Mitch could feel the weight of Cascy becoming heavier on his shoulder, forcing him to slow his pace. Cascy struggled to keep up with Mitch, the pain from his injuries was seething and becoming harder to cope with. The rocks and boulders crashed ferociously behind them, building a blockage through the tunnel, and chasing them to the light ahead. When Mitch was withing reach of the light, he stretched out an arm infront as he ran, touching its celestial shimmer. The setting sun was shedding its last beem of light for the day. Mitch took one last acceleration, the full weight of Cascy with him, and took a leap for freedom. The rocks behind crashed to the ground and rolled into oneanother. The entrance to the tunnel cave broke into clusters and collapsed, leaving a cloud of angry smoke behind. Mitch was still moving, there was a steep downhill slope at his feet. He secured his hold of Mitch and took a step down the rock-exposed hill. Then his hands slipped as the weight of Cascy gained on him. He almost dropped him, but managed to get a hold under his shoulders and began to pull him down the hill. Mitch's arms were burning at the effort. His sweat-covered head was pulsating and his legs were begging him for a rest. A nearby acaica tree provided a little shelter, and Mitch had stopped for a rest once they were there. They were lucky enough to have gotten here before nightfall, and could still vagely see the what was infront of them. Mitch looked around restlessly beside the tree, there was a small water hole a few feet away form the shaded area. He suddenly jumped up in excitement and leaped for the water. He threw his face into the cool liquid and splashed with his hands in pleasure. He drank several gallons of it, then took a scoop on his hands and brought it to Cascy who was lying still. His mouth was open, gulping air like a freshly caught fish. Mitch showered Cascy's hot face with the water, and laughed at the oportunity. Cascy laughed in surprise at the reliefe of the cooling water, "Water! Where is it?" He sat up to lean on the tree. Mitch broke into laughter as he went for more water, and this time Cascy edged himself to the waterhole for a drink. He submerged his face into the water fully, and took it out, shaking his dripping wet hair onto Chandelr who was cracking up in amusement. Mitch took off his shoes to relieve his aching feet, and cooled them in the water. Cascy let himself fall back into the grass, inhaling the sweet pleasurable air. Mitch put on his shoes to join him. In the distance the rumbling of the rocks had died down and they were left with the stillness of the surrounding trees. Occasioanally a bird would skit across the sky accompanied by a peaceful song. Mitch let the cooling breeze stroke his face and hair, as he closed his eyes in thought. Cascy tried to ignore the seething pain in his side and forehead, "Thanks for saving me Casc." He said quietly. Cascy smiled and took a deep breath, he opened his mouth to say something, but broke into laughter. Mitch stared at Cascy for a moment, then grinned, "This is a crazy world, huh?" He said in the hight of the moment. Mitch calmed down and stared again at the endless sky, "That's true..." He thought outloud. Then they both took a deep breath and thought for a long time as the sun disappeared off the horizon.

The next time Mitch awoke, the warm and foul smelling breath of a wolf had hit him in the face. "Yeah, it's them alright." The wolf signalled. Mitch tried to crawl away form the revolting stench of the wolf, as he noticed behind the wolf was also standing a brown lioness. The lioness looked surprisedly at Mitch, but spoke to the wolf, "Don't be so harsh, wolf. If you only had the decency to tell them why they were here-" But the wolf interrupted,

"Don't spoil the plan now, Sukari." It sniffed Mitch's face, revealing rows of dagger-like teeth. Mitch noticed too that Cascy was staring at the animals in horror. The wolf was calm, but seemed a little frustrated, "So you thought you could escape our little deal..." Mitch gasped, he had forgotten about the deal he had been rushed into the night before, "...What, run away? Did you see the walls caving in over our heads?" Mitch mocked the wolf. The lioness was beginning to giggle a little but the wolf gave her a cold, hard glare and she looked ashamedly to the ground again. "You will give the stone to me, or I'll make a kill...A human kill" The wolf growled under its breath. Then the lioness stepped in, "Have you even told them about the stone?" She asked, a little anoyed at the wolf's impatience. "Fine." The wolf sighed. Mitch and Cascy listened. "The stone. It's real name is the Suri Maha." As he said so, a low rumble could be heard in the distant sky. "We don't use that name much." The wolf looked behind him to the mountains, then looked back and continued, "The stone had been passed down through generations, the same family of stone holders, but the stone has gotten into the wrong hands...I work for someone who...is supposed to have inherited it. I need to bring the stone to its rightful holder..." The wolf stared at Cascy who was beginning to feel more unsettled. Then Mitch interrupted "So you got us to do it for you?" Mitch yelled. The wolf continued to stare at Cascy, "...youhave the stone." the wolf's eyes were gazing into Cascy's, who sat open-mouthed in disbelief. "Me? How me?" Mitch shook his head, "That's a load of crap. We don't have any stone. If you wanna damn stone just get one..." He shouted angrily, "Here is a stone!" He pointed to a stone as he stood up. He picked it up and shook it in front of the wolf's nose as he yelled, "A stone, See?" He then threw it next to the wolf's paw, his teeth gritted in anger. The wolf remained standing still, its eyes were fixed firmly onto Mitch's, "The stone isn't in its physical form, it's been absorbed, by you." He motioned with his head and eyes toward Cascy. Cascy sat open-mouthed in silence. Mitch felt his fists curl into tight balls, he wanted to beat up the wolf that instant, but had to refrain from doing so.

"Prove it, wolf!", said Cascy finally. The wolf sighed, "There is no way of proving it...unless you decide to use your powers, but chances are you won't know how to use them." Cascy stood up, and suddenly looked shocked to find what had happened. "I don't feel any pain. I'm healed." He panted astonished and wide-eyed at Mitch, who also looked surprised. The wolf shook his head and glanced quicky at Sukari, then looked back at Cascy, "If it weren't for the stone's powers you'd be dead right now." He sounded a little angered, "Seems you absorbed it just in time to spare your life...but the stone can't save you from any more injuries." Then Mitch broke into anger, "I see your plan. You're gonna kill Cascy so you can have the stone, how could you be so cold-hearted?" he shouted, gritting his teeth.

"In return..." The wolf began, but Sukari interupted, "-Stop it wolf, you know you don't have to kill him." The wolf glared at the lioness, but she contiued, "You can extract the stone from him in the same way it was extracted form its previous holder. Do it without killing him!" She yelled. The wolf broke in, "Silence, Sukari" he snapped at her with his powerful jaws, but she ducked, "I am choosing to follow the orders of Civet, which is to kill the holder of the stone." With that the wolf leaped in front of Cascy, and exposed his vile teeth. The strong jaws clamped into Cascy's arm as the wolf tried to bring him down, Mitch threw himself at the wolf and ripped at his silver fur in anguish. The wolf turned his head and snapped at Mitch who avoided the jaws by rolling himself off the wolf's back. Cascy managed to run a metre away from the wolf where he bumped into Mitch. They turned around to see the wolf was headed for them in a slow trot, his muzzle frothing with spit. The lioness screamed at the wolf, "Wolf, no. Leave them alone!" She ran at the wolf's side, but he paid no attention to her, as his eyes were firmly fixed on his targets. "Stop!" She raised an agressive paw and dug her claws into the wolf's front leg. The wolf howled in pain and turned a pair of reddened eyes at Sukari. "You traitor!" He snapped at her with his jaws but missed her neck by an inch, she jumped to the side and yelled, "There's no need for this!" The wolf fumed at Sukari, now a little calmer, "So...you don't want me to kill them..." He breathed, "Well, it's not like they stand much of a chance out here anyway. I'll just wait till something else kills them for me. Job done for me, why didn't I think of that before?" He laughed at the irony of the situation. Sukari looked to Cascy and Mitch, whoit's been absorbed, by you." He motioned with his head and eyes toward Cascy. Cascy sat open-mouthed in silence. Mitch felt his fists curl into tight balls, he wanted to beat up the wolf that instant, but had to refrain from doing so.

"Prove it, wolf!", said Cascy finally. The wolf sighed, "There is no way of proving it...unless you decide to use your powers, but chances are you won't know