"Amelia, come have a seat with us, dear" The queen called out to me following my curtsy, "Lovette, prepare Amelia a cup, will you?" she spoke to one of three servants that stood quietly in the corner.

"Yes, Your Majesty"

"Sit, sit" Queen Arabella turned her attention back to me as I approached.

Chapter 5

We all went to the shop to take our pick. It was sixteen well-dressed and made-up women who were picked up by a bus and taken to the restaurant that the four of us had been before. We were ushered to a private room where Khepri was waiting with his parents. There was also Abbas, his wife, Heba, her husband, as well as a few of the Museum administration and Gyasi with his wife.

Brenda managed to strike Nick, but it barely phased him. She grabs her helmet and put it back on. This freak was pissing her off and she knew she was going have to resort to dirty tricks if she was going to be able to kill him. She tosses down some smoke bombs and swing her sword towards him.

Nick was a little surprised when the woman he was fighting tossed down some smoke pellets. However, he is barely nicked when her sword comes out of the smoke and cut across his chest, leaving behind a red mark. An amusing look appears on his face as he retreats backwards.

Ah summer! Lazy days, no school, no need for a summer job, good friends, a white sandy beach, blue water, several water nymphs in multi-colored bikinis among the friends. What more could one ask?

The healers had instructed me to keep my arm in a sling for two weeks, allowing the muscles to repair themselves. While I understood the necessity, my parents' added concern was starting. They had become overprotective, insisting I couldn't go out to the lake because I couldn't take someone with me.

Hope's Light

Chapter 9

by Erisian

Book 6

Chapter Nine - Instincts

It had been less than a sleep’s turn since I’d arrived in Hell, and already I’d witnessed three murders. Four, if including Pierre’s self-sacrificing suicide. Technically they were already dead to begin with, but once reduced to a compact stone that was it for their spirits. From everything I’d been told, that was the last one-way trip a soul could take.

Short of jumping into the Abyss, anyway.

Dido stayed the night with John and left in time to get the first Central Line train into Liverpool St. She travelled as far as Stratford, where she followed John’s hints and changed onto the first of three busses that would take her to Moorgate or a spot between the Tube station and bus terminus at Finsbury Circus.