This parts pretty long so you may not want to read it all at once. If you are reading the saga please leave a comment, critisism or encouragement at the bottom just to show your reading -GARLANT

Leo fell through the darkness of the sewer drains. After falling for what seemed like a minute or more he felt blades of cold stab at his skin. Leo instantly panicked as his mouth filled with cold and slowly realised the blades were not blades at all but the numbness caused by falling into water. He kicked his legs and reached the surface inhaling deep breaths of air. In the darkness it was impossible to tell for sure but he was pretty sure that there was a powerful current dragging him along. He swam in the direction of the wind blowing in his face to find that the wind stopped and he tired easily. A shape pushed past him in the water and he hoped that it was one of his friends struggling for air. He let the water carry him for a long time, possibly 15 minuets or more until he felt his foot brush against the floor. Leo plunged both his feet as deep as possible, whilst still keeping his head above the freezing liquid, and they dragged along what felt like smooth stone. By the way his feet moved he could tell that the current here was next to nothing and he walked either side trying to find a way out of the stream.

"Scout unit 729 report!"

"Mission was a success sir. The enemy took vast fatalities and captures."

"And what of the five creatures not wearing badges?"

"We have reason to believe that they were vaporised, either in crossfire or in the panic of our attack."

"I see"

The conversation was taking place between a human and a Gaia. The Gaia was a hengar made from pure rock with a single red and pink eye that looked as if it had been cut from a stain glass window. At this point another hengar ran to the couple, clearly wanting to talk.

"Sir! We found an escape route. There is a 72% chance that a sewer drain was used as an escape route by some monsters. It is also a distinct possibility that the five unaccounted for creatures used this escape route."

"Good work unit!" The man said and saluted the hengar. It saluted back and then returned to the drain where a crowd of others were observing and taking measurements.

"It looks as though we have a problem on our hands. Lord Wolfgang will not be happy with this at all."

At this point Lord Wolfgang was underground in a secret laboratory he had built near one of his many hundred ranches. The laboratory had all the equipment he needed. Along one whole side of the room was a shelf clustered with test tubes, electronic tools, clipboards and computer screens, in one corner stood four cryogenic freezers and a combining machine. There were several monsters walking around the room taking measurements and writing down figures.

"Lord Wolfgang?" A young pixie enquired.

"Oh I am sorry, I was miles away, how can I help you?" Wolfgang's loving yet poisonous voice rang out.

"I was just wondering...No disrespect or anything of the sort but why..."

"Did I sign up the unit to attack my own soldiers?" Wolfgang interrupted. "Well Gloria…It is Gloria isn't it?" The Pixie nodded her little head and smiled with an obvious honour that this man could remember her name above all the hundreds of monsters he commanded. "Have I ever told you about the greatest weapon we have? No? Well I'm telling you now, the greatest weapon we have in our crusade or any fight you will ever fight is the element of surprise. And the best use of surprise to make your opponent think they have an advantage. I destroyed a small army of my forces, they needed to be destroyed. Though it is a shame a recent sect of monsters has decided to become sloppy, the become disobedient, arrogant and even threaten me occasionally. It may seem harsh but I think it was the only way to get ahead with an early start. The problem is that the hengar unit were also supposed to take out those five monsters that popped out of nowhere at that Namis guys ranch, the stupid creatures slipped out during the crossfire and escaped somehow. But no matter," Wolfgang appeared to smile with a tinge of evil. "The disobedient monsters were crushed, I regain my rightful authority as leader and the enemy probably think that FIMBA are stepping in or something."

The pixie nodded and even gave a faint smile of recognition. She then turned and fluttered over to the cryogenic freezers.

"Lord Wolfgang the combiner is ready, which monsters do we wish to combine?" The pixie said in a much more business like fashion, than she had used when speaking with Wolfgang in private.

"Hmm..... Lets see, I am starting to worry about my high-ranking soldiers. Three were destroyed by the hengar and I need them replaced so how about...ok combine the dragon we got from Kilos Island with that suzurin from five days ago. Here," Wolfgang reached behind his cape and thrust a white mask into the pixie's hand. "Chuck this in with it."

Leo was now totally dry but still freezing cold. He lay on the sewer bank in pitch black wishing he could somehow find his way to light. He suddenly heard a strange noise in the rushing of the river. It sounded like a waterfall or rapids. The sound of water hitting the rocks or immovable objects filled his ears. The darkness and sound were like a blanket, covering Leo and making him feel awful. He was cold, lonely, lost and had no hope for getting to the surface quickly. The sound grew even louder, now he was sure of it, there was something big in the water, or lots of small things. They were causing the water to separate and splash and the noise was getting louder and louder. Leo felt his cheeks grow warm with embarrassment as he realised he had began to weep. A single teardrop fell from his face and landed on his hand, even the tear felt cold and as if it had not come from his body. Above the sound of the water he began to hear a noise, it was hollow, echoed and coarse, like pebbles tumbling down a well. The sound of the water stopped suddenly. There was an eerie silence that filled the whole chamber of darkness and Leo pulled his legs to his chest in fright. The silence was more frightening than the ringing of the water, as he knew that the water wouldn’t have stopped on its own. The sound he had heard above the water revealed itself to be a voice. In the darkness it had returned.

"Have they turned the pipes off for any good reason?"
"Yes"
"And that reason is…"
"The Cliffling wishes to speak to the creature."
"Why must the river be halted for that?"
"The way is beneath water, we doubt that the creature can hold his breath for that length of time."

The voices were hollow, not void of emotion by any stretch of the imagination, but sounded like the sources were talking from deep down in a well, which in a way Leo guessed they were. There was a deep noise as two figures pulled their bodies from the water and stumbled onto the ledge, which ran along the dry riverbed, and stood a few feet from Leo. He could not see any details on there bodies but could tell by their silhouettes that they were huge. For a brief second Leo considered fighting them but then gave up and just sunk into hopelessness, whatever the creatures did to him or wherever they took him he would not fight them unless no other possible coarse of action remained.

"Activating the lights" one of the voices said.

The room lit up with dim torches. The area was huge, Leo could see that the walls were brick, slimy and dripping wet. In front of him stood two golems, both a deep cosmic purple. Their black eyes gleamed like bright malachite from deep within a purple rock, which looked like marble. They stood relaxed but still threatening, their fists clenched and their backs straight.

"Creature the Cliffling wishes to speak to you. You may come through choice or we can force you to come with us. Which will it be?" growled one of the golems. Leo ignored the question.

"What is the Cliffling?"

The Golems looked at each other with faces that seemed a little angry but more confused or wary. It seemed as if they thought the question had an obvious answer or that Leo had not made sence.

"The Cliffling is our…I think you would use the word King. He is our ruler. Now come, follow me." The same golem spoke as before. His colossal knees bent and he jumped to the riverbed with a crash. Tiny rocks and pebbles fell from the roof of the cavern and settled on the ground and a fine dust showered Leo's antlers. Leo followed.

Leo was taken along a huge maze of tunnels and riverbeds. There were hundreds of t-junctions as well as forks in the road and Leo could not possibly keep track of the way even though he tried to. Before long they came across a deep whole in the ground. It fell into darkness but Leo could hear water flowing down below. The Golems stopped and one jumped into the gap without a word.

"Wait until you the lights are turned on, then follow him. I will jump in after you. There is water down there so be prepared, when you come to the surface swim to the river side and wait for me."

A light sprung up in the darkness but Leo could still not see the ground down below. He looked to the golem who nodded, then jumped into the mysterious hole.

Five minutes later he was standing in a well-lit room. The golems stood either side of him and appeared to be waiting for something, Leo presumed it was the Cliffling, but could not be sure. None of them spoke. There was a dragging sound and the Cliffling entered. He too was a marble golem but his rocks were engraved with intricate gold design that reminded Leo of tattoos. There was a picture of a phoenix on one shoulder, a planet on one chest plate and his feet were both licked by golden flames. He marched to the centre of the room surrounded by three bodyguards. The Cliffling placed his fist onto the ground and fissures appeared all over the cave. Deep cracks bore into the rock before sealing themselves with dust. Slowly a mound was arising from the floor and it majestically moulded intot he shape of a giant thrown. The fist was removed from the ground and the golem sat upon his throne. The bodyguards disappeared.

"May I ask why you have come here creature?" The Clifflings voice was totally different from the hollow voices of his followers, his was smooth and beautiful, elegant and dignified.

"Me and a few others seeked safety here during a fight upon the surface world." Leo somehow managed to blurt out despite his deep fear. The Golem looked non plussed and placed his hands together so that his fingers formed a pyramid.

"I see…Why do you seek refuge here creature?"

Leo was puzzled by the question. "Well there was a sewer entrance and we had to run away from these monsters." At this the golem appeared surprised. Leo looked to the two golems beside him but neither was reacting in any way.

"Hmm…I do not suppose that these monsters were being controlled by a single human were they?"

Leo nodded. The golem seemed happy that he had guessed what had happened, but yet seemed angry and fearful of the consequences of being right. "Then it seems we have a great problem on our hands. You two!" He pointed to the guards. "Allow me to speak to this creature in private."

The conversation that followed was long and confusing for Leo. The Golem seemed to know everything that had happened, he knew of Namis's death, Leo's friends and the battle in the town square. He only spoke of things, which Leo already knew and had been witness to already, yet somehow he seemed to give Leo a lot of subconscious information. Halfway through a sentence he looked up in alarm.

"Leo" he said, for he knew the creatures name by now. "Wolfgang's forces have penetrated out holy land. Though us golems may appear violent and strong we are in fact creatures of the spirit over the body. These lands may seem like simple sewers to you but to us they are our holy lands. We are born of the earth and must live by, and die of it to. That way our powers are absorbed by it and balance is returned. That’s what life is all about Leo, balance. Now Wolfgangs forces are here and I think we are to die. All of use maybe, although you do not know it there are more than a hundred of our tribe here and Wolfgang will not rest until he finds you. He will slaughter the entire tribe, even I may die though it is not certain yet. You on the other hand are very important. If I were to kill you, or hand you over to Wolfgang then not a single member of our tribe would be killed but I am going to let you go, in fact I am even going to help you escape in secret. This must show you how important you are."

Leo nodded in astonishment. If what he said was true then the whole tribe of marble golems were being sacrificed for his life. He felt both very important and guilty at the same time. The golem pointed to a circular rock in the ceiling above him. He raised a fist slowly and then just stared at the rock. The circle of granite slid sideways and revealed a heavy ladder. At the very top of the tunnel that the ladder led into, Leo could see a thin eclipse of light. He presumed this was a pothole to the surface. The golem smiled, rose from his throne and left the room shouting orders to the golems outside. Leo leapt up to the lowest rung on the ladder before pulling himself up and sliding the circle of rock back across the hole. From around him he could already hear the fire of hengar weapons.