Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2000 14:36:15 GMT
From: Shade . <ensstyenlc@hotmail.com>
Subject: The Daemon Gate Chapter 5

Yes, it's been a long, long time...School is great but it takes up so much
time that I haven't had chance to even think about writing this. A lot of
things have changed but I'm happy, so I don't care. I'm not making any sense
either, I think...my mind stopped functioning half an hour ago...but it's
only temporary. Anyways, I'm supposed to be going to the thanks section now,
aren't I? Okay, here goes!
Many thanks to Susan, Mags and Jason for the friendship and emails and
whatnot. Also to Marcus and Kenny, you two are the weirdest! And that's a
compliment! To my best friend David L.Z, I wouldn't be who I am if it
weren't for you...are ya feelin' bad yet? ;) To David C., thanks for the
support when I really needed it (though the other David was there more
often, but I don't hold that against you). To the love of my life, David
L.Z. again...can't stop thinking of you, thinking about you, thinking for
you...heh ;)
And of course thanks(?) to Neto for pestering, nagging, badgering, harrying,
yelling, complaining and basically begging for this next chapter to be out.
Now please stop! It's out already!
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This story contains homosexual content and should not be read by anyone
under the age of 18. Also, this story does not imply anything about the
sexualities of anyone from Nsync, Westlife, Backstreet Boys, a1 or any other
celebrity mentioned here. I do not know them and their characteristics. This
also does not imply anything about any other people mentioned in this story.
Their names and descriptions are there but that doesn't mean that their
characteristics are the same in real life. And none of them possess any
special powers of any sort and this is totally fiction! And now you may read
this next chapter! Happy reading!

For David L.Z. (Was there any doubt?)
______________________________________________________________________________
|The Daemon Gate - Chapter Five|

Leo felt another presence in the room and he looked up from his book. It
could not be Kenny, Marcus or David who were over at his house for a
sleepover that night as David was bathing and Marcus and Kenny were playing
around with his guitar and piano outside his bedroom.

<Who's there?> Leo asked telepathically.

<Tharsis,> came the reply from all around him. Leo nodded, knowing that she
could see him.

<Hey! So what's up?> Leo asked cheerfully, looking back at his book.

<In trouble, need help,> Tharsis replied. Leo took note of the page number
and closed his book.

<Dagda! Why didn't you just say so earlier?!> Leo jumped out of his bed. He
opened his room door and motioned to Kenny and Marcus to be quiet. They
stopped their music and walked towards him.

"What's wrong?" Kenny asked.

<In trouble,> Tharsis said. <I tried to talk to you but you were making too
much noise to hear me.>

<Oh, my bad,> Kenny said. <Some elder I am. Anyway, where are you?>

<I don't know, but we need help quickly,> Tharsis explained. <I don't have
much time, I can't stay out much longer.>

<Situation?> Kenny asked, suddenly serious.

<One sitha, four human males and four human females,> Tharsis replied. <Come
quic...>

Her voice faded, showing that her presence was no longer there.

"Damn!" Kenny said. "What do we do?"

"Contact the others," Marcus replied. "Each take care of his own section."

"Working on it," Leo replied. "How about David's section? He's still in the
bath."

"I'll tell him," Kenny said. "After all, I'm one short in my section now
that Tharsis is in trouble."

"Okay," Leo said. "What's the time now?"

"Ten thirty," Kenny replied checking his watch.

"Meet at the reservoir near school in twenty minutes. We don't have much
time."

"Your mother?" Marcus stopped Leo from disappearing.

"Oh yeah," Leo said. He walked to his mother's room and knocked on the door.
"Mom, we guys are going out to buy some food from Jalan Kayu. They're open
twenty-four hours so we should be able to get food at this time."

"How are you going to get there?" Leo's mom asked from inside the room. "You
want me to take you there?"

"No, it's okay," Leo said quickly. "We'll walk there, and probably be back
by about two or two thirty in the morning. We'll be fine, there's four of
us."

"Okay," Leo's mom replied. "Just be careful and don't get into trouble."

"Sure mom," Leo replied. He looked at Marcus and they both rolled their
eyes. "Come on, let's go."





"It's been too long," Britney paced around the room. "Something's happened."

"Should we go after them?" Lance asked. Lalaith shook her head.

"Not yet. Give them another thirty minutes," Lalaith said.

"Easy for you to say," Mark grumbled. "The love of your life isn't the one
that's disappeared over there."

"Hey, I've got a cousin-in-law and a brother over there," Lalaith countered.
"It's not the greatest feeling for me either."

"I think it's time we go after them," Peter replied. "They were supposed to
be back ten thirty and now it's almost midnight. We've waited long enough."

"I agree," Shadow said. Joey nodded as well. Lalaith sighed and nodded.

"Yes!" Steve cheered. "Action at last!"

"Does everyone have to go?" Justin grumbled. He gave Mark a discreet cold
stare.

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Lalaith said, misunderstanding
Justin's remark. Justin shrugged and said that he would go.

"So who's going?" Lalaith asked. "Show of hands. Okay, Mark, Britney,
Shadow, Peter, Paul, Brian, Joey, Lance, Justin and I. You staying behind,
Nick?"

"Yeah," Nick replied. "Denny and I will watch the place to make sure they
don't worry if they come back before you reach them."

"Okay," Lalaith said. She closed her eyes and the group faded into the air
and disappeared.





Charmaine opened her eyes. Expecting darkness, she was surprised to find
herself in a well-lit chamber. She looked around the room and saw her
companions in cages similar to the one she was in. All of them were still
knocked out. She glanced around the room and noticed a small table right in
the centre. On it was a very familiar looking stone. Two malenti mages were
sitting around it and a malenta warrior was patrolling the room.

"The fiery one is awake," the malenta warrior hissed. The two mages looked
up at her.

"So she awakes just in time to see her downfall," the male mage sneered. He
held up the stone. "Remember this, fire mage?"

Charmaine realised that the stone was the same one that had given her her
fiery powers. Seeing the recognition in her eyes, the female mage spoke this
time, "I see you recognise it. Have you ever wondered what happens when the
stone is destroyed?"

Charmaine just kept her face blank. The warrior smiled in amusement.

"She is strong, that one," the warrior said. "The daemons will love her as a
sacrifice."

The two mages nodded at each other. They held hands in a circle around the
stone and began to chant.

"Your downfall begins, fire mage," the warrior sneered. The malenti mages
chanted and Charmaine felt the power seeping throughout the entire room.
Suddenly, the energy rushed towards the stone with a strong force and the
stone exploded into dust. A red orb began to form outside her body and she
felt the fiery powers drain from her. The orb of light faded into nothing.
She looked and saw green, blue and yellow orbs appearing in front of Karene,
Vincent and Fariz, then they too dissolved.

"Your power is gone forever," the male mage hissed gleefully. Charmaine sat
down in her cage, as though in shock. She closed her eyes and began to
mumble something.

"That whimpering is pathetic," the warrior said, disgust in his eyes. "You
lose your power and you lose your courage at the same time. Pathetic!"

"Actually, I have to thank you for taking the power away," Charmaine said,
standing up suddenly. "I never needed it, it was more a curse than a
blessing."

"But now you have no defenses left to struggle when you're about to get
sacrificed," the female mage became suspicious.

"Wanna bet?" Charmaine said, pushing her cage open and stepping out.

"What? How..." the warrior exclaimed. "Never mind."

He drew his scimitar and rushed forward towards Charmaine. Charmaine smiled
at him and dodged out of the way. The mages began to chant a spell. Thinking
quickly, Charmaine pulled out her pager and mobile phone from her pocket.
She tossed the pager at one of the mages, knocking him out. She was about to
throw her handphone when she realised how precious it was to her. She
quickly moved to the ringtone section of the phone and put it to very loud,
then chose a very annoying loud ringtone and pressed preview. The blasting
noise disrupted the remaining mage's concentration, causing the spell to
dissolve.

"Damn your spunk, girl," the warrior said, charging towards Charmaine. She
caught movement behind him so she stayed her ground. The warrior collapsed
to the floor, a dagger sticking out his back.

"Nice shot, Veron," Charmaine called. Veron, a short, fair girl with dyed
blonde hair smiled sweetly. The female mage began to chant another spell and
the male was already getting up from the ground.

"Duck!" Cried a voice. Charmaine and Veron ducked and an arrow came flying
out of the darkness, strking the female mage through the heart. The male
mage quickly uttered a quick spell and shot five red pulses towards the
girls. Charmaine and Veron leaped to both sides, and the magic missiles
followed them, three to Charmaine and two to Veron. A whistling sound zoomed
in between Veron and Charmaine. The circular object split into two sections,
bouncing off the walls and striking the magic missiles, causing them to
explode prematurely. The two halves continued to bounce around the room in
such a manner that they both headed towards the neck of the second mage at
the same time. They converged and became one again and sliced off the
malenta's head, then clattered to the floor.

"Nice shot, Tara," Charmaine called. "I never get sick of your chakram."

"And nothing about my bow," Leo said, walking out of the shadows. He
motioned to the darkness and another eight people emerged from the shadows.

"Quick, let's get them out of here," David ordered. "Hurry people!"

The group worked quickly getting the prisoners from their cages and bringing
them towards the darkness. Leo picked Estel up from his cage, which was the
furthest end from where they were. He walked over to where David was
beckoning urgently.

"Stop right there!" a voice said from behind him. Leo groaned and turned to
face the newcomers.

"Let go of him right now," Mark commanded. Leo shook his head. Lalaith
glanced around the now nearly-empty room.

"There's only two of you and there's ten of us. Now let him go!" Paul said.
Leo shook his head, narrowing his eyes.

Justin reached out his hand and began to telekinetically pull Estel out of
Leo's hands. Leo felt the light tug as Justin tried to pry his fingers off
Estel.

"Not on your life, buster!" Leo said, pulling back. Estel floated into
David's arms.

"Get out of here, Ghob," Leo said without turning back. "Don't wait for me."

David nodded and disappeared into the darkness. Justin growled and tried to
knock the insolent youth to the floor with his telekinesis. Leo felt the
pushing and countered it with his own mental prowess. Peter stepped forward
and added his strength to the telekinetic battle. Justin and Peter pushed
with all their minds, the strain showing physically on their faces. Leo,
however, seemed bored with the whole thing.

"Give it up," Lalaith ordered. "Surrender yourself!"

"I tire of this game," Leo yawned. Suddenly, Peter and Justin found
themselves being flung back into the group, knocking everyone over. When
they untangled themselves, Leo had already gone.

"Who was that?" Mark asked, troubled.

"I don't know," Peter replied. "His mind was too well blocked. The most
powerful psychic and the second most powerful mage in the world, defeated by
a teenager who was just toying with us! He wasn't even tired!"

"Whoever that was," Steve said, "I wish he was on our side. We could use his
help."

"Suddenly the future seems so bleak," Paul said. "And he wasn't alone
either. There are two of them, both probably of equal power."

"Actually, there were twelve of them," Lalaith said, looking around the
room. "I've got twelve different heat signatures walking about the room,
Charmaine's one of them."

"So Charmaine's a traitor?" Steve asked angrily. "That explains why she was
awfully heated up when I first met her."

"Seems like it," Lance muttered grimly. "It seems we may have to carry on
with great losses. Greater than we expected."

"Wait," Peter said. "Let me try to pick up some psychic signatures. Maybe
that will yield some information."

"Let me help," Justin said. Peter nodded. The mage and psychic wandered
around the room, trying to get some psychic energy leftover from the other
group. After ten minutes of searching, Justin sighed.

"Nothing," he said. "Not a damn thing! They covered their tracks well, not
even the slightest bit of psychic information."

"Not so," Peter said, suddenly looking up. "If you know where to look. I've
got twelve names to go on. One of them is the guy Ghob who disappeared with
Estel. What puzzles me, though, is that Charmaine's name isn't there.
Neither are the energy patterns of our friends. It's as though they were
never here."

"So there's one guy accountable?" Joey asked, not really understanding.
Peter nodded.

"Unless Charmaine has a different name, we've either got one heat pattern
short or one psychic leftover extra."

"What are the names?" Britney asked.

"Well, we all know Ghob," Peter said. "We've got a Kerub, Phorlakh, Paralda,
Ariel, Chassan, Djin, Seraph, Aral, Nichsa, Tharsis and Taliahad. Weird
names."

"Six guys and six girls," Lalaith mused. "Interesting."

"It still doesn't help us," Lance said. "We've got nothing to go on. They
cleared up everything even if they did forget to wipe of their names."

"I think they meant to leave us their names on purpose," Peter said. "The
place is too well wiped for it to be anything else. We're up against a very,
very powerful group here, and if one can defeat us, think of what twelve can
do."

"We should leave," Shadow suddenly said. "Malenti are coming."

"Right," Mark said sadly. "We might as well. We can't do a bloody thing
anymore anyway."

The group disappeared from the room just before a large group of malenti
stepped in.





"You think the malenti will get our little message?" Jason asked.

"Most likely," Leo said. "Since when have the malenti had human spies? They
even have three half-sithi and one full-blooded sithi working for them."

"Are you sure?" Kenny asked.

"Positive," Leo said. "I could sense the darkness of malenti magic in that
group. Even if only one person had it, it would make most sense that the
rest would be allies. I couldn't tell who had it and how many had it though.
It was powerful."

"Maybe it was the Boss who cast it," David said. "She's powerful enough to
do that on her own. Or maybe the malenti are more powerful than they are
letting on."

"I don't know," Leo said. "The two that I fought were pretty powerful. More
than the normal malenti mages are. I think that the Boss did it, but I would
prefer to make no assumptions. We may either overestimate or underestimate
them, and either way, it's dangerous to us."

"I agree," Charmaine said. She looked over at her fellow prisoners. "We
really should heal them and get them back to their base before their friends
start to worry."

"What about the elemental mages? Or whatever's left of them anyway," Ian
asked. She looked at the remnants of the stone. "They've lost their power
and they can't regain it. We can't leave them powerless and knowing about
the war. They'll feel helpless and depressed."

"Might I make a suggestion?" Chelsea asked. "Maybe we should erase their
memory?"

"It's the best idea we have so far," Lydia agreed. "It's better that they
not know than letting them know but remaining powerless to fight it."

"I don't like the idea of taking away another person's memory," Tara argued.
"It's just not right."

"I agree," Sidney said. "It's wrong, but we have no other choice. We have to
do it."

"May Brigit forgive us," Veron uttered, closing her eyes.

"She won't have to," Leo said. "Because we're not going to do it. The stone
chose to give its powers to people who already had power of some sort, and
I'm sure that even if the remaining three mages don't know that they have
more powers, they'll find out soon enough. Come on, let's start the healing
before they bleed to death."





Estel woke up to the sound of people chanting. He slowly opened his eyes,
wary. He looked around at the people standing in a circle around him. Six
guys and six girls dressed in black robes, runes painted on their faces and
hands. All of them were youths between the ages of seventeen and twenty.
Estel looked on his body. There were runes written all over it. Or rather,
there was a rune written many times all over him. As the youths continued to
chant, a cool and yet warm feeling filled Estel. They emanted from the runes
and Estel felt himself gaining more strength. The cuts and bruises on his
body seemed to close and fade away. The youths stopped chanting and the
runes faded away from their bodies and from Estel's as well.

"That's the last one," one of them, a black-haired, brown-eyed boy of about
nineteen said. Estel looked over at the unfamiliar faces until he came to
one very familiar face.

"Charmaine?" he asked curiously. Charmaine smiled.

"Actually, I use the name Tharsis in this group," she said. Estel sat up and
looked at his companions sitting further away from the group.

"Wiccans!" Estel said, suddenly realising who's company he was in. "So all
those jokes about meeting your coven weren't jokes after all, huh
Charmaine?"

"Nope," Charmaine replied. "Blessed be."

"You're finally healed," Neto said, walking up towards Estel. "Good. Now we
can go."

"What's the rush?" Estel asked.

"There's no rush unless you want Mark to worry himself sick about you when
you're perfectly fine," Neto said. Estel grinned and looked back at the
youth.

"Thank you..." Estel trailed off, extending his hand.

"Paralda," replied the youth. "But don't thank us. We were just the
instruments of Goddess."

"Okay," Estel said. "See you around."

"Aren't you going to ask them to fight with us?" Neto asked. "They will be
helpful in the battle against the malenti."

"I have no need," Estel said. "They're already fighting, and we will meet
again. They will come when they are ready."

With that, Estel transported the group back to his hideout.




Nick and Denny sat stunned when they heard the news. The whole group was
sullen, Mark most of all. The unbearable sadness of losing someone you love
was evident in the faces of Lalaith and Mark.

"Who died?" a voice came from the door. Everyone was still looking either at
the floor, the ceiling or each other.

"Oh no! Who died?" the voice was suddenly serious. Lalaith turned around to
see who was at the door. Kevin stood in the doorway, looking scared and
serious.

"Kevin?" Brian yelled, rushing to embrace his cousin.

"What's going on in there?" another voice called from outside. Mark perked
his head up, his eyes open wide.

"ESTEL!" he shouted happily. Estel walked into the room, followed by Grace,
Susan, Meganda, Neto, Vincent, Karene and Fariz. The mood in the room was
suddenly brightened with people huggung each other. Finally they all settled
down.

"So what happened?" Mark asked. "How did you escape?"

"It was strange, really," Estel said. "We were helped by a group of people.
I thought we were goners when the malenti trapped us in the cages, but we
were helped out, healed, and released."

"I notice that the traitor isn't with you," Lance said. "What happened to
her?"

"What traitor?" Estel asked.

"Charmaine," Lance said. "She betrayed us and got all of you captured."

"I did not!" Charmaine appeared behind him. "Why would I do something like
that?"

"Hush, Tharsis," said a tall guy from behind her. His straight hair was
streaked with blonde dye. "Let them make their accusations first before you
reply, then you have all he facts and no mindless argument."

The people in the room were suddenly aware of a group of unfamiliar people
in the room with them as well.

"Well, well, well," Peter sneered. "Look who's back for a rematch."

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Okay, I'm done...Chapter 6 should be up and running soon...how was this one?
good or bad, email me at ensstyenlc@hotmail.com