entirely. Everything about this stranger seemed to speak of a mythic nature she had always read of, but never experienced beyond the pages of her books. She wanted to learn as much about him as she could. She sensed he was somehow connected to these forerunner objects. He may even be one of them himself. So she for now would keep a close eye on him until she could learn more about this connection. In a pilot less conveyance they made short work of the meandering path along the rocky cliff side that marked the way to her home high above the sea. Once there atop the plateau the vehicle settled onto its landing pad in time for them to see the last tendrils of daylight slip over the horizon. He stood there for a moment and looked out onto the now featureless sea, looking for any telltale signs that might show him the way. Only the bright glint of the sun reaching over the edge of the water could be seen. Xora escorted him up a set of marble stairs to the guest cottage that overlooked the cliffs. "There are clean linens on the bed. I took the liberty of having a light meal prepared for you. I hope you enjoy it" She bid him good night and left there with the setting sun. He was quite hungry and quickly consumed what her servants had prepared for him. By the time he had finished his meal, the sun had slipped away. There, sitting in his bedroom through the window he watched as the sea seemed to shine in the moonlight. Within its cool rays the luminescent creatures feeding on the abundant plankton created a delicate and subdued light show. Lying down he kept this haunting image in his gaze until as if by the seas motion he had once again drifted him to sleep. Chapter 3 Ananda, in a dream wandered heavily upon the plane of Thera. There he stood awash in the debris of fallen cinders and yellow sulfur that had rained down for days uncounted. One of the few sounds to be heard was the soft noise of this gently falling ash. Its incessant patter muffled all other sound save for the distant wails of dogs and the cries of children. As he walked upon the blanket of porous silt at his feet, the dim light filtering through the ochre veil of the sky cast there no shadows. For sometime he wandered. As he roved the he recognized the silhouetted hulks that were once the familiar landmarks of his youth. As if having been blind to the calamity, he stood staring in shocked amazement at the wretched scene. All he could do was wonder to what strange evil had befallen this world, once flush with verdant olive and laurel. There too upon farmed tracts vast fields of barley had once swayed ever so gently. Now it lay barren and lifeless, a mere echo. Observing there what was to be seen left him with an odd feeling. He could not say for sure, but he had a suspicion that he somehow possessed a dormant memory. And in this memory unknown even to himself there resided a cornel of a most obscene story. The words rose up from his subconscious mind, and again he pushed these words from his thoughts before his mind could again assemble them. Trudging onward through pungent clouds that blanketed the air, he came upon a familiar place. There he could make out the smoke tinged faces of children he seemed to vaguely recognize. They stood there silently with the black pits of their eyes glaring blankly. The words again welled up. He tried to speak but the stifling clouds again descended before he could utter a word. On his tongue he rolled a sound to which his mind was not conscious of. A word, a name if only one were to speak it aloud the world would again come crashing down. He tried to speak it but as his mouth moved to form the word it faded again from his memory. Just then he was startled from this vision as again the sound of chimes, like those he had heard in his childhood filled his thoughts. This time they resounded more distinctly than before. He followed their sound and as he did it grew louder. The sound then abruptly stopped. There in a clearing he came upon