Dadge, Moonshadow, and Galin all walked through an immense hallway. More than enough room for even Galin's large frame. Burned marks lay scattered on the floor, occasionally leaping up on the walls and roof. Obviously a fight had taking place, and Dadge knew all too well what it was from.

"You see, an Armored Dragon and a Phoenix came in here, busted the Jill's city up pretty good. I managed to fight them off, but not without the help of the Jills, one in particular. His name is Grendel, he is the Lord of the Winds."

"Winds? You mean the Lord of Air, correct?" Moonshadow asked as he jumped a sizeable hole in his path.

"Must be," Galin chimed in, "That would be…Five that we know of."

"Yes," Dadge replied, "However, the Jills' technological advancements far surpass us humans'. Top that off with the fact that they have been keeping tabs on us all since Roketh awoke. Well, us that travels with him anyway. They may know where the others are located."

Moonshadow grunted slightly, tossing his black mane as he spoke, "Assuming he's not The Butcher Dante's latest trophy, we shouldn't have left him there alone."

"Trust me," Galin stated calmly, "You've never tied up with someone like Roketh before. When he and I locked up, it was said to be the greatest battle in the fight against Kingston." He paused, looking down on the Terror Dog," I tell you one thing, if The Butcher won, he's probably not too happy."

"True that." Dadge said as they reached the once beautiful entrance door to the Jills' civilization. Instead, there was a massive opening, with small chips around it. As they looked in, they saw the door in a roof of one of the houses.

"A Dragon and a Phoenix did all this alone?" Galin asked as he stared down on the smoke and ash. He saw a few dead Jills. Then he saw some of the large-scale versions of the Clovers, fitted for the average Jill. Dadge's was obviously more enhanced. Then, Galin noted several large bug-like creatures being hauled off.

"What are those?" Moonshadow asked, obviously seeing the same cart.

"It be a long story, lads." One Jill spoke as he walked towards them, "Sir Dadge, Grendel request your presence."

As the Jill departed, Moonshadow looked up at Dadge, almost mockingly as he asked, "Sir?"

Dadge grinned; deciding that answering him would do little more than throw the metaphorical grease on the fire. Instead, he merely followed the Jill as Moonshadow and Galin snickered slightly behind him.

Meanwhile…near the base of the Papas…

Roketh stared up at the massive mountain. He didn't really think he had the strength to climb it, but he knew he had to. His answers were here. They were heading here to confront Kronock, but if Dante almost beat Roketh, certainly Kronock could muster up the same. However, Dadge said there was someone here they needed to see. Roketh had no idea where to even start looking. The cold swept down the mountain on jets of ice, the wind that protected these mountains was tremendous. It seemed to stab at Roketh's wounds, mainly two. He would fly, but his right wing was severely injured. After the fight he saw that it was slashed from about the middle to the bottom. His arm also throbbed. The wooden spike that was shoved through his shoulder, quite close to the bone, was leaving a phantom tingle of its existence. Roketh knew it wasn't still in his arm, but the feeling still made him check it periodically. He now cradled his helpless left arm in his right, biting down on his own jaw to hold in the pain.

As he began his ascend, he heard a noise. His eyes searched the surroundings frantically, trying to find a suitable hiding location. None in sight, he began to back up slowly. Then, he saw a group of Jills marching over a small hill. He managed to make out a few words, such as 'find', 'locate', 'Grendel', and 'orders'. He did not know their intentions, but that name, Grendel, sounded familiar. He'd been having memory problems since he awoke, but was slowly piecing together his past. He finally gave in and called out to the Jills.

"Help! Someone, please!" He figured he was not in any fighting position. Might as well be captured now than to die from the weather or a roaming monster.

He heard a muffled clatter as the first Jill bobbed his furry, little head over the ridge.

He turned and called something to his comrades. As he did, Roketh finally lost it. He had struggled to stay calm and maintain a steadfast state of mind. Now, the pain finally overtook him, and he fell. He collapsed forward. His last conscious thought was that falling left would hurt his arm, and back or right would hurt his wing. Needless to say, they both hurt anyway after the shock of hitting the ground traversed his body. He remembered looking up, as that one Jill scurried down the mountain. He managed to see a couple more waddled over the hill before he blacked out.

Meanwhile…Back at the Jillish city…

Dadge and Moonshadow stood in front of a massive computer screen. On it were four squares. In each, a Lord or a question mark. Dadge looked into each of the boxes. Only one square had a question mark in it, the Lord of Good. Dadge also took time to examine the other box contents'.

Roketh, Lord of the Eight, acquired 4
Denemaur, Lord of Water, acquired
Bloodlust, Lord of Combat, acquired
Azurian, Lord of Darkness, acquired
Dante, Lord of Earth, acquired
Blazemost, Lord of Fire, not acquired
Grendel, Lord of Air, not acquired
???, Lord of Good, not acquired

Dadge looked to his left. Grendel was leaning over one of the monitors, talking to the Jill at that station. As the mighty Grendel rose and walked towards them, Dadge couldn't help but ask.

"Are you going to die, Grendel?"

"After I give up my powers, figuratively, yes." Grendel said, not hinting to being worried. "You see, I'll be part of something great, and live forever. Then, the next Eight Lords will be named. Who knows, perhaps for their assistance, Moonshadow and Galin may be bestowed this honor. Speaking of Galin…?"

"He said something about checking your training center." Moonshadow said observing the giant screen. "You have no idea who the Lord of Good is?"

"We have theories, nothing more." Grendel spoke softly, "We only pray it is not who we suspect it to be."

Dadge glanced up at him intently, "Whom might you suspect?"

"That's useless jabber for now, without any proof. We do have bigger fish to fry, however." Grendel stated, trying to change the conversation.

"What could be more important than the identity of one of the Eight Lords?" Moonshadow growled.

"The location of another, perhaps?" Grendel said mockingly, "You see, we have no idea of Blazemost's exact location."

About that time, a voice rang loudly, "Grendel! One of the search teams found Roketh and they are bringing him here."

"Good, he is alive." Dadge said as he breathed out slightly.

"Barely, Sir Dadge." The Jill spoke softly.

"Prepare a restorative pod. Place it under extreme guard and pump it with two capsules of Dragon. One pure Dragon, the other as my own." Grendel barked orders as some of the Jills ran towards the lab.

"Capsules Grendel?" Moonshadow asked intently.

"Yes, sort of like a DNA residue. Mixed in the right substance, we can rejuvenate much more efficiently than merely lying in bed with antibiotics at best." Grendel answered, quite pleased with their advancements in medicine.

Meanwhile…In the Jills' training facility…

Galin wanted to try a high-risk room the Jills had invented. Referred to as "Death's Playground", it fit its name like a worn sock. Machines of death ran rampant in here, like a room full of challenges, puzzles, and the occasional death. Galin walked through the massive arena like place, wings draped over his body to form an eerie, ebony cape. One of the few things he learned from his father was that intimidation could win or lose a battle, depending on who used it best.

As he walked into and area best resembling a desert, he stopped as he noted a rather large hole in the ground. In the center, was nothing. He remembered the Ant Lion from the Mandy Desert, and knew one was here. But where? The place was massive. As his searching eyes returned to the hole, a large, bug-like creature appeared. It instantly latched its massive jaws around Galin, who struggled ferociously. As the gigantic monster revealed more and more of himself, and Galin began to feel more and more in danger.

It was officially the largest monster Galin had ever seen. As it rose, more insectoid arms graced its huge frame. Much like a centipede, it eventually quit rising, with Galin firm between its mighty jaws. Galin had passed every test thus far, and none were quite this difficult. It was also the last of the trials.

"Nice move, bug-breathe." Galin sputtered, "But you'll need more than this to beat me!"

With that, all four of Galin's arms grabbed its jaws, two arms on each. He was pushing outward, against the amazing strength of the Ant Loin. The beast squealed and tried to crush Galin even harder. As he did, Galin looked up and saw his opening.

He pushed himself off the bug's jaws, which slammed shut as he skyrocketed upwards. The creature screamed again as the pain in his jaws slamming together ran through it. Galin back flipped in the air, to let lose one of his signature moves.

"Aura Balls!" He screamed. As he did, a small ball of light filled each of his palms. Beams of light shined off these in all directions. The beast was a bit mystified by the dancing light, but quickly decided he'd love to destroy them much more. Before he could do anything, Galin was raining shots on him. After a ball left Galin's palm, another formed instantly. Thus a rapid fire of energy bombarded the hapless creature. When Galin stopped, he realized that it was still alive, but crippled.

Galin landed at the edge of its hole, staring in on the beast as it slumped up and down, still living and suffering.

"I'll put you out of your misery." Galin said as each of his palms touched together in front of him, forming the ever potent X form.

"X-Shot!" It was the same move he had used to Kingston to finish him off. A blue ball appeared in front of his hands, as lightning erupted from his palms. As he charged the attack, the gigantic bug looked up at him, and roared loudly. The shot fired from Galin's hands at blinding speed. An explosion fired out of the crater. As dust flew out of it, Galin took flight, not even feeling that he had been challenged in this death maze.

As he exited, one of the Jill's said, "Why'd you kill little Henry like that?"

Galin stared down at the Jill, who stepped back slightly, "He was a prisoner, I freed him."

As Galin exited the Dojo, a Jill ran up to him and said, "Galin! You're needed. Roketh just returned!"

Meanwhile…In the lair of Kronock…

"So now, you think you can handle such a task, old friend?" Kronock said calmly.

A shadowed figure stayed in the corner, draped in the darkness.

"If the pay stays as high as it is, with great ease."

"Well then," Kronock said, seated at a small wooden table, with his feet propped up on one end, "I see with have an understanding, my assassin."

"I'll not fail, I never do." With that, the shadowed figure disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Kronock sat silent, Dracoul and Namerca standing not far from him.

Namerca broke the silence by saying, "Might I compliment you on you plan, my lord. 'Tis a great one indeed."

"Why thank you," Kronock said gingerly, "Dante lost, and gave Roketh another of the elements. I figure why try to convince any more of them to join us. Since they don't have to 'give' their powers, we'll have to beat Roketh to them. If he doesn't get one, just one, victory is mine. So, naturally I believe that De'spyre can handle an old hothead like Blazemost. With his death, Roketh can't hope to receive all the powers. Leave me!"

With that said, his henchman left. Kronock stepped up to the back of the waterfall, deep in his thoughts, "Even if I do hamper Roketh's collection of the Elements, unless I get that human…"


-Who is this assassin? Could Kronock really plan to destroy the other Lords? How long is Roketh out of commission? Can the others hold out without him? Oh, so many questions are adrift. Fortunately, they're all about to be answered.-

CHB Stay tuned

Another well-written chapter CHB. I enjoyed it, especially when the ant-lion got killed and the Jill asked why he killed "Little Henry". One thing i was wondering is how long does it take for you to write up one of theses chapters? Well, i hope your next chapter will be up soon i can't wait to read it. Till then, Cya'.

-Nicholas D. Wolfwood-

Well, I write them under Microsoft Word 97. After I finish, about one to two hours, then I proof read and spellcheck(Very annoying on names it tries to correct I.E. Dadge, suggested spelling, Dodge) At any rate, about 3-4 hours alltogether. Hard for me to get that much spare time these days, but working like 30 minutes a day on a chapter works well. In my humble opinion...


...it sure is worth it.

Okay that's pretty cool. Also yes, i've noticed that when i write stories on the computer that it takes a good amount of time just for the "mispelled" names. What i usually just to is re-click them and press "add" so that way if you do actually mispell the name it'll help correct it for you. ^_^

-Nicholas D. Wolfwood-