A Princess' Guide to Saving the World by Terik

Caitlin eagerly inhaled the crisp, cool air and turned her face towards the midday sun. Closing her eyes, she revelled in the smells of autumn, her favourite season of the year. They had been travelling through densely wooded land all morning, but now the dark, damp firs and spruces had yielded to huge, gnarled walnut and chestnut trees which shone in variations of yellow and golden brown. Since Caitlin's childhood, the acrid smell of fallen walnut leaves had been engraved in her mind as a sure sign that winter was on its way.

She chuckled when she heard a corresponding snuffle beneath her as Inky mimicked her deliberate intake of breath. The big, black horse seemed to enjoy himself immensely too, shuffling through the thick layer of leaves and just as happy to escape the confines of the castle. Contently, Caitlin took another deep breath of clean air and marvelled at the foliage of a maple tree which added bright red splashes to the predominant yellow and gold. Autumn. You just had to love it.

"I hate this, you know," a petulant voice sounded to Caitlin's right.

She grinned and turned her head to look at its source. The princess Kiera sat miserably in her open carriage and looked longingly at the horses of her entourage. Caitlin knew the princess' disapproval was directed towards her means of travelling not the bright autumn day. She watched her pluck morosely at her dress. Well, and towards the clothes she was travelling in of course. Kiera loathed the pink, frilly and flimsy monstrosities usually associated with the wardrobe of a princess. Fortunately, the grim trench battle fought with the royal dressmaker, who thought that the term practical was really just a synonym for sloppy, had finally come to a tentative truce. The princess' new travelling dress was, like the name said, still a dress but mercifully frill-less and appropriate for the temperature. The colour was a deep, intensive blue which went well with Kiera's dark brown eyes. Actually Caitlin thought the princess looked really quite cute in it. Survival instinct told her this would not be an appropriate comment at the moment though.

So she leaned towards the carriage instead, speaking in a low voice so the surrounding knights and servants wouldn't hear. "I'm sorry, I know you'd rather be on a horse. But tomorrow we'll already be on our way back and maybe we can give them the slip when we're back at that inn." She winked at Kiera who started smiling.

"You already planned something, didn't you?"

"Could be," Caitlin answered airily. In fact she had already made sure a good horse and some provisions would be waiting for them. Kiera's smile grew bigger and Caitlin felt a warm glow well up inside her. Siegfried called that particular sensation "fire fairies in the stomach" and Caitlin thought this to be a most accurate description. She knew she would, and in fact had already done, anything to see that smile for the rest of her life.

"Well, I guess I can survive one day of travelling like this," Kiera said still smiling. "And that harvest-autumn-whatever festival today," she added sighing.

Caitlin nodded sympathetically. She knew the princess wasn't very fond of official functions and she really couldn't blame her. Usually those things made Caitlin want to run screaming in the other direction, and she wasn't even the one who had to wear the dress.

"You know, this is just wrong," Kiera said with feeling, but still in a low tone. "I'm the princess and I can do whatever I want! I could ride on a horse if I wanted to and I could order those people to just leave and and...just do whatever I want for the rest of the day!"

Caitlin waited silently. She had heard this before. Of course the princess could do all that. But she wouldn't.

"But I won't, damn it," Kiera ejected after a short pause.

Caitlin nodded again. She knew no matter how much the princess hated official business and royal etiquette, she still felt a deep obligation towards her people. Although they could be "stupid, ignorant peasants from time to time", she cared very much for them and she knew that now and then they needed a princess in a pompous carriage with a little army of servants and knights to cheer for. Or a princess which appeared at traditional festivals sometimes. It gave them the feeling that some things were right and constant and Kiera understood that you couldn't take that away from them.

Just like that tale which had been spun around their recent adventure. According to it, an evil, ancient dragon had, aided by an equally sinister black unicorn, kidnapped the princess who had been heroically rescued by a troupe of adventurers lead by a mysterious, dashing young...something. People were somewhat fuzzy on that detail. In the beginning it had been a valiant knight, but now it was whispered it might have actually been a valiant knight's sister or some exotic amazon queen from the other side of the world. Apparently folklore had its problems implementing a dashing, young hero"ine", who was of rather common origin, but Caitlin had to admit, it at least deserved some credit for trying. And for not mentioning the King, Kiera's useless brother in the various variations of the story.

What she couldn't forgive, was the thing about the evil dragon. Kiera had tried to set things right, but tales just had a life of their own. She had told Caitlin apologetically that people just needed stories where good won against evil and dragons usually fell inside the latter category in folklore. Caitlin understood this too but thought that this was one of the "stupid, ignorant peasants" cases. Siegfried however, had just laughed about the whole thing and declared that it would be devastating to his image anyway if word got around he was rescuing princesses.

"Well, like you said, it's just today. Tomorrow we'll get some time off," Caitlin said consolingly. "And after all, isn't it much more fun to sneak away than to just order your faithful troops to leave?" she added, smiling mischievously.

Kiera's eyes sparkled in response. "Yes, and much more romantic too."

Caitlin felt another hot surge of the fire fairies.

"And actually, Storrwell is a nice little village," Kiera added more seriously.

"You've been there only once, haven't you?"

Kiera nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, when I was 8. My father took me there. The King was travelling a lot in those days. Taking care of his people." Her face darkened while she was speaking and Caitlin knew she was thinking about her brother.

Well, that was another reason to be thankful for escaping the castle. Kiera and Actos hadn't been exactly on good terms before, but after they had gotten back from their big adventure, the castle had turned into a battlefield. The fiercest fighting had broken out over the new tax system Kiera had devised, but there were side skirmishes nearly every day and on some of these occasions, Caitlin feared the princess was very close to doing something drastic.

Like a few weeks ago, when the King had started waving a letter from the most famous and honourable university of Plim in front of Kiera's face. Caitlin had never heard of the place and, for the sake of its citizens, hoped the city was far, far away. Apparently the university had had the unfortunate idea of doing a study about the current population of princesses in all the civilized lands. Beneficiaries were - apart from science in general of course - princes, noble heroes and rich, nosy ladies sitting in coiffeur studios.

After Actos had sneakily appealed to Kiera's sense of duty about maintaining the honour of her father's house, she'd actually had some fun filling out the questionnaire, which included cooking skills (lethal), hobbies (horseback riding, reading, sword fighting) and who is your favourite storybook hero (Xena), until she came to the line named "status". There were three choices given: Married, virgin and a third category discretely designated as other.

At this point Kiera had turned to Caitlin, who had been looking over her shoulder the whole time, raising an eyebrow. Caitlin, who had felt a major blush coming on, had just given a kind of helpless shrug and had watched the giggling princess make a cross on other and give the document back to her brother with a smirk.

Actos had not been amused however, turning crimson-red with anger instead and stating she was sullying their father's name. At this point Kiera had politely asked Caitlin to leave her alone with her brother for a minute. With a worried look at the numerous sharp and heavy weapons in the hall, Caitlin had retreated hurriedly while Actos was throwing more oil onto the flame.

"You can't put something like that down! What will people think of me?"

She hadn't retreated further than outside the sturdy, oak doors of course where she had been joined by Phyr, returning from an excursion to the garden. Together they had listened to the subsequent row which had scored maximum points for volume and damage to the furniture.

"...DON'T GIVE A DAMN WHAT SOME PIMPLY SCHOLAR THINKS ABOUT ME!"

"...READ BY ALL THE ROYAL HOUSES AND POSSIBLE SUITORS...NOBLE HEROES..."

"I CARE EVEN LESS ABOUT THOSE NEEDY BASTARDS AND" twang "I" crash "DON'T" crash "NEED" crash "NO" crash "BLOODY" crash "SUITOR!"

Caitlin had raised an eyebrow, elevating her voice above the ongoing shouting. "What do you think? Spiked war hammer?"

"Hmm, heavy mace maybe," Phyr had ventured. "You think we can make it look like an accident? We could say the weapon just fell down while he was walking under it."

"...JUST A QUESTIONNAIRE. JUST PUT IN THE TRUTH!"

Suddenly the shouting had stopped and they'd pressed their heads harder against the door.

"...virgin, aren't you?" Actos suspicious voice. "Surely your little dalliance with that s...NOOO!"

CRASH. Then silence.

Caitlin and Phyr had looked at each other wide-eyed. "By the great feather, she did it, she killed him!"

A second later, they had heard hurried footsteps approaching the door, which had been blown open with such force that Caitlin had been thrown backwards.

"We're going out," Kiera had announced abruptly while standing in the doorway like an avenging angle, a giant battle axe still in her hand. They had peered past her, spotting the King hiding under the remains of a big oak table.

And this had been the last time the offending letter had been mentioned, although Caitlin and Phyr secretly suspected that Actos had probably ordered one of the royal scribes to make a copy of the questionnaire and filled it out himself. They wouldn't have put it past him to forge the princess' signature in order to save his precious reputation.

"Well, at least you are keeping up your father's traditions. In contrast to your dear brother." Caitlin's mind returned to the current conversation.

Kiera nodded thoughtfully, looking around. Then her face lit up.

"You know, if the royal guard loses us again tomorrow, Sir Bramblebury might actually have to perform ceremonial suicide," she whispered, grinning brightly.

They both looked at the stately Knight, whose wiry, enormous facial hair had earned him that nickname. His real and noble family name was Brambury. Caitlin suppressed a giggle.

"He could try to hang himself with that soup catcher," Kiera went on mercilessly and smirked when Caitlin burst out laughing which earned the young woman contemptuous looks from Knights around them. They had more important things to do. Like looking dutiful and watching for dragons hiding behind the walnut trees.

Caitlin rolled her eyes. She considered her own safety precautions as much more effective. For example, Siegfried had made a habit of pruning the bandit population, especially along the roads he knew the princess would be travelling on through the realm. He claimed it was strictly for exercise though. And of course they had an airborne sentry who would warn them of any trouble.

A moment later said lookout landed on Kiera's shoulder in a flurry of golden wings and high chirping.

"By the great feather! What a glorious day to be out and about!" Phyr exclaimed excitedly.

Kiera stopped smirking at once and glared at the little bird.

***

Later in the afternoon, when the autumn sun started its descent on the western sky, Sir Brambury slowed his horse until he was riding next to the carriage. Kiera, who had been daydreaming about their planned escape the following day, looked up at him.

"I assume we must be getting close to the village now," the princess said before he could speak. "The innkeeper thought it was about six to seven hours with the pace we're going."

Sir Brambury, who was as always taken aback that the princess busied herself with technical things like keeping track of time and pace, nodded and started to open his mouth.

"Very well, let's send out a few men to announce us," she interrupted him again.

"I sent Phyr off again to scout ahead, he should be back any minute," Caitlin joined the conversation.

Sir Brambury looked slightly irritated now. Kiera knew the young woman's constant presence had been and still was one of the hot topics in court. The fact that she had been the fabricator of the princess' rescue didn't seem to be of as much interest as questions concerning her ancestry and standing. While this was merely a thrilling new topic of conversation for the courtiers, the royal master of ceremonies had been thrown into a full blown crisis because nobody could tell him how to properly address the mysterious woman.

Finally, Kiera had taken pity on him and granted Caitlin the title of Keeper of the Princess' Affairs and Defender of the Realm which entitled her to be addressed as Lady Caitlin. Since nobody knew what exactly the princess' affairs were, speculations and rumours were buzzing louder than the royal beehives, but at least the master of ceremonies was appeased.

"Very foreseeing, mylady," the Knight admitted grudgingly.

"Just don't feel like taking any chances," Caitlin said with a sideways glance at the princess who answered with a quick affectionate smile. Kiera was not overly worried though. In contrast to their last big adventure, a harvest festival in a remote little village seemed perfectly harmless. Well, apart from the dress, she thought bitterly. But actually it would be interesting to see the place again. Like she had told Caitlin, Storrwell really was a nice spot of land, at the base of the Northern Mountains, situated at the edge of a large, scenic lake.

While they were waiting for Phyr to return from his scouting expedition to the village ahead, Kiera thought about her first visit. Most of her memories of that travel were rather vague - there had been so many more afterwards - but one thing the princess remembered with absolute clarity. Standing with her father, who was holding her hand, at the edge of the lake and watching the clear autumn night sky reflected in the black, smooth waters. It was one of the most vivid memories of her childhood, one which would stay with her for the rest of her life.

"Wow, it looks like all the stars have fallen into the water," she had blurted out and looked up at her father with excitement. He had laughed.

"Funny you should say that. You know what the elder of the village told me?" he had asked, lowering his voice mysteriously. Kiera had shook her head, open-mouthed, knowing that particular kind of voice to be reserved for the most amazing stories about ancient secrets, hideous monsters and brave heroes.

"Well, he told me, that a long, long time ago a gigantic, dark star fell from the heavens and crashed down onto the earth at this exact spot." Kiera's wide eyes had followed his hand pointing at the stars and then descend to the black surface of the lake.

"Wow, really? So it drowned in the lake?"

"It created the lake. The impact drove it deep down into the earth and its black blood flooded the crater."

"Brilliant! That must have been amazing to watch."

"And terrible I imagine."

"Yes, I suppose," Kiera had said thoughtfully. "Do you reckon things can be terrible and amazing at once?"

"Yes, I'm afraid they can," the King had answered gravely, but his eyes had been sparkling nevertheless.

What Kiera hadn't understood then, but did now, was that she and her father shared the same adventurous spirit. She had never found out though whether her father really had heard that story about the fallen star or whether he had just made that up on the spot. Maybe she could ask in the village, she thought smiling. But then maybe she didn't really want to know.

When the invitation had arrived two weeks ago, Kiera had consulted with the Master of Ceremonies whether there had been any more mentions of the remote village after that first visit, but his astonishing memory had come up blank.

The letter had stated that the people of Storrwell, represented by their mayor, treasured that visit 10 years ago as one of the greatest events in the little village's history - not surprising really, compared to fishing, farming and the occasional goblin raid, a visit by the royal family was bound to stand out a little bit - and that they fondly remembered the charming, young princess and would be happy beyond measure if she chose to honour them with her presence at their autumn celebrations again. Just great, Kiera had thought, just what I need, people who remember me as an 8-year old brat, eating honey cakes until bursting point. But she had been flattered nevertheless and as much as she disliked official functions, she knew she had an obligation to her people.

A high, swishing sound announced Phyr's return and brought her back to the present as the little bird landed on her shoulder.

"All safe and clear," he declared importantly. "The place is busy though, last minute preparations and mmmmmmmh the most delicious smells in the air, honey cakes and roasted chestnuts and..."

Kiera and Caitlin exchanged an amused glance while Phyr chattered on excitedly.

"Well, I guess we can send out the advance party then," Sir Bramlebury said, his voice full of disapproval for the little bird's undignified behaviour, but with a rather hopeful expression on his face. Kiera grinned inwardly and left it to him to give the corresponding orders while she was listening to Phyr's recital of all the different delicacies which were waiting for them.

***

When they made their grand entrance into the village a little bit later, the princess realized that Phyr's excited description had been in no way exaggerated. Even at the edge of the village, where a reception committee, consisting of the mayor and a group of notabilities, had been waiting for them, Kiera could smell the various delicious scents Phyr had described.

The mayor, a dignified, white haired man of advanced age, who looked more like a nobleman to Kiera's eyes, had welcomed her, declaring with almost religious fervour how happy and honoured they were to see her again. His name was Amos Whateley, as Kiera had already known from the letter, and she was sure he hadn't been mayor 10 years ago. She didn't remember much of the visit, but had a vague recollection of being greeted by a round, happy man with whom she got along extremely well because he shared her love for honey cakes. Fortunately, before Kiera could have embarrassed herself by admitting that she didn't exactly know whether she had met any of them before, Whateley had introduced the rest of the people, stating politely that they did not really expect her to remember simple and unimportant villagers such as them.

Kiera couldn't help but notice that although they were dressed like "simple" villagers, they just hadn't the look of someone who had to work hard for his living. Also, the whole lot, apart from Whateley, seemed to be extremely nervous and she suspected they were probably skiving taxes. Though why they had invited her if they had something to hide was beyond her.

Well, she thought, while the whole procession was moving towards the town square, lead by Mayor Whateley who seemed to enjoy the whole thing immensely, she would keep her eyes open. And she was curious whether Caitlin had noticed anything. But that would have to wait until later. While they were moving through a throng of cheering villagers, there was really no opportunity to talk, especially since Caitlin was riding next to Sir Brambury, right in front of the carriage. So she took in her surroundings instead, smiling and waving like a good princess. Phyr was sitting in his cage gloomily. Most people weren't used to little, talking golden birds, so at official functions as this he usually camouflaged as a canary.

The villagers sure had made a great effort for their event, the whole place looked tidy and neat. No garbage on the street and every house and shop was decorated with evergreen vines and colourful ribbons. The centre of the village was not far away. It had been decorated with the same care and more people were waiting there. Something about the crowd was nagging at her, though she couldn't put her finger on it. There was nothing out of the ordinary about the villagers, as far as she could tell, and she dismissed the feeling.

Whateley had informed her that she and her closest retinue could reside in his home of course, the biggest house in the village which was located at the town square, while the rest of her entourage would be lodged in the inn. The area for the festival itself was located near the edge of the lake and the celebrations weren't to start before sunset. Kiera would have rather gotten over with the whole thing at once, but on the other hand, it probably didn't hurt to have some rest.

They finally stopped in front of a nice half-timbered building, the mayor's residence no doubt, which looked indeed more spacious and comfortable than the rest of the simple wooden houses. The office of mayor had its advantages it seemed. The inn, which was called "The Happy Carp", was located on the opposite side of the square. Waiting for her knights to dismount so they could form the traditional honour-guard - a most useless, but to the uninitiated eye rather impressive performance - Kiera finally realized what had been bothering her about the crowd. Kids. They usually loved the spectacle, but there were none in sight. In fact, Kiera couldn't remember seeing a single child since they had entered the village.

***

Standing next to Inky, Caitlin watched the princess and her retinue of servants enter the large house, accompanied by the beaming mayor and Sir Brambury. The rest of the entourage dissolved into a buzz of activity. Horses were being led away, chests unloaded and people shown to their quarters. Looking like utter chaos, this was actually a well-planned and routinely performed manoeuvre.

It was a complete mystery to Caitlin why a visit like this required dozens of servants and an equal number of trunks filled with household effects. But apparently there were certain expectations to be met and standards to be upheld, otherwise the realm would certainly perish and drown in anarchy. Caitlin shook her head. She figured they could furnish a huge estate or even a small castle with all the stuff they were packing.

When a group of young squires started to lead away the horses towards the inn's stables, Caitlin followed with Inky. She had made a habit of checking whether Inky's accommodations were to her liking. Or, to be more precise, to Inky's liking. Because if they weren't, unfortunate things tended to happen; like smashed stable doors or people getting shoved into the next dungheap. The huge black stallion was a fully-trained hero's horse with an attitude. This time however, neither Inky nor his owner could find any fault with the clean, spacious sheds and Caitlin left him in the care of one of the squires who seemed to have a knack for dealing with the difficult horse. Mainly this meant he knew when to duck and when to move his feet away.

Walking back to the mayor's house, Caitlin took in the scenery of the surrounding forested, foothills again. Kiera hadn't exaggerated, this really was a beautiful spot, and she hadn't even seen the lake. The smells in the air made her stomach growl and Caitlin realized that some of them were originating from the tavern's kitchens. She withstood the urge to investigate though, she really didn't like to leave the princess on her own for too long these days. Turning her back on the inn, she missed the shape of someone waving frantically at her through a window.

***

Inside the mayor's house, Kiera watched her two chambermaids buzz around the large, ornate room, stowing things away which needed to be taken out again tomorrow and decorating every tiny bit of space with garish things which were absolutely indispensable for living quarters which were fit for a princess.

The princess in question would have been content with a regular room, as long as it contained a comfy bed, and would have happily forgone her right to travel with an army of maids for every occasion. But sometimes fighting with the Master of Ceremonies over this took too much strength and in these cases, Kiera just resigned and accepted her fate.

She rarely got to know any of them, apart from their names, because there usually was a very high turnover. It was a tradition for lesser noble families to send their daughters to serve the queen or princess so they would learn proper ladylike behaviour and have a suitable role model. Unfortunately, in Kiera's case they got neither and as soon as this dawned on them, their families usually called them back. Apart from this, their minds seemed to inhabit a different plane of existence, one which, in Kiera's opinion, had only fragile ties to reality.

Sighing, Kiera wished they were done already, she really could have done with a little bit of piece and quiet. And the mayor would be back in an hour or so in time for the festival.

Thankfully, at this moment, there was a knock on the door. Kiera smiled. Oh thank the gods, she thought. The door was already opening before she'd finished her "Come in!" and she grinned inwardly at the scandalized looks on her maids' faces. When they saw who it was, they looked at each other sideways, then one of them said hastily, "I think we are done, your highness. Is the room to your liking?"

"Oh yes, just lovely," Kiera said without hesitation. "Thank you. You may leave now."

They both curtsied. "We will be back in time to assist you with your dress."

"And your hair."

Then they retreated, with a last confused look at Caitlin who was shutting the door behind them, smiling benignly.

"They still don't know what to make of me," she said grinning.

"Well, I do." Kiera quickly crossed the distance between them and pulled her in for a passionate kiss.

"Mmm, I like that greeting. Guess you're pleased with your Keeper of Affairs then?"

"Oh yes, my affairs feel very well kept," the princess answered honestly, before leaning forward for another kiss. "Gods, I've been waiting for this the whole day," she said as they held each other in a comfortable embrace.

"I know."

"And those two are the worst ever! I swear, if they try to put pink ribbons in my hair again, I'll feed them to Siegfried."

"Oh, that's cruel!"

"I know, only joking," Kiera said. "I wouldn't do that to Siegfried."

Caitlin snickered. "They flee the very sight of me. I guess they fear my crude and coarse ways could be contagious."

"Oh, I hope so. Seems to be a good way to get rid of them." Kiera sat down on a sofa and pulled Caitlin with her. "Gods, I'm tired and all I've been doing is sit around all day. Pathetic!" Caitlin rubbed her back.

"So, how much do you remember from your last visit? Any of the people?"

Kiera shook her head no. "Too long ago. I think I remember the market place, but everything looks smaller of course. Did you notice anything unusual?"

"Hmm, those other people next to the mayor seemed a little bit odd to me."

"So you noticed it too," Kiera leaned forward eagerly. "Didn't they look more like merchants or something? And they were rather nervous. And you know what?" Caitlin shook her head. "I haven't seen a single child since we came here. Don't you think that's odd too?"

"Damn!" Caitlin sat up straighter. "I hadn't noticed. Did you ask Whateley about it?"

"Mmhmm, I did. In a clever, off-hand kind of way of course. I think he wasn't happy I noticed, but he came up with an explanation pretty quickly. He said they were all busy with practicing for some sort of special performance during the celebration. Just for me of course."

"Sounds rather dodgy to me," Caitlin frowned. "Do you think we should..."

Kiera knew where this was going. "No," she interrupted hastily. "I don't think we need the heavy cavalry for this." Caitlin looked doubtful. Ever since they'd gotten back, she was extremely concerned about Kiera's safety.

"Don't worry," Kiera said soothingly, taking her hand. "Not everything dodgy going on this realm has something to do with black magic or ancient monsters."

"Well, what then?"

"Something more sinister actually," Kiera answered drily. "Money." Caitlin looked blank and Kiera went on. "I don't know how or what exactly, but I suspect they found something valuable here. I think they've gotten rich but kept it quiet, because they probably feared they would have to pay tribute to the King. Now for some reason they can't keep it quiet anymore and want to make it official. Ask permission, make a claim to something they found, I don't know. And they invited me since they probably think I'm easier to snare than Actos." Kiera thought it was a good theory. The more she thought about it, the more she was convinced that she was right. And maybe that legend about the star contained a grain of truth. Legends often did.

Caitlin looked sceptical though. "Well, I suppose that makes sense. But what about the children?"

"Have you ever met a child who can keep a secret?"

"Fair point. So...they'll keep them out of our way until they've asked for whatever it is they need."

"Exactly," Kiera said smugly, planting a kiss on Caitlin's cheek, who looked slightly disappointed about the mundane explanation. "So, like I said, I doubt we need Siegfried for this. And apart from that, isn't he on this trip with Marla. Something about the moon?"

"Yes," Caitlin grinned broadly. "They're off finding the highest peak in the Scraggy Mountains to watch some sort of rare, temporal lunar eclipse. Marla explained it to me but I didn't really understand. Apparently that's what magical creatures consider a romantic date," she said with a chuckle.

At that moment, there was a soft tapping sound on the window, and Caitlin opened it for Phyr, who hopped eagerly inside.

"Wow! These people know how to throw a party! I was at the lake and there's a huge table and lots of smaller ones. And a wooden podium, probably for the music, weird shape though. And sooo many people and I gotta tell you, they seem really excited about all this. And tons of food! I'll have my way with those chestnuts, I can tell you and..."

"Phyr!" Kiera interrupted impatiently. "What about the children?"

"Ah don't worry, I'll leave some for them," he said airily. "And then there's this..."

"Phyr!" Kiera said warningly.

"Alright, alright. Don't twist your knickers. I didn't see any. They're probably all in the kitchens, nicking food," he said with conviction. "I would."

Kiera rolled her eyes in mock despair. Which turned into the real thing, when there was a tiny, polite knock on the door.

"Ribbon time!" Caitlin said brightly and dodged the frilly pillow Kiera was throwing at her.

***

Caitlin leaned back with a content sigh and admired the view over the lake in the light of the sinking sun. It really was a great spot for a celebration like this. And Phyr had been right again, the people of Storrwell really had gone to enormous lengths. A huge U-shaped table had been put up for the princess, her closest retinue, and Mayor Whateley of course. Next to that, the rest of the servants, soldiers and villagers were sitting along several smaller tables. The evening air was getting a little bit chilly, but a great number of semi-hollow, burning tree stumps provided warmth and light and a nice cosy atmosphere. Hot mead, heated in big metal cauldrons, helped a lot too. Caitlin loved the spicy honey wine, but had bravely declined whenever the servants made their rounds. She wanted a clear head this evening and had dug into the food instead, which was excellent indeed. After the feast, the special autumn ceremonies would follow, and Caitlin was grateful she would face the undoubtedly lengthy speeches and traditional dances performed by pimply teenagers with a full stomach at least.

She was sitting next to Sir Brambury, and since the princess was chatting with their host - undoubtedly trying to wheedling out of him what it was they wanted from her - the old Knight had seen it as his duty to make a stab at conversation. That had gone slow at best and Caitlin was glad when he succumbed to a short, subtle nap, undoubtedly brought on by the warm wine.

Phyr was sitting demurely in his cage, while Kiera absentmindedly fed him chestnuts and sugar-coated almonds. Whenever things were going too slow for him, he made sure nobody was looking and slipped out of his cage getting the treats himself.

After listening to Sir Brambury's low snoring for a while, Caitlin was getting sleepy herself. She looked around; the entertainment and speeches didn't seem to be imminent. Maybe she could take a short walk to shake the drowsiness off. Using a break in the conversation, Caitlin leaned towards Kiera.

"I'm off for a moment, checking on Inky. Found anything out yet?"

"No," the princess whispered back. "Be careful," she added with a little smile.

"Always," Caitlin said with a wink and got up, snatching a big, red apple from a bowl.

When she reached the first houses of the village, she felt something land on her shoulder. "What are you up to then?"

"Mmh, just visiting Inky. And maybe have a little look around," she winked at Phyr.

"Good, I was getting royally bored. That man really loves to hear himself talk," he said with disgust. "Seems to have the time of his life."

Caitlin nodded, taking in the surrounding houses and shops. The village seemed to be completely empty, maybe they could really do some snooping around. When they came across a little alley which branched from the main road, Caitlin suddenly saw movement out of the corner of her eye and jumped back hastily, peering into the semi-darkness. Damn, she should have brought a light.

Screwing up her eyes, she could make out two shadowy figures, making their way towards the forest which loomed at the border of the village.

"What do you think?"

"I think we should go and see whether those two need any help," Phyr answered brightly. She chuckled.

"Seriously, maybe this has something to do with Kiera's theory," he went on. "Aren't you curious?"

Caitlin knew she didn't have much time for her decision. Well, surely it couldn't hurt to have a look. If it took too long she could always go back. And if there was trouble, Phyr would be able to get help in time.

"Alright." Keeping to the shadows of the buildings, she took off to follow the two figures. Within two minutes, they had reached the forest and Caitlin could make out the two shadows further along the path. Crawling along slowly, she tried to keep them in sight, in case they went off the path. It was getting narrower now and went uphill. After only a few minutes, they had reached their goal. The path made a narrow bend and when Caitlin peeked around carefully, she saw it was ending at a wooden door which led inside the side of the hill. The door stood open and faint light spilled outside.

"What now?" she whispered. It was getting darker every minute.

"We'll check it out of course," Phyr whispered back indignantly.

Caitlin fought a short battle with her curiosity and suffered a crushing defeat.

"Alright, but you stay outside."

"Awww..."

"You have to. If I'm not out in 5 minutes, get help."

Phyr muttered his grudging consent and Caitlin crept off towards the cave entrance. When she reached the opening, she looked inside carefully. A corridor, dimly lit by a torch. Cursing silently, she carefully made her way to the next bend and peered around. The corridor led to a great chamber, lit by torches as well. Caitlin looked around open-mouthed, not really understanding what she was seeing, until something clicked in her head and all the events of the last few weeks fell into place. There was only one piece missing from the puzzle but whatever that turned out to be, Caitlin knew it must be bad.

Suddenly there was a scraping sound behind her. Oh no, not again. She threw herself to the side, but the expected attack didn't come. Scrambling to her feet, she raced back towards the door but it fell shut before she could reach it. Rattling the door handle, she already knew the outcome. She was locked in.

***

"Your Keeper of Affairs is quite remarkable." Whateley commented after Caitlin had left.

"Yes, I would certainly think so," Kiera said, smiling mysteriously. Especially in that nice ceremonial uniform. "So when is the entertainment going to start?" She tried to divert the mayor's attention and looked curiously towards the round, wooden podium again. A gigantic arrangement of dried flowers, fruits, and crops had been placed at its centre.

"Not much longer now, I promise," he answered with a rather cryptic smile.

She had to admit, the evening had actually been rather pleasant until now. The large body of water - which was, rather unimaginatively, called Lake Storrwell - offered a spectacular view during sunset, with its wide, calm surface drenched in vibrant red. The feast had been excellent and talking to Whateley rather interesting, although she still didn't have a clue what was going on. At least she could confirm her first impression; he was a nobleman indeed. But while he'd readily told her all about his ancestry, his reasons for moving from the family estate in the south to this godsforsaken place were kept rather vague.

"Potential," he'd just said with a wink.

She had the distinct impression Whateley knew about her suspicions and didn't seem to mind. Kiera had graciously left him to his little charade. The rich food had put her in a mellow mood - just as it had been intended no doubt - and she'd been willing to let him play his game a little bit longer.

Now however, her patience was slowly running out. And judging from the state of the crowd, if the mayor wanted an audience he'd better start soon. Kiera was glad she'd passed on the hot, spicy mead. It seemed to be quite lethal. A snoring Sir Brambury wasn't an unusual sight - he rarely lasted till the desert - but the rest of the senior knights were usually much too dignified to get drunk. She watched Sir Falkward's head slip off his hand and land in a fruit bowl. Well, that went a little bit too far, she'd have to have a word with him afterwards. The rest of them seemed to be in an equally sorry state. The servants and squires would have a field day with this...if they were actually watching, in fact...Kiera froze in shock. People all around were slumping over the tables, sliding from benches or just dropping to the ground where they stood. And all of them were wearing the royal colours. The villagers seemed to be miraculously immune to whatever was affecting her people.

The princess closed her eyes for a brief moment, as different emotions were vying for dominance. Unsurprisingly, anger clawed its way to the top.

"What have you done to my people?" she demanded to know coldly. "I hope for your sake they're only drugged. If you harmed them in any way, I swear..."

"Save your breath," he said calmly, dropping all pretence. "We didn't harm them, they're not important. It's you we're interested in. We brought you here so you'll help us achieve our boldest dreams and ambitions." His eyes were gleaming with mad fervour now. "Of course, once you've performed the task assigned to you, I'm afraid I won't be able to guarantee their safety anymore.

Kiera's mind refused to comprehend the words spoken by Whateley. This could not happen again. She could not be the centre of another mad, sinister scheme again. It wasn't right. It wasn't FAIR! What kind of sick joke were the gods playing on her? Wasn't it enough to be a princess, which meant that half her life didn't belong to her anyway? Did they have to send every lunatic would-be villain her way too? It was a testament to her unrelenting character and also the events of the last months - she'd had lots of practise - that while her mind was raving about the injustice of it all, a small part of it retreated to a far, quiet corner and started weighing her options and looking for escape routes.

Unfortunately, there weren't many. They were surrounded now by a crowd of villagers who had conjured up a large collection of weapons from somewhere and started stripping her soldiers and knights of theirs. Most of the rest started moving unconscious people out of the way. There was no way she would be able to escape them. It seemed it was stalling time once more, in the hope that Caitlin and Phyr would be able to mount a rescue. Again!

Well, that and maybe waiting for an opportunity to make use of the sharp dagger, hidden under her dress.

"Alright," she said sighing, trying not to look at Phyr's empty cage. "Let's have the worst. Who are you then? My long lost, evil uncle Bertram? Or maybe the leader of an ancient sect of black wizards? Or - what I would prefer actually - just a bunch of criminals looking for ransom money? Hmm?"

Whateley seemed more than taken aback about her making light of the situation, she could positively see the anger boiling up inside him.

"So, what is it then?" she asked, knowing full well it would enrage him even further.

"Well," he snarled. "How about the end of the world?"

***

Caitlin kept banging against the door even though she knew it was futile. But she needed to vent her anger and frustration somehow otherwise she'd burst. She had called for Phyr but had gotten no answer. He probably had flown off to warn Kiera, but Caitlin strongly suspected it might have been already too late for that. The door she was abusing was thick and solid. And pretty new from the looks of it. Together with what she'd seen inside, Caitlin was convinced that this had been planned for a long time.

She kicked the door in frustration again and cursed herself for being so stupid. She should have seen this coming. How could she have been so blind? And now it'd happened again; Kiera was in danger and she couldn't get to her.

But she wasn't alone in this, was she?

Caitlin hurried back through the tunnel towards the cavern and looked around again. There were people. Men and women. Old and young. At least a hundred of them, if not more, as far as she could tell in the dim torch light, all tied up and lying on the ground. At first, she'd thought they were dead, but some of them were stirring and moaning. It had taken her a moment to make sense of it all. There were enough people here to fill the whole village, and then it had dawned on her. These were the inhabitants of Storrwell. So who the hell were the people outside? She hadn't seen any children, but there were more side tunnels or caverns sealed off by solid wooden doors as well.

Well, she thought drawing her long hunting knife, time to get to work. She started with a close-by young man, who had been stirring and cut his bonds. Unfortunately, waking him up wasn't as easy. No matter how much she shook him and yelled at the top of her lungs, he stayed limp as a rag. It was no use, they were heavily drugged it seemed. Caitlin cursed in frustration and looked up for her next target. She realized then that above the occasional soft moaning, there was a more persistent, but sort of muffled sound.

Caitlin tore a torch from the wall and followed it towards the other side of the cavern until she found its source. It was a group of prisoners - girls or young women, judging from the clothing - who were tied up like the others but seemed to be awake. They had burlap sacks over their heads. Bloody bastards!

She immediately went on to free them, starting by pulling off bags. There were eight of them, all around 16 to 17 years old. The first girl had a nasty bruise on the side of her head but she seemed pretty lively otherwise.

"Here, you'll be free in a minute. Don't worry, I'm here to help you," Caitlin said, while continuing to pull off the burlap sacks.

"You...," the first girl said, between gulping in fresh air. "I saw you."

"What?"

"I saw you, from the inn. I waved at you from the window to warn you. That's why those bastards conked me."

"Damn, I'm sorry. Didn't see you." Caitlin turned back to her and cut the ropes binding her hands and feet.

"What's your name?"

"You're with the princess, aren't you?" Caitlin nodded. "We have to warn her, they're after her. I don't know what they want from her, but it'll be something terrible I can tell," the girl said desperately.

Oh great, just great! Of course, that was no surprise, but to hear it spelled out like that was like a kick in the stomach. Well, no use dwelling on it. Just keep talking.

"What's your name?" she asked while cutting the other girls free.

"Martha."

"Alright, Martha. I'm Caitlin, and I'll try to get you all out of here," she said with more conviction than she felt. "But I'll need the help of all of you."

They all nodded eagerly.

"Does anybody know whether there's another way out of here?"

"No, there isn't. The front door is the only way in and out," Martha answered. "We'll need to tear it down somehow."

"Damn! Alright, Martha you come with me. We'll check out the door again and you can tell me what the hell is going on in this place. And you, start freeing the rest of your people. Maybe you'll have more luck in waking them up." She handed her knife to the girls and they went to work immediately.

"So what happened here? Who are these people? And what exactly are they going to do?" Caitlin asked while they were making their way towards the door.

"I still can't believe it," Martha said dejectedly. "It still feels like a bad dream. Like one day life was normal, and the next...everything changed." Caitlin listened patiently. "I don't know who most of these people are. But their leader, that bastard Whateley, he's been our mayor for over 6 years. He must have been planning this ever since and he must have convinced a few others to join his mad, little sect. But most of us didn't have a clue what was going on."

"Sect?"

"Yes, like a cult or something like that. They're worshipping some sort of demon. And they reckon he'll come and make them all gods or something daft like that."

"A demon?" Caitlin felt like her stomach tied itself into a cold knot of fear. So this was the missing piece of the puzzle.

"Yes. And today is some sort of holy day for them. And I think they weren't supposed to tell us any of this stuff, but Bill Fenner told me. Needy bastard, he's been after me for ages and now he's one of them. And he told me to join them, because he'll be a god and he said he'd look after me," her voice was thick with disgust.

"I guess you weren't interested?"

"I told him I wouldn't touch him with a ten-foot pole, and he could stick his godhood where the sun don't shine," Martha answered with righteous fury.

"Good for you, girl," Caitlin had to smile despite the graveness of the situation and the defiance of the young woman gave her hope. They had reached the door, and she started to examine it once again.

"So when did this all start?"

"Two weeks ago. They came during the night, at least 100 of them. They were heavily armed and with the help of the mayor and the other traitors they had us rounded up in no time. People tried to escape of course, but they had lookouts everywhere and we know none of them got through. We...we saw the bodies." Her voice was nearly breaking, but she steeled herself.

"Then they locked us up in here, and we reckon they put some herbs or evil magics in the water because we were sleepy and feeling ill all the time. They kept the children separated, locked up behind those doors and threatened to kill them. That's how they forced us to work, doing all the usual preparations for our harvest festival."

"And you were at the inn when we arrived?" Caitlin couldn't believe it.

"Yes, they had us working in the kitchen, preparing food. And then they dragged us in here again and put those bags over our heads. They probably didn't have time to put us to sleep like the other ones."

Caitlin nodded and withstood the temptation to kick the door in frustration again. It was the perfect prison. She could neither access the angles nor the lock from this side. The only way would be to break it down. Maybe if they could find some large rock and...

Suddenly, they heard a muffled voice through the door.

"...here. Come on!...it down." A high-pitched voice.

Caitlin grinned at Martha, who looked at her questioningly. "That's Phyr. He went to get help." And from the sound he'd found it, although Caitlin couldn't make out any other voices. But he was talking to someone, wasn't he? Then she heard a low snorting sound. Inky! But nobody else it seemed. Her heart fell. That meant he'd probably been too late to warn Kiera. Damn!

"What are they doing?" Martha pressed her ear to the door again. And jumped back with a startled yelp when there was a sudden bang on the door. Then another one. Caitlin pulled her back further down into the corridor, shaking her head. There was just no way he could do that, the door was much too sturdy for that. Another bang. And there was a definite dent in the middle now, two of the wooden boards gaping slightly.

"Come on, just a few more! It's yielding!" Above Inky's strained whinnying and the sound of splintering wood, Caitlin and Martha could make out Phyr's excited voice more clearly now.

Open-mouthed they both watched as more dents, then cracks appeared.

"Come on, just one more!" With a tremendous crack, three of the door boards disintegrated, sending pieces and splinters flying everywhere.

Before the dust had settled, Caitlin was already squeezing through the gap and found herself immediately besieged by a tiny bird and a huge, black horse.

"Whoa, careful with the torch!"

"Holy chicken crap! Caitlin, the whole village has gone mad! When they locked you in I went immediately back to get Kiera. But they'd already taken her captive. And they did something to our people, poisoned them. They're all out cold. All of them! And the guards left at the inn and mayor's house are all gone. And everywhere there's people running around in these weird robes and...," Phyr gushed out while zooming around her head. Inky was putting his nose on her shoulder, clearly very pleased with himself.

"It's not the villagers," Caitlin interrupted him. "Now settle down for a moment," she added holding out her hand.

"What? But I saw them," he protested, while sitting down on her palm. "And who's your friend?" he added, looking at Martha who'd squeezed herself through the remains of the door as well and was watching them with big eyes.

"Phyr, this is Martha. No time to explain more. Where did they take Kiera?"

"They're still at the lake. It seems they're waiting for something. Something to do with the moon. I heard a group of them talking about it while I sneaked inside the stables."

Caitlin nodded grimly as her suspicions were confirmed. "That eclipse thing. This is not good." She looked up towards the dark sky, but the moon was hidden by the dense tree tops. "Alright, we're off. Now! Did you meet any people on your way here?" she asked while climbing onto Inky's back laboriously. A saddle and harness would have been too much to hope for.

Phyr nodded cheerfully. "Hah, yes! But thanks to Inky they won't go anywhere anytime soon. At least not on their own two legs. And he did some structural redecoration in the stables as well."

"Good boy," Caitlin praised the horse and patted him on the neck. He neighed proudly.

"What are you going to do?" Martha asked, stepping closer. Her face looked exhausted but also determined in the dim torchlight.

"I'll get the princess out of there somehow and I'll send word to the next garrison so they'll send some troops, but that could take a while. How far away is the next village?"

"About three hours through the woods," the young woman answered.

"Well, if your people are up to it, see that you get there. If you can't wake them up at once, your safest bet would be to barricade yourself inside the cave. I'll try to come back here if I can."

Martha looked like she wanted to say something, but then only nodded. "Thank you."

Caitlin only waved in return and rode off into the night.

***

The end of the world. Well, that was a first one, Kiera thought as she was sitting meekly in her chair, watching the goings-on around her. Her hands were tied right now. Literally by a length of sturdy rope and metaphorically by Whateley's threat to start executing her people.

Currently, he was giving instructions to his people. The area had been cleared of nearly all traces of the celebration earlier and the prisoners had been moved further up towards the village. Now the only remnants were the fire barrels and the wooden podium, which loomed ominously in front of the night sky. It was very dark, the moon and stars shrouded by a mass of black clouds and yet, Whateley kept looking up. And he wasn't the only one, Kiera realized. More and more people were watching the sky, almost as if they were waiting for something and some of them were wearing black rob...ah crap! Kiera would have slapped her forehead if her hands hadn't been tied. The end of the world, black robes, and a special alignment of celestial bodies. Even a troll could have figured this one out. And you didn't need a degree from the famous and honourable university of Plim either to realize what was in store for her. It was but a small consolation that she thought they had about the same chance of succeeding in their deluded little scheme as the troll to achieve said university degree. Unfortunately, if a nutter sticks a sacrificial dagger in you, nine times out of ten, you'll be just as dead.

***

Lying in the shadow of a rickety chimney, Caitlin watched the events unfolding at the edge of Lake Storrwell. When she'd spotted the lonely but seemingly unhurt figure of Kiera, she'd nearly lost her grip on the roof as the wave of dizzy relief rolled over her.

Finding her way back through the woods in the dim light of the torch had gone better than she'd anticipated. Phyr was keeping lookout and Inky, already knowing the track, had brought her to the edge of the village in no time. There, scattered around a blackthorn bush, she'd found the unfortunate idiots who had tried to block Inky's way. Caitlin was sure they wouldn't try that again in a hurry. Praising the black horse once more, she'd picked up a nice sword and dagger and made sure the owners wouldn't wake up from their enforced naps anytime soon.

With Phyr's help she'd reached this little house, which gave her a perfect view of the open area at the edge of the lake. Under the clouded sky the dark water looked like a solid, black mass. Caitlin had no idea when exactly the eclipse would start, but she had no intention of waiting that long anyway. She had already picked the route she would take, avoiding the direct path through the village and riding alongside the bank of the lake. Most of the cultists were assembled behind the podium, the area closest to the edge of the water was totally empty.

"So what's your plan?" Phyr whispered. He was perched on the roof's ridge.

"Ride in like the devil, grab Kiera and get the hell out again." Admittedly, it wasn't much of a plan, but it had worked in the past. And Caitlin was sure she didn't have much time. No time for sophisticated schemes or waiting for reinforcements. She was alone. Or would be in a minute.

"Great plan, let's go! Wait! What do I do?"

Caitlin just looked at him. This wouldn't be easy.

"Why are you...OH NO, NO WAY! I know, what you're going to say, and I won't do it!"

"Phyr, please..."

"NO!" His tiny voice was humming with anger.

"Please, people have to know what happened here. Fast. There are so many of them, getting Kiera out is the only thing I can do. But what about the villagers and our people?" she pleaded. "And if this goes all the way wrong, we'll need someone big enough to mop up the mess."

"It'll be ages until I can get to Siegfried, you know that," he said exasperatedly.

"I'm aware of that, that's why you'll have to fly to Fort Buckmouth first. We stopped there on the way here. And then straight on to the lair. I hope Siegfried will be back by tomorrow evening."

"Tomorrow evening?" he chittered incredulously. "Are you crazy? It's gonna be nearly two days until I know what happened to you and Kiera...and..." His voice chocked on a sob.

Caitlin felt like crying herself. It was a terrible thing to ask for, but she had to.

"I know how hard this is. I'm sorry, but please! You know I'm right, Phyr. We'll be alright, I'll promise." He just snorted contemptuously. "We've been through worse, don't you think?" Caitlin hoped to the gods this was true.

"Alright, I'll go. But I don't like it! And you better be alright when I come back or...or..."

"I know," she smiled, stroking his head. He pecked her finger as he always did and then flew off without looking back.

Caitlin sighed and took a last look at the lake. Suddenly, she felt a slight breeze in her face. It had been totally calm until now. The next moment, the wind picked up, gaining force and momentum with unnatural speed. She hastily scrambled to get off the roof, half climbing, half sliding down. She had run out of time. It was starting.

***

Down at the shore, the black-robed crowd, which had assembled in a half-circle around the podium, greeted the flare-up of the wind with excited shouts and cheering. The squalls tore the veil of clouds to wispy ribbons and scattered them into nothingness, revealing the pale disc of a nearly-full moon.

Kiera looked at it but couldn't spot any sign of a shadow yet. What was a temporal eclipse anyway? Until now she hadn't really thought about it. Something to do with time? But what did that mean? Well, she thought, noticing the tall figure of Amos Whateley approaching, I can always ask. He had exchanged his festive clothing for a black robe as well. Only his was decorated with symbols and markings in bright green.

"It has started," he declared solemnly.

"Really? Until now it looks rather normal to me," Kiera refused to be awed. "When will we be able to see the shadow? Or were you referring to something else?"

He looked at her, clearly startled. "You know about the eclipse?"

"Uhm,yes. But you know, I'm bit fuzzy about the uhm technical details, maybe you could enlighten me." Kiera was sure that playing dumb and stroking his ego would be the best course of action to gain information. She knew the type. He was a talker.

"Yes of course, you are the centrepiece of this evening, so you have a right know," he answered, smiling smugly and obviously relieved that the princess didn't have a clue after all.

She resisted the urge to kick him in the shins and opted for smiling politely instead.

"You see," Whateley started, assuming that haughty posture Kiera associated with the horrible old men she'd had to endure as her teachers when she was a child. "The shadow we will see is that of another moon and..."

"That's not possible," Kiera said without thinking.

He chose to ignore the rude interruption. "...and actually it is not one, but many shadows. The fabric of time and space is fragile tonight. Moments which have long passed, strange and ancient places, they all converge. Wondrous things can be done during such a night."

"Like?" Kiera didn't doubt the power of the eclipse. It seemed to be a big thing for Magical Creatures. She was pretty sure though that Marla hadn't said anything about the end of the world. Caitlin wouldn't have forgotten to mention a trivial thing like that, would she?

"Like awakening something which slumbers at the bottom of a very, very deep lake."

Oh gods! "There's something in the lake?"

"Well, not this lake, but one very similar far, far away. Like I said, convergence."

"So what is it then?"

"Not what? Who," he said dramatically. Kiera rolled her eyes and decided to remain silent this time. Slightly irked, he went on. "Well, it is Ngo-Thothos. A being far older and greater than your tiny mind could ever comprehend. He has seen the birth and death of countless worlds. He can look into the past and the future, he is the Eternal Walker On The Sands Of Time," Whateley declared. His voice had turned more ominous and melodramatic with every word.

"But right now he's more like the Eternal Sitter At The Bottom Of A Pond, right?" Kiera couldn't help it. The whole scenario was just so surreal. And the tiny mind comment had really annoyed her.

A tiny muscle was twitching in Whateley's face. "Well, we'll see how witty you feel later, when you gaze upon the form of one of the Old Ones," he said maliciously. "And I'm afraid our little chat is over. Time is running away and if we miss this opportunity, the next one will be in about 5000 years. So you don't mind if we hurry along." He nodded at two of his black-robed minions and they stepped closer, one of them gripping her arm. Kiera tried to pull away automatically but immediately stopped when Whateley glanced meaningfully towards the cultists who were guarding the prisoners.

They led her through the crowd which was parting in front of them towards the podium. Kiera barely registered the pale, hooded faces, watching her with eager anticipation. One of the Old Ones, Whateley had said. That had jogged something in her memory. She had read that name. In an old, dusty tome about obscure myths and legends she had found in her father's library. She remembered it well because it been so different from the other stories about heroes and dragons she had read until that point. It spoke of an ancient race of beings, some older than time itself who had walked the lands before even the gods were created. Their minds were so alien and so different from all other living beings than noone would be able to comprehend their purposes. They were said to be hidden away in some sort of other dimension and should they be allowed entry to this world again, it would be the end of all.

The memory sent a cold chill down her spine. The end of the world. But surely, this was just a myth. Beings older than the gods, how could that be? And the thought that this lot would be able to summon one of these creatures seemed rather ridiculous. But still...

Before Kiera knew it, they had reached the wooden platform and she could see now that the lakeward half was significantly lower than the other one. The guards moved towards its middle and fastened the end of the rope which bound her hands on a metal ring set into the wooden boards.

"Hold her!" Before Kiera could even blink, the two men had taken hold of her arms, catching her completely off-guard. What? she thought panicking, as Whateley approached her menacingly. The eclipse hadn't even started and...

"Don't worry, WE will not harm you." Kiera suddenly realized he was holding a small wooden bowl in his hands, filled with a green substance. After dipping a finger in it, he raised it towards her brow. "Don't struggle now. You know what'll happen if you do."

Yes, she knew. As long as the guards were alert, there was nothing she could do. She gritted her teeth and allowed him to paint something on her forehead. The shape seemed to be irregular and nothing she could identify, like the weird symbols on his robe. WE will not harm you, he'd said. It was probably something like "Get your dinner here".

Suddenly, shouts and excited gesturing among the crowd directed her attention to the sky. A thin, red crescent had appeared on one side of the moon. So this was it. She swallowed and a lump of ice cold fear appeared in her stomach, freezing her in place for a moment.

"By the way, should you still be hoping for a timely, heroic rescue by that interesting young woman, I have to disappoint you." Whateley's voice was cold with malice. "She was locked in a cave with the other villagers, so I'm afraid she won't make it here in time."

Kiera bit her lip and turned away quickly. She couldn't let him see her reaction. It was a grim smile. Locked in a cave. Hah! If they thought that would stop her, they were in for a big surprise.

She heard him chuckle, apparently content with the effect of his words, and ascend the steps to the raised part of the podium where the arrangement of fruits and other harvest offerings stood.

Kiera marshalled her expression and turned around just in time to see him rip off the decorations and throw it carelessly to the side. Hidden beneath had been a wooden stand with a huge tablet hewn out of grey, rough stone.

"So what is this then?"

"The tablet of N'kron. It contains the summoning ritual for Ngo-Thothos. Written in the ancient language of Iggoth, which has not been spoken in this world for at least 10,000 years. I have studied 40 years of my life to be able to read it."

"Let's hope you don't make any mistakes then. That would be a shame, wouldn't it?"

"And wouldn't it be a shame if I'd have to gag your cheeky little mouth. I'm so looking forward to hear you scream." They stared daggers at each other for a moment, then Whateley turned his attention towards the tablet. He murmured a few words, Kiera couldn't understand and suddenly the grey rock emitted an eerie, white light, which was received with Oohs and Aahs by his followers.

"Brothers and Sister! It is time!" he addressed them. "The red moon is rising and soon all our ambitions will come to fruit. Ngo-Thothos will rise and he will open the gate for the Old Ones. They will take possession of this world once more and we, who facilitated their return, will be like gods!" A deafening, triumphant cheer rose from the crowd, but Kiera couldn't help but wonder whether Whateley would be really willing to share his glory. He was the one who performed the ritual after all. She glanced at the red shadow creeping over the pale moon's face. Not much longer and it would have swallowed all of it. And what then? It wouldn't work, would it? It couldn't!

Suddenly the wind picked up again, this time even fiercer than before. Kiera had to shield her face with her bound hands against the clouds of dirt stirred up by the angry gusts. Peering through her fingers, she saw the now full eclipse reflected on smooth, black surface of the lake. Smooth? The wind had risen in strength even more, and yet the waters were calm, the red moon as clear and sharp as in a polished mirror. But something was missing, Kiera realized, glancing towards the sky again. Up there the stars were bright dots, piercing the black of the night, but she couldn't see their counterpart in the water. Whatever sky was reflected on the surface of Lake Storrwell this night, it wasn't this one, Kiera realized with a shiver.

Without warning, the cold voice of the man who strove to become a god this night rose above the wind, chanting words which sounded like no language Kiera had ever heard before. 10,000 years he had said and she could believe it, apparently vowels hadn't been invented yet. But still, although the words held no meaning for her, they struck a chord in Kiera's mind. A deep buried, ancient fear which made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and filled her with a primal impulse to just run and hide. Her conviction that this was all bollocks was crumbling fast and she sent out a silent prayer. Whatever it is you're doing...hurry, please!

As if in answer to her plead, a faint whinnying noise was carried on the wind. It sounded like it came from a great distance and was nearly completely drowned out by the rushing of the wind and Whateley's ringing voice which seemed to swell in volume even more now. But Kiera was sure she'd heard it. Yes, I knew it...

The next moment the stream of alien words ended in a last, mad syllable screamed into the raging wind which suddenly stopped. For a second, everything was calm. Then the wooden boards started vibrating under her feet and Kiera felt a sickening lurch, as if she was moving very fast and standing still at the same time. Losing her balance, she fell on her knees, using her bound hands to steady herself. Another wave of nausea rolled over her but she kept her eyes tightly shut and, after a few deep breaths, the terrible sick feeling subsided. Slowly the world shifted back into place but the ground was still shaking. She could hear frightened yells and surprised shouting from the assembled crowd; apparently they hadn't been aware what they had signed up for.

With some trepidation, Kiera opened her eyes again and gasped. Gods! The whole scenery was cast in an eerie, green light now. A bright beam was projected from the middle of the lake and while Kiera watched in terrified fascination, it spread outwards, until more and more of the surface was aglow. Gods, it looked like...a door opening in the depths.

Strangely, it was the sound of triumphant, near hysteric laughter which shook her out of her state of shock. Whateley.

"Yes! YES! I did it! I did what nobody else could do. They said I'm mad. MAD. I'll show them! What now, princess? Any witty comments? Or funny, little quips?" His voice oozed with spite.

You bastard, I hope you choke on it!

"No? Well, I hope you can finally appreciate your role in these historical events. In a few moments he will rise, to claim his prize and cross over completely into this world. And I, who awakened him and offer the sacrifice, will be rewarded beyond my wildest dreams."

Kiera, who was still kneeling on the wooden boards, didn't answer and ignored his gleeful laughter. Let him gloat. She'd realized that the guards weren't paying her any attention anymore. Well, she thought, fumbling covertly for the dagger hidden in her dress, when whatever thing rises from that lake, I won't be here and then who's going to be the sacrifice?

***

Caitlin held on for dear life as she was riding through a nightmare. She had made good progress, avoiding the direct route to the lake and making her way along the edge of the forest, then turning and heading towards the illuminated area with the podium. But when the ground had started shaking, a startled Inky had nearly bucked her off. Fighting the weird, nauseous feeling, she'd clawed her hands into the mane. Then that sickeningly green light had erupted from middle of the water, frightening him even more. Caitlin knew a lesser horse would have bolted at that moment. But Inky was trained to be a Hero's horse and it took more than a little bit of special effects to make him lose control totally. Although he was sweating and panting, Caitlin managed to steer him in the right direction once more, this time in full gallop.

Out of the corner of her vision, she saw the waters of the lake boiling, huge waves rolling outwards, but she kept her eyes firmly on her target further ahead. She had spotted Kiera a while ago on the wooden dais, after losing sight of her for a few but excruciating minutes. The path was clear. Nobody seemed to have spotted her yet and Caitlin doubted the cultists who milled about in confusion would offer any serious resistance to the huge horse, coming up at full speed. And if they did, Inky's hooves would make quick work of them.

She was nearly there now and suddenly she saw the princess get up and run like the devil towards the far edge of the forest. You go girl! Caitlin grinned wildly and flew past the podium, hearing Whateley's angry shouts. Then she had reached Kiera and leaned down, hanging precariously on Inky's mane with one hand.

At that moment, a gigantic wave rolled over them. Above the rushing in her ears, Caitlin heard Inky's terrified whinny, then the world dropped and she crashed onto the wet ground. Despite her spinning head and lack of air in her lungs, she immediately tried to get up again, ignoring the low rumbling noise behind her and looking around wildly for Kiera. She was kneeling just a few meters away, trying to pick herself up as well but staring wide-eyed at the lake and then at Caitlin.

"Run!" Without thinking she obeyed the frantic command, helped Kiera along who nearly lost her footing again, and then they were both sprinting away. The low rumbling turned into a roar and a second later, something hit Caitlin with the force of a battering ram and sent them both flying. They landed hard again, rolling a few meters but holding onto each other.

"Run, little princess, run! But you can't escape him! You bear the mark of the sacrifice, and Ngo-Thothos will have you!" Whateley's mad laughter barely registered in Caitlin's battered mind. She had closed her eyes and when she opened them again, she looked into the face of madness.

It was huge. Big as a mountain, blocking out the sky. It looked like nothing Caitlin had ever seen before. There was no recognizable shape to it, just a gigantic formless body with large, white bulbs scattered all over it. Tentacles were sprouting from its top, some of them waving aimlessly, some splashing in the water. She felt her mind revolting at the sheer monstrosity of it. This...thing shouldn't exist, it was wrong. Alien. There were ancient beings in this world, dragons and other magical creatures, some of them maybe even older than the gods. But they belonged to this world. This thing didn't belong and yet, here it was. Defying sense and logic. How many more were there, hidden under the mountains or at the bottom of the sea? And what hope of survival had a tiny human against these creatures. Better to just...

"Don't look at it," Kiera's trembling voice caught her at the brink of madness and Caitlin became aware of the warm body she was clinging to again. She willed her gaze away from the monstrous thing in the lake and looked into the eyes of her love. However hopeless the situation might be, however tiny the chance of survival, this was worth fighting for.

Then Kiera's eyes widened and before Caitlin had any chance of reacting, the princess was yanked away.

"YES! Ngo-Thothos, claim your sacrifice! And reward your humble servant!"

"NO!" Caitlin scrambled up, Kiera's frightened scream ringing in her ears. One of the huge tentacles had taken hold of her and was pulling her quickly towards the monstrous body. Caitlin lunged after the princess and managed to grab her hands and now they were both dragged over the increasingly wet ground. She held on for dear life, whatever horrible fate awaited at the end, it would happen to both of them and...

Suddenly there was an ear-splitting roar and their descent into hell stopped. Lying in a pool of shallow water, they looked at each other in bewilderment for a moment. Then the roar grew in volume even more and the ground seemed to vibrate in response. Pressing their hands over their ears, Kiera and Caitlin scrambled up and back, away from the edge of the lake. Tentacles were whipping around them, battering the ground without aim it seemed. One of them missed them only by inches.

Then the podium loomed before them, the lonely figure of Amos Whateley still standing there. He was screaming something they couldn't understand, pointing madly in their direction. Caitlin had no idea why the thing had suddenly let go, but she wasn't inclined to stay and find out. Just when they'd reached the platform, one of the larger tentacles smashed into the wooden planks, nearly tearing the podium in half. They dove to the side to escape the flying bits and pieces. Whateley hadn't even tried to move and was lucky he hadn't been crushed into the ground.

"What are you doing? There she is! Get her!" he was still screaming at the thing, but nobody would have been able to tell whether the creature was noticing him at all.

Then suddenly, with a final angry bellow, the roaring subsided to a low rumbling again. The waving appendices stopped and the monstrous creature started to sink back into the murky water.

"NOOOOOOOOOO! What are you doing? COME BACK! I SUMMONED YOU!"

With the speed of light, a tentacle shot out from the descending creature, wrapped itself around Whateley's body and tore him off his feet. He clawed his hands into the broken wooden boards but it was no use. While Caitlin and Kiera watched in involuntary fascination, he was drawn irresistibly towards the boiling water and then down into the depths.

For a moment, all they could do was sit there and stare at the turbulent waters of the lake and the strange, green light out of the deep which seemed to grow fainter.

"We're alive," Kiera stated in wonder. They looked at each other, then fell into each other's arms.

"Gods, I thought..." Caitlin started, but couldn't go on and embraced her more fiercely instead.

"I know," Kiera murmured, stroking her back.

"Kiera?"

"Hmm?"

"What the hell just happened?"

"I don't have a clue really. My best guess is that he made a mistake with the ritual. This mark thingie, maybe." Kiera lifted a strand of wet hair from her forehead and Caitlin looked at the green symbol.

"What is that green stuff?" she asked slowly.

"I don't really want to know. I tried to wipe it off earlier but I couldn't," Kiera said.

Caitlin touched the green marking. "Well, it seems to come off now," she said, looking at the green smear on her hand. "I don't know, I mean the thing already had you, and it totally ignored me."

Kiera just shrugged. "Well whatever happened, I'm sure glad it did."

"Me too," Caitlin smiled and leaned forward for a kiss.

Shouts and screams brought them back to reality. They looked towards the village. Many of the cultists had fled the sight of their god it seemed, but most of them were still there, wandering about in confusion, screaming or just sitting on the ground, staring into space. Some of them were fighting each other and they could see that a few houses in the village were burning.

"They've gone mad," Kiera said shivering.

Caitlin nodded, remembering how close to losing her mind she had come herself.

Suddenly the shouts grew louder and a large crowd of people appeared, marching towards the shore. They carried torches and makeshift-weapons and they looked very determined. The people of Storrwell had come to take back their village.

***

Later that night, Caitlin collapsed gratefully onto a soft bed. The really tedious thing about adventures was cleaning up the mess afterwards. Rounding up the cultists, sane or crazy, had taken a while although the villagers had shown considerable enthusiasm in that task. They had been lead by Martha, who'd grinned at Caitlin when they'd met on the shore.

"I thought I'd told you to barricade yourself in?"

"No, you just said it would be the safest bet." Martha had answered.

Then they had to transport Kiera's soldiers and servants to the inn where they could sleep of their drug stupor.

And of course explain what exactly had happened at the edge of the lake. Thankfully, the villagers had come too late to face Ngo-Thothos in all his glory but they still celebrated the princess and her Keeper of Affairs as heroes and defenders of Storrwell. Kiera had protested that they hadn't actually done anything, but the villagers had a different opinion. They had helped them escape from the cave and gotten rid of the monster and the evil mayor. That made them heroes in their books.

Not long after the beach had been cleared, Inky had appeared out of the forest, hanging his head and apparently very ashamed of himself for bolting. But Caitlin had been so glad to see him, she'd hugged him fiercely, praising him as the most courageous and valiant horse until he'd gotten back his usual swagger.

Now everything was finally sorted out and all she wanted to do was curl up in bed and die. The door to the room creaked and Caitlin smiled.

"Everything done?" she asked without opening her eyes.

"Yes, thank the gods!" Kiera said and flopped down on the bed as well. Caitlin immediately scooted closer and wrapped her arms around her.

"Mmmmm, this is nice," she murmured.

"It is," Kiera whispered back.

After a moment, Caitlin spoke again. "You know, I've been thinking about the whole thing again."

"And?" Kiera asked sleepily.

"Well, I know it's a long shot, but do you remember that stupid questionnaire?"

"Yes, of course," Kiera giggled.

"You know, I thought the whole thing was kinda odd from the beginning."

"So?"

"So, I thought, maybe, since they planned this whole thing here so carefully, maybe this was just a ruse to uhm find something out."

"Like what?"

"You know..." Caitlin started, blushing slightly.

"Oh that!" Kiera was suddenly wide awake. "But wait, I tore the stupid thing up."

"You did. But Phyr and I thought that maybe your brother..."

"Right, and he would of course made a cross at..."

"Exactly, to preserve the family honour or something."

"So they thought I still was a...and that's why they invited me?" Kiera couldn't believe it.

"Oh, it's just a wild guess, but you know how these stupid ritual sacrifice things go. Maybe being a princess wasn't enough, maybe there were other uhm prerequisites."

"Which I don't meet anymore? Damn, guess the Old Ones are really picky these days," Kiera giggled.

Caitlin just shrugged helplessly, blushing even more.

"I was always kinda wondering about that, you know," Kiera said thoughtfully, but her lips were twitching.

"Well," Caitlin grinned, "I guess we answered that question. And you know what?"

"Hmm?"

"This means you and me...we uhm sort of saved the world."

"Oooooh, you're right!" Kiera said gleefully. Then her face lit up even more. "Damn, I can't wait to to tell Actos!" They looked at each other for a moment, then broke down into a fit of hysteric laughter.

"So," Kiera recovered first and kissed Caitlin, who was still wiping tears off her face, lightly on the lips. "What would you think about saving the world some more?" she asked with a seductive smile.

"Oh definitely," Caitlin said with conviction, while she turned around to blow out the candle, "I'm sure this world needs lots of saving!"

The End

*The movie in question is called "Cast a Deadly Spell" and mostly, nobody's ever heard of it. It was on TV in 1991 (nope, no DVD version), but I saw it a few years later with some friends and we thought it was absolutely hilarious. So here I want to bow before the makers of this movie, for having the wonderful idea of mixing the Lovecraft universe with a private eye/film noir setting and putting in the funny twist in the end.