[WitchQueen]

Ahmed now returns to Xanthia. He hopes for the best with his men. There is no sense to fool around any longer. He is trying to decide what to do about Bruckos. Well he returns to the Palace Garden and he is greeted by Tartufe. Ahmed enters the Palace by the back door and greets Ishtar, who is doing dishes in the kitchen. Tezia and Neeta are there and Abaka is playing in the front sitting room. Ahmed tells the children he must speak with Ishtar privately so they go into the opposite sitting room to talk.

Ahmed carefully explains all of what has happened. "I want you to understand that Bruckos is very clever and will try to return to Argos via Oblikan. He does not know that the porthole has been blocked so even if he escapes we will be sure that he will hide out on Oblikan and plan his strategy." Ahmed continues to explain to Ishtar everything he can so that she may be prepared in case they come to battle.

In the meanwhile Ahmed is not aware that Bruckos has found the keys to the cells and has released the other prisoners. Bruckos has terrorized the other five prisoners with threats to their families. The men agree to help the Druids. But I do not know. Bruckos wants the men to cross the bridge first in case it has been boobytrapped. The men have no choice. They must go first. So this is how it goes. Singley they cross and bruckos is satisfied. The five men have a brief opportunity to speak on the far side of the bridge. Mosul, the leader speaks and says," we must not be traitors. We must escape any chance we get. They all quickly agree. At this time Bruckos and the other Druids cross the bridge. To them this is a great feat. Now we must search for the porthole. At this time the Labyrinth shifts to their amazement. "Curses,"says Bruckos. He thought that he had the map of the Labyrinth figured out. Not so he sees. "We must study this for while and sort things out. After about ten hours Bruckos believes he has located the porthole. It seems familiar. Bruckos believes that it is night time on Oblikan and he decides to pass through the porthole and see what the others have set up.

Bruckos just passes through to the far right side of the porthole. He is in the shadows. It is very dark in the cave and Bruckos sees that there are five guards by the door. They have revolvers. Bruckos decides to go back to the other side and then he will send the five men through the porthole with one of the Druids. This Druid is called Pedra. He is known to be very vicious. He will pass through with one of the men and he will be holding onto him. This man, Garth is terrifies by this. They all hate Pedra except for Bruckos. Bruckos has promised Pedra a territory on Xanthia. Once they are through the porthole the five men see the guards. The five of them try to subdue Pedra so that he can't harm Garth. The five men make a break for it and run out of the cave. At this point Bruckos and the other Druids transport through and they also make a run for the forest. They are fast and make an escape. "Curse those men. They will pay. We must make our way to the porthole as fast as we can." Once the Druids are at the cave to the porthole to Argos, they kill about twenty of the guards along the way. Now Bruckos sees that they are trapped. The porthole is blocked with large boulders and dirt. Bruckos must hide on Oblikan and they will search. The Oblikans hate Bruckos. They will try to bring the Watanis back to help to catch the. They must go to the mountains and find shelter and hide out for now.

Ahmed now knows that Bruckos has escaped to Oblikan. Well the Oblikans must hunt them down. Ahmed has enough to do. He must secure Xanthia and release the news of Bruckos' escape. Also he is waiting the return of Freemoncy, Razrif and Pharess from Quetta. Najaf will stay on Quetta. Ahmed is happy to spend time with his family but it will be necessary for him to go to Quetta and speak with Munna about the death of Calif. This will be a difficult task for Ahmed to do. Ahmed decides to take Ibrahim with him so that the boy can visit with his mother. Ahmed explains all of this to Ishtar. I will be leaving tomorrow and I will also be taking Barok back home to Masra..

That evening Ishtar tried to make things as normal as possible under the circumstances. The dinner was nice and Nadia tidyed everything up. The children told Ahmed many of the things they have done. And Ahmed and Ishtar got to spend a nice night together. In the morning the birds were all chirping and then Ahmed sent a soft rain to the area.

"Ishtar I must go to the Training Camp here at Najaf and set up plans for going to Quetta and then Kruata. You must spend time in the Rain Forest and keep track of Bruckos. He does not know we have a Monitor here on Xanthia. Anyone going under the WaterFalls will think the Monitor is a well. Work with the Watanis and make arrangements to obtain the venom of the Giant Red Spider. Do you think you can do all of that for me?" "I will do it Ahmed. Malika will help and the children do what I ask of them. You are my love, Ahmed." Ishtar kisses Ahmed on the cheek.

WitchQueen