Worlds Apart: Friend or Foe?

Lore returned to the Rogue Encampment, much to the delight of Akara and the other merchants. Lore was preparing to leave immediately when Deckard Cain found her, stocking up on some extra potions and other small items that may come in handy for a long journey.

"Leaving so soon? You only just got back." Deckard Cain sounded like a sweet old man, weather weary and tired, but grandfather material. Lore nodded, without looked up and continued to arrange and rearrange the items on her person. She completed the task and farewelled Deckard Cain. Lore walked over to AkaraÕs tent and stuck her head inside. Akara was mixing a thawing potion.

"Thought IÕd let you know, IÕm leaving now. I am going to rid this land of the demoness Andariel once and for all." Lore stated matter-of-factly. Akara stood and walked over to Lore.

"Phoenix, I believe you are ready for this. However, every little thing helps." Akara removed a ring from one of her fingers and handed it to Lore. "This ring is imbued. It adds to the wearerÕs elemental defences as well as energy and strength." Akara turned away and Lore walked out of the tent, her reason for remaining in the Rogue Encampment no longer.

Lore walked over to the campfire, which was still smoking from the night before and without so much as another look around she teleported to the Highlands which surrounds the Monastery.

Lore appeared a short walk from the Monastery Gates. She was surprised by the lack of defences as she stalked towards the Gates. The afternoon was cold and overcast and Lore hurried around a grouping of trees so she could walk along the path and hopefully beat the rain that was on its way. Lore rounded the trees and stopped dead in her tracks by what she saw. There were about 40 or so monsters huddled in a cluster, mostly Blood Clan and other strong demons. There were a few corpses littering the ground but compared to the standing monsters, not many. Lore looked at the monsters, each trying to get to the centre of the cluster and in the process pushing other monsters back a little. Lore caught a glimpse of metal flashing in the diminishing light, but she couldnÕt be sure what it was. After a few moments, the cluster of monsters moved back a little and Lore saw what was at the centre of the commotion.

A man, bruised and bleeding was sitting on the ground, trying vainly to fight back the monsters. He was near collapse and Lore could see he was going to perish without intervention. Lore, still unnoticed by the monsters stood straight and then did the unthinkable.

She teleported into the middle of the cluster of monsters, next the man on the ground. All of the monsters looked at Lore, temporarily stunned by the intrusion. Lore stood tall in front of the man, where she called over her shoulder

"You must stand and hurry. For this to work you must stand close or risk harm." Lore flourished her staff, causing the monsters to each take a small step back. The man behind her stood, leaning on his shield as he did to avoid falling. Lore waited for him to stand close and she got more than she bargained for. The man, now standing behind her wrapped his arms tightly around her waist. Lore was a little shocked however she got over it quickly when the monsters decided they had seen enough and they rushed forward slashing with their swords and claws.

Lore screamed a battle cry, loud enough to be heard over the yelling and the noise of the rushing demons and let loose a Frost Nova. The icy attack crashed into the monsters, slowing those who were not frozen instantly. Lore smiled cruelly and backed her Frost Nova up with a Nova. The expanding ring of pure electricity slammed into the frozen and immobilised enemies, smashing many of them to nothing more than a few ice splinters, the others to lifeless pieces of meat.

The man, who was still attached to LoreÕs waist seemed renewed, perhaps from LoreÕs vitality and energy.

"That was impressive. Unexpected, but impressive none-the-less." The strange man said. Lore began to laugh, which frustrated the stranger.

"What is so funny?" The man growled.

"Are you happy I showed up when I did, or is that a dagger tied to your belt?" Lore said between breaths. Lore could not see the manÕs face, however she could tell it went a very dark shade of crimson. He released Lore with one hand and withdrew a dagger from its scabbard. The blade was curved in several places and incredibly sharp. The stranger traced its tip up LoreÕs stomach, around the ring she had in her naval and over her breast to her neck, where he rested the edge of the blade against her neck, a small line of blood tracing its journey over her body. Lore, although death was millimetres away, began laughing for a second time. The stranger growled again, in his own way inviting Lore to let him in on the joke. She obliged.

"If your dagger is pressed against my throat, whatÕs digging into myÉ" Lore did not get to finish the sentence because the man squeezed her, encouraging the air from her lungs to vacate the area immediately.

"So, what's your name, Lancelot?" Lore giggled to herself as the man put his dagger back in its sheath.

"Pariah." The man grunted, angry at being made fun of. Lore nodded and Pariah loosened his grip on LoreÕs waist, only to encircle her arms in a bear hug, forcing her to drop her staff. The staff clattered to the ground and Lore sighed.

"You really think you can hold me?" She relaxed the muscles in her arms and in the split second it took for Pariah to register his grip was to loose, Lore spun around and was now standing face-to-face with him. Her arms were still trapped by her sides but that could easily be remedied by raising her knee with a little bit of force. Lore decided to wait and play his game for a little while longer.

Lore leaned her face in close to PariahÕs, so their lips were a fraction of a millimetre away from touching. Lore, at this proximity, had the opportunity to size up Pariah. Pariah was approximately 6 feet tall, the same height as Lore, with black eyes and long black hair that was tied back in a ponytail. He was young, around the mid 20s although the scars on his face, hands and arms told a different story. Other than the obvious physical features, Lore could not tell much else about him. His personality was easier to determine. Pariah was clearly not a people person.

"Nothing in this world can stop me. Nothing." Lore whispered. She was barely audible above the wind, which had picked up. Lore looked into PariahÕs black eyes, her eyes giving nothing away. Lore pulled back and Pariah released her. He picked up his shield that he dropped when he grabbed Lore and stared at her, not taking his eyes off the droplets of blood that trickled down LoreÕs stomach. Pariah removed a small amount of fabric from a pocket he had hidden in his armour somewhere and handed it to Lore.

"Wipe that away. You will attract more demons," Lore did not accept the offering and raised her left eyebrow and glared at Pariah from underneath it.

"What's this? No apology? How gentlemanly." Lore said sarcastically.

"I never said I was a gentleman." Pariah replied.

"Ok. Fair enough. Just one thing though, why didnÕt you try to kill me?" Lore did not put the emphasis on the ÔtryÕ, although she wanted to.

"If we are to beat the storm to the Monastery we must hurry. The Heavens will open up any moment," and with that Pariah took off at a steady jog towards the Monastery, avoiding LoreÕs question. The first drop of the storm smacked onto LoreÕs left shoulder, just above the star-shaped scar.

"FantasticÉ" Lore muttered to herself as she gathered her staff and took off after Pariah, the rain now hammering down onto the earth, Lore and Pariah.

"I did not kill you because you just may be my kind of person," Pariah breathed to himself as he reached the Monastery doors and kicked them open.

"Thanks for getting us here." Tye was trying to be polite to Meshif. Meshif nodded and smiled.

"Anytime you want to travel over the seas, you can travel with me without charge." Meshif winked at Tygra and smiled politely at Vixen and Mongrelle.

"Which way should we go from here?" Vixen looked at Meshif. Meshif pointed the Amazons in the direction of the Rogue Encampment. They each bade farewell to Meshif and set out in the direction of the Rogue Encampment.

"Tye. Did you sleep with him?" Vixen did not look at Tygra and she kept walking.

"No!" Tygra shook her head vigorously. "Of course not!" Mongrelle frowned. A look of horror crossed her features and punched TygraÕs arm.

"Hey! What was that for?" Tygra protested.

"You didnÕt." Mongrelle grabbed Tygra and turned her so she could look into TyeÕs eyes. MongrelleÕs eyes grew wide.

"You did, didnÕt you." It was not so much of a question so much as a statement. "ThatÕs gross dude." It was clear to Mongrelle that Tygra and Meshif had not slept, in fact they were up all night.

Vixen trudged through the woods, closely followed by Tygra and Mongrelle bringing up the rear.

"Hey guys, stop for a minute." Mongrelle called to Vixen and Tygra quietly.

"But we just had a break 15 minutes ago," Tygra complained.

"Yeah, but fifteen minutes ago I didnÕt think we were being followed." Tygra and Vixen immediately stopped walking. The rustling in the bushes behind them ceased. The three turned to where Mongrelle thought she heard the person behind them. They raised their weapons. Mongrelle nodded and Vixen loosed a bolt from her crossbow. Tygra threw her spear into the shrubs in the direction of the pursuer and Mongrelle shot an arrow into the trees, the arrow passing through several of them, leaving gaping holes in the trunks.

Talis looked around cautiously as a bolt thundered into his Alpha helm. The bolt hit just above his forehead and ricocheted off the top of the helm, causing the helm the tip backwards and fall to the ground, exposing his head. Talis had little time to consider this because directly after the bolt knocked his helm to the ground, an arrow pierced the tree in front of him. Talis fell to the ground and landed on his arse. Worried, Talis pushed himself backwards, trying to get further away from the onslaught. A spear thudded into the ground between his legs, resulting in Talis taking a very deep breath, his eyes as wide as the trees were tall. He did not take his eyes from the tip of the spear, which was imbedded in the ground barely millimetres from his groin.

"I didnÕt hear anyone scream," Tygra shrugged "there mustnÕt have been anyone there." Tygra looked at Mongrelle and Vixen. Mongrelle stood very still, listening.

"I canÕt hear anything, but that doesnÕt mean that there is no one there." Mongrelle was glaring in the direction of the pursuer. Vixen was not listening to Mongrelle, she just wanted to go get Lore so they could go home, she hadnÕt seen Matt in over a year.

"There cant be anyone there, they would have screamed if there was." Vixen agreed with Tygra. Tygra ducked into the shrubs to retrieve her weapon of choice. Vixen and Mongrelle decided not to follow Tygra, to wait where they were and then they heard Tygra squeal.

"SheÕs found a man." Vixen stated worriedly. She looked at Mongrelle and the two of them took off running in TygraÕs direction.

Talis hadnÕt taken his eyes from the spear as a tall, attractive woman thundered past the trees that blocked his view of pretty much everything. She squealed when she saw him and quickly removed the spear from the ground directly in front of him.

"IÕm so sorry, I didnÕt hurt you did I?" Tygra asked with real concern in her voice. She extended her hand to the man on the ground, "IÕm Tygra." She said pleasantly as her companions crashed through the trees and skidded to a stop next to Tygra.

"STOP! DonÕt touch it!" Mongrelle yelled and smacked TygraÕs hand away from TalisÕ outstretched hand before he could accept it. Tygra turned to Mongrelle, her face turning red and her hands on her hips.

"What?! What's your problem!" Tygra demanded from her friend. Mongrelle looked at Tygra from underneath her eyebrows.

"You donÕt know where itÕs been." Mongrelle stated matter-of-factly. Tygra glared at Mongrelle, not impressed. She snorted and turned back to Talis, reofferring her hand. Talis grabbed her hand before Vixen could object or stop her and Tygra pulled him to his feet. Vixen noted with dissatisfaction that Talis was taller than she, he stood at about 6 feet 3 inches. Tygra ran appraising eyes over the tall blonde Druid, her jaw dropping. Mongrelle smacked her lightly across her shoulder,

"ItÕs rude to stare." Mongrelle whispered so only Tygra could hear. Tygra promptly closed her mouth and nodded.

"Mmhmm," Tygra shook her head and watched as Talis bent over and picked up his helm. Tygra reached out to pinch TalisÕ butt however Vixen grabbed her hand before she moved.

"No." Vixen stopped Tygra as Talis stood up from having retrieved his helm. He placed it on his head so his eyes were barely visible.

"Why are you following us?" Mongrelle demanded, her upper lip curling slightly to reveal her fangs. Talis looked down at Mongrelle.

"I donÕt believe weÕve met, IÕm Talis." Talis extended his hand towards Mongrelle and Vixen pushed in front before Mongrelle could do anything. She shook his hand and introduced herself and Mongrelle.

TalisÕ black eyes reflected an intelligent young man. He looked to be about 25, his blonde hair cropped short underneath his helm. His helm looked like a wolfÕs head that had tribal markings of some kind on it. Talis was tall and relatively thin from what Vixen could tell, he was wearing armour and many animal pelts, indicating he was able to fight hand-to-hand, summon and transform which was unusual. He carried a sword, short in length but very sturdy looking, very dependable.

"A Druid. How quaint." Mongrelle snorted beneath her breath, loud enough for Tygra to hear. Tygra turned to Mongrelle and gave her a death stare. Mongrelle looked at Tygra and raised her eyebrow. "What?" Tygra sighed exasperated and smiled sweetly at Talis.

"YouÕll have to excuse her, sheÕs rude." Tygra shrugged,

"Who's being rude now?" Mongrelle swung her fist and clobbered Tygra in the back of her head.

Tygra rubbed the bruise that was forming at the base of her skull.

"Still you!" Tygra smacked Mongrelle across her shoulder and ducked behind Vixen to reduce the chance of getting struck again. Talis stood his ground and watched the little disturbance between Tygra and Mongrelle. He did not know whether to laugh or frown disapprovingly. Instead he just stood there, staring at Tygra, captivated by her stare. Talis became a little uncomfortable under TygraÕs unrelenting stare and averted his gaze to Vixen, who laughed when Mongrelle took this chance to hit Tygra across the back of her head and then return to her original position and whistle, ensuring Tygra knew of her guilt. Tygra glared at Mongrelle again past Vixen. Vixen shook her head and put her hands on Tygra and MongrelleÕs shoulders and pushed, separating the two Amazons.

"DonÕt mind them, they act like this all the time," Vixen just shook her head. "Maybe you said this already, but where are you going?" Vixen enquired of Talis.

"No, I didnÕt say. IÕm headed to the Rogue Encampment." Vixen nodded and TygraÕs eyes lit up.

"Really? ThatÕs where weÕre going!" Tygra had quickly forgotten about the bruise and the welt she had so recently obtained due to MongrelleÕs kindness. Mongrelle, eager to leave Sanctuary, did an about-face and stalked off, leaving the two Amazons and Talis the Druid bewildered.

"WeÕd better get going, you know how fast she can walk when she wants to." Vixen said to Tygra. Tygra nodded and quickly grabbed TalisÕ hand and followed Vixen, dragging Talis after her.

"I donÕt know whether to be relieved to be out of the wind and rain or to be intimidated by the lovely surroundings," LoreÕs voice was dripping with sarcasm. Lore looked up, her eyes having adjusted to the gloominess of the inside of the Monastery. It was huge. The ceiling was not visible and even when the red stone in her staff ignited to illuminate the darkness, Lore and Pariah could just barely see the ceiling. Lore raised an eyebrow, not impressed. Pariah walked towards the back of the Monastery with Lore behind him. They passed many statues, mainly of Amazons, Amazons Lore assumed were either saints or the equivalent. There was the occasional shrine, Angles with their hands together in prayer glowed a neglected gold light in the darkness. The layers of dirt and dried blood covering the floor made it unpleasant to walk on because the blood cracked and flaked, getting caught on LoreÕs boots.

"Why does this stuff have to be dry? If we were walking through puddles of blood I could deal with it, but this stuff gets everywhere." Lore tapped the sole of her boot with the bottom of her staff, trying to get some of the dirty blood to fall away. Lore quickly gave up when she realised that it was not working. Lore followed Pariah behind the altar to an intricately carved doorway. A set of stairs led down to the catacombs and an eerie red light filtered up through the darkness of the threshold. Pariah glared at Lore in his anti-social way.

"Ladies first." Pariah tilted his head to the side ever so slightly and motioned for Lore to go first. Lore walked past him.

"Chicken." Lore walked down the steps, careful not to touch the rails that were covered in blood that still dripped, noting that walking down this flight of stairs was like walking into the pits of Hell itself.

Lore reached the bottom of the stairs and stepped into an inch-deep pool of fresh blood.

"Now this is what IÕm talking about," Lore looked at the ripples that began at her feet and spread out into the darkness. Lore smiled to herself, thinking it was just like work when one of the guys got "busted wide open", when Pariah stopped next to her.

"You actually like this? I thought you were joking when you said you liked fresh blood," Pariah had disbelief in his voice. "You remind me of a vampire."

"Nah, thatÕs not me, thatÕs Elle. You should be careful when sheÕs around or you might find yourself feeling a little faint from lack of blood." Lore shrugged it off but Pariah was not finished with the topic.

"You're really serious about that aren't you?" Pariah raised his eyebrows.

"After you Oh fearless leader," It was LoreÕs turn to avoid the question and when Pariah hesitated, Lore shook her head and walked towards the source of the Hellish red light. Pariah hurried to catch up and together they stepped into an incredibly large room that was swarming with demons, spectres, undead and other monsters.

Together as one, all demons turned and saw the two intruders. Their base was breached! The monsters advanced towards the two who were standing in the doorway. Pariah snapped into action and pulled Lore backwards and slammed the door, slowing the demons down a little.

"What did you do that for!" Lore was angry. She stood up straight and gave Pariah a dirty look.

"We can not simply march into the middle of the assembly of demons! It would not be possible to beat them." LoreÕs eyes were burning with defiance.

"You will not tell me what I can and cannot do! I will defeat all of those monsters with or without your help!" Lore stepped around Pariah and kicked the door open. She stalked through the threshold and slammed the door behind her. Pariah was left standing in the middle of an empty corridor with a bewildered look on his face, wondering how long it was going to take Lore to get herself killed. He quickly decided it would be best to aid the sorceress so he opened the door and stepped through into an absolute massacre.

The monsters had seen the two adventurers turn tail and disappear back from where they came and had arranged themselves accordingly. The unique demons had taken to the rear of the room, with the weakest demons at the front and the stronger demons in the middle of the formation. They were, however completely unprepared for the female to burst through the door alone and slam it behind her.

"Right. You want me, come and get me." Lore smiled evilly and put the butt of her staff on the ground. It was quite obvious she had no intention of actually use the staff for melee combat. Lore raised her hand, palm up and smiled before inhaling. One of the uniques at the back of the formation yelled ÔattackÕ and the demons surged forward in waves, the smaller demons attacking first, closely followed by the medium then the larger demons. Lore did not flinch as she exhaled, the air passing over the palm of her hand and turning white, the magic swirling throughout the blizzard Lore had just created.

The demons in the first two waves were completely obliterated, shattering into over a million pieces of ice each. All demons in the third wave were totally frozen, so close together they were that a solid wall of ice separated Lore from the uniques.

"WhoaÉ" Pariah looked at the thick partition in the middle of the room. The ice was flawless with the exception of the demons standing frozen in position. Pariah could even see the uniques through the 4 feet of solid ice. Lore stomped her foot on the ground in frustration, crushing many pieces of demons and ice in the process.

"Damn it! That wasnÕt supposed to happen!" Lore paced in front of the icy division. She mumbled to herself and finally stood back.

"I recommend you stand back or you could get a little uncomfortable." Lore pointed her staff at the middle of the wall of ice as Pariah hurried to stand behind her. She stared at the demons on the other side of the wall with hatred clear in her eyes and suddenly the stone in LoreÕs staff flashed a brilliant red, temporarily blinding Pariah. A tornado of flames ripped through the four feet of ice without even slowing down. What the flames did not immediately turn to white-hot ashes melted quickly, the demons that were trapped in the ice screeching and howling as they were cooked alive. The uniques were fortunate. They managed to get through the door on the other side of the room before the flames smashed into the wall around the it and rebounded halfway back through the room. PariahÕs eyes went wide as the fire dissipated just in front of Lore.

Lore cursed beneath her breath at having missed the demons and she stalked forward. She did not even bother reaching for the door handle because as she neared the door it just disintegrated, the ashes floating through the room. Pariah quickly caught up to Lore as she stood before the doorway, revelling in the ashes that swirled around her. Pariah mused, ÔAn angel in a fog perhaps, or a beacon in a blizzardÕ. Lore sneezed, completely destroying any divine images in PariahÕs head.

Pariah shook his head, walked past Lore and stood in the doorway, blocking Lore from throwing a few fire bolts at the demons trapped inside the small room. There was nowhere for the demons to go, no doors leading out of the room with the exception of the doorway Pariah was standing in. Pariah looked at the cowering uniques and feeling no pity launched a bone spear at each of them. The demons screamed in agony as the magical spears pierced their flesh, sending them back to the netherworld. Pariah stepped into the room and picked up the items the uniques dropped. An amulet, gold and a Phased Dimensional Blade. The skull on PariahÕs wand objected loudly when he reached for the Blade, the skull screeched and tried to bite the sword and remove the magic to make the weapon useless.

Pariah tossed the amulet to Lore, who held it in her hand and closed her eyes in concentration. She moved her right hand slowly over the amulet that sat on her left palm and it glowed a slightly blue colour for a moment before returning to its original hue.

"Not badÉ" Lore held the amulet out for Pariah, who ignored it.

"You use it. What would people say if a Necromancer wore an amulet made for a Sorceress?" Lore shrugged and put the amulet around her neck. The Egyptian styled amulet was designed as an eye and glared at everything indifferently. The moment Lore put the amulet on, a swirling blue shield of magic appeared around her. She felt altogether stronger and the magics residing in her body became more controlled, more focused. Pariah tied the sword to his belt as Lore did this and the little skull on the end of his wand calmed down and returned to its inanimate state. Lore stared at the skull. It was almost kind of cute. Almost. Lore moved closer so she could get a better look.

"Be careful, it does not like people, especially females." Lore reached out to touch the skull and it came back to life and studied LoreÕs fingers as they drew closer. The skull yawned, displaying two rows of razor sharp teeth. Lore held out her hand for Pariah to give the wand to her and he did, slowly and carefully. The skull sniffed at LoreÕs hand, as a dog sniffs something new, before it licked her palm. Lore smiled and handed the wand back to Pariah.

"Nice. I like that," Pariah looked at the wand and at Lore, still not believing what he had just seen.

"That was unusual. The wand normally bites anyone who gets too close. It must sense some Necromancer magic in you." Lore looked at Pariah and said nothing.

"Was your father a Necromancer?" Pariah asked Lore.

"My father? Well, my father is kind of different." Lore was not sure what to tell Pariah about her father. Kane was not exactly a Necromancer, but neither was he normal.

"You know how you raise the dead? Well, my father is usually the one making them dead." Lore dropped the subject. Pariah nodded and walked towards the trapdoor in the middle of the room they had just cleared of monsters. He kicked a body off the handle and lifted the door.

"Are you ready? Andariel will be waiting for us at the bottom of these stairs." Lore smiled.

"You had better believe it." With that, Lore followed Pariah down the stairs.

"SheÕs not here?" Vixen was talking to Akara while Mongrelle was trying to extract information from Gheed the old fashioned way-bribery (or blackmail, depending how you look at it).

"No, child. She departed two weeks ago." Akara shook her head.

"So, she was here, but she left, right?" Vixen was relieved. At least the Amazons that were sent to assassinate her had not killed Lore. Then again, she knew they had not killed her but what Vixen had not known was if Lore had survived the encounter. Now all Vixen had to worry about was finding Lore (alive), not getting herself and her friends killed, and then, after that, finding a way home.

"Do you know where she is?" Vixen looked at Akara, who shook her head.

"She followed the path to the Monastery where Andariel is conducting the demon invasion of this part of Sanctuary." Akara could tell Vixen little more, she had not heard from Lore since she left the encampment and because the demons continued to roam the surrounding area. Akara had concluded Lore had been unsuccessful as yet in the termination of the demon queen and she told Vixen so.

Vixen listened to all Akara had to say without interrupting. When Akara had finished, Vixen said farewell and moved to rejoin Mongrelle, Tygra and Talis. Talis had been talking to some of the town folk, trying to find Charsi so he could trade weapons. Vixen and Mongrelle found Tygra following Talis around the camp. She shook her head and stopped the two.

"Right. Lore left about two weeks ago, meaning she should one) still be alive and two) have a head start on us. So if you have finished your shopping spree, we will be leaving." She turned to Talis. "You will stay here." Talis shook his head.

"No, I think I should go with you." Tygra nodded,

"Yeah, Talis should come with us." Mongrelle threw Tygra a look that said no-way but she quickly changed her mind.

"Actually Vee, I think it would be a good idea to take him with us. He knows this place better than we do." Mongrelle stated. Talis looked pleased when Vixen gave in and nodded.

"Ok, you can come with us on the condition that you donÕt get in our way." Vixen said, turning to Talis.

"Look on the bright side, if he isnÕt all that useful, we can at least use him as a meat shield." Mongrelle shrugged in all seriousness. Talis looked at Mongrelle to see if she was joking. She was not. TalisÕ face went more white than usual and Tygra laughed.

"SheÕs only joking, donÕt worry about it." This did not help ease Talis. Vixen looked at the others.

"Ready?" They all nodded with the exception of Talis, whom Vixen ignored.

"Right. Lets go." Tygra grabbed TalisÕ hand and pulled him after herself and the other Amazons in the direction Akara had pointed out to Vixen.

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