Dain Barden dropped Evrin and turned, just as a second blow hit his jaw with the force of a mountain. When the Dain stumbled, a third punch closed his left eye, and finally a fourth hit his lower chest, knocking the wind out of him before he fell to the ground.

"Where are you?" the Dain said, coughing and spluttering as he rose once more to his feet.

He took his war hammer in his hands and swung it in the air, first hitting left, and then right. Barden's third blow jarred his arms to the bone as he hit something hard.

In front of him a shadow flickered as drops of water fell down from the shape of a man. "Now I have you," the Dain snarled.

He swung his hammer in quick, successive blows, trading strength for speed. There was some… force… that blocked his strokes, but each time the figure's skin sizzled and Barden could see runes outlined, allowing the Akari to see more of his opponent. He could feel his hammer starting to have an effect, and finally he heard a cry of pain when he swung with all his strength at his opponent's chest.

As the air shimmered and the form of a man materialised, Dain Barden saw that whatever his opponent's powers were, the man was young, with red hair dripping wet to his shoulders and a bare chest covered with fading runes. The young man punched at him again, but the Dain was a skilled warrior and he blocked easily. He raised his hammer to strike at the young man's face.

"The portal! No!" Evrin suddenly cried in anguish.

Barden and his opponent both turned to the relic. The Dain couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Primate Melovar Aspen had dragged his broken body into the pool. There was something in the strange power the Primate possessed that allowed him to survive the touch of the essence for the time it took for him to cross the pool and drag himself onto the raised platform.

When the Primate reached the last seal and struck it away, Barden heard a spluttering chuckle come from the Primate's lips.

And even as the Primate's face contorted from the terrible agony of the essence, there was an expression of triumph on his face.

69

69

SURELY no one could stand such pain? Then Killian thought of the Primate's elixir. Would it keep Melovar Aspen alive?

Killian shifted his gaze and saw that the Dain's mouth was open, their battle forgotten.

What would happen now that the last seal had been struck away?

The Primate's eyes opened wide as he looked at something past Killian and then the screams of Melovar Aspen were forever silenced. An arrow fletched with green feathers suddenly sprouted from the Primate's throat. It was swiftly followed by another that plunged into the Primate's eye, and a third appeared in the centre of Melovar Aspen's mouth.