Chapter 3

	The next day found the trio heading down out of the mountains, following directions given by Stogra.
"Follow the river that winds through this range to the waterfall. Once you find a way down, follow along the southern shore until you reach the town of Devreser; it shouldn't take you more then a couple of days to get there. There is a guild of magic users who ran a building called the Tower of Tales; inside every story, fact or fiction, ever heard in this world has been recorded and stored. If you are to have any chance of finding the statues, that will give you the best leads." Along with this advice, he gave them several gold pieces, enough he assured them to spend a comfortable night at a decent inn in the town and a good dinner, and new clothes for Trom and Vicki.The leopardess had on a similar outfit to Angela's, though it seemed to fit the feline much better; Stogra mentioned that the garb was common enough and the two would not be too noticable. Trom was given a full length cloak, complete with hood. When the wolf asked why he couldn't just wear his uniform, Stogra pointed out that because of partly metal body, he would stick out even more the Vicki and Angela. But when the old human suggested Trom leave his gun behind and take a sword instead, the canine refused.
"Leave my gun? Why don't you just ask me to cut off my legs while you're at it?" He hefted the large gun in his flesh paw. Angela was no expert on weaponery, but she decided that it closely resemmeble a M-16, but with a larger, rounder end on it. Trom would later explain that rather then firing conventional bullets, he had modified it to shoot what looked like a musket ball, but were actually explosives.
"Let's see a sword swinger try and fight these off," Trom said as he shouldered the gun.
Stogra spoke up. "You would be surprised at how easily you still might lose, despite your advanced weaponery. At least consider hiding your weapon and wearing a sword on the hip." 

	The wolf growled to himself from the front of the line the three formed as they hiked. The gun was wedged between his back and the pack each of them also carried and the sword's sheath kept tring to trip him. But he knew it was something he would have to live with; he did have to conserve his shoots, at least until he could find a way to create some more in this backwards world. Behind him Vicki was carring her spear, ears twitching to every sound as her eyes swept side to side. She didn't quite trust having the wolf in the party, but that old 'human', as he called himself, seemed quite sure that he was a nessacary part to the quest. Privatelly, she was qutie impressed with his fighting spirt and could turn out to be quite a good warrior to have in their side. But she would watch him carefully, anyway. Past experenice have proved that even the most friendly could turn out to betray you.....
Vicki looked over her shoulder to check on Angela, pausing and whistling for Trom to stop. "She fell behind again...." 
Trom squinted his eyes as he looked at the feline, then past her. "Fine. I guess we can take a few minutes for a break." He shrugged off his pack, setting it down next to his gun and sat on a rock. Vicki just moved to the shade of a tree and squatted, still looking alert. Her gaze finally came to meet the wolf's, both looking at each other sternly for a moment before she spoke.
"You don't think much me, do you?"
Trom shrugged. "I hardly know you....but that doesn't matter here, does it?" He stood, turning away to gaze off down the trail. "Back home, we are at constant war with the felines; and as I much as I hate to say it, they've have more of an advantage. But then they also have other races on their sides like the dragons and rodents." The wolf sighed. "So if I seem a little hateful towards you, it's because of my upbringing and not you personally."

	Vicki just nodded. "We are not much different then." She stood and walked over to Trom, who turned as she approached, placing his left paw on his sword. "You're right; here it is different. I respect you as a fellow warrior right now and that's all. It maybe some time before we see each other as friends...." She looked the wolf directly in the eyes, neither of them hiding their anger from the other. "Besides, you remember what Stogra said last night, I'm sure." She turned away and went back to the tree she was under before.
"We need to work together to protect that Angela girl...."
Trom nodded, sitting back on his rock, but leavinghis paw on the sword. "I still don't see how someone like her is supposed to be the deciding factor in this insane journey."
Vicki shrugged. "Stranger things have been known to happen...." The conversation ended as Angela appeared finally; Stogra had insisted that Trom and Vicki not reveal what he told them last night as the human girl slept. Angela was staggering a little under the heavy pack she carried, but seemed quite cheerful.
"Hey, you guys. Isn't this the most beautiful place? Just look at this flower I found." She opened her hand to reveal a small flower with several rings of petals around a yellow center, each ring a different color. She smiled at the wolf and leopardess, who didn't quite share her exctiement.
"Did it ever occur to you that flower might have a slow acting poision on it?" Trom pointed out as he struggled with his pack and gun. He turned and started once again down the trail. Angela looked down at the flower like it had suddenly bit her, dropping it quickly off to the side. Vicki put a paw on Angela's shoulder and smiled.
"Don't mind what he says; canines were never ones to know beauty until it bites them in the ass." The feline started off again, Angela walking beside her. "I thought it was very pretty, anyway."
As the two followed Trom around a bend in the trail, a gloved hand reached down to scoop up the flower Angela had set aside. The tall figure rolled the bud around in the palm for a moment before tightening the hand into a fist and crushing the flower. As the petal fell to the ground, some were blown slightly to the side as a light breeze picked up, carring the figure away with it.

	The sound of the waterfall could be heard about a mile away before any of the group could see it. The river they had been following for several miles had cloud be seen slowly increasing in speed until it hit the edge of the mountain, then fell out into space. Standing on the edge, Angela tried to judged the distance to the bottom, but gave up as it sight made her a little dizzy. Behind her, Vicki and Trom were searching for a path that would lead down safely Stogra had mentioned; it was Trom who succeded. The three crowded around the stone steps that seem to come directly out of the rock, the surfaces looking quite slick from the spray of the water. Vicki had started on down them when Angela realized that she couldn't see the bottom because the sun was setting.
"Maybe we should wait until the morning....you know, get a fresh start and all." Trom and Vicki looked at Angela for a moment, then almost nodded as one.
"Good idea," Vicki said as she stepped back up and setting her pack down.
Trom did the same, removing his sword and cloak as well. "Agreed." The wolf then set off into the forest, mumbling something about finding something for dinner. Vicki collected some dry wood, set some it in a circle of stones she made quickly and lit it, all before Angela had a chance to volunteer. As they sat and ate a stew Trom made, consisting mostly of berries and some odd leaves, Angela kept wondering to herself why she was here.

	The one thing about camping out, Angela soon learned, was that once the sun went down, no matter how early you think it is, it seems like much later. Angela rolled herself in the thin bedding, once more from Stogra's home, and tried to fall asleep; she needed to rest if she wanted to keep up with Trom and Vicki in the morning. But sleep didn't come right away to the young human. She just wasn't used to roughing it so much and it didn't help that Trom and Vicki started arguing with one another again. Finally at what she guessed was midnight, Angela drifted to sleep. Her last thought was the warning Stogra gave them.
"Remember, Kryton and his followers are always looking into people's dreams. If he spys an easy target, one of his creatures will be sent to take over. If you find yourself in such a position, you must wake up, however you can, without the creature harming you in the dream. Even the smallest cut will give him some control over you."
Angela just pushed the throught aside as she slid deeper into sleep. She was betting to herself that something like that wouldn't happen.....they were in the middle of nowhere at the moment.

	Angela's dreams were plagued with strange visions that put fear and awe into her. Among them was something that reminded her of a pool of tar, but seemed to be alive, anothe was a scene of her, Trom, Vicki and two other forms she couldn't quite make out standing before a rope bridge that crossed an impossibly large gap and lead to a castle that almost bleneded into the rock around it. Just before her dreams started to become a jumble, an island appeared before her, but was only there a few seconds before the scene changed to very dark swamp. She stepped carefully through the soggy ground as cries from unseen animals surrounded her. Angela finally came to a tall wall of reeds; she parted them carefully, gasping at the sight on the other side. It resembled a giant human skull, large enough to challenge any castle. The outside was lit by torches the ringed the skull in layers, creating just enough light to make the castle stand out. Angela had a bad feeling about this place, so she carefully stepped back, turning to run. She didn't even get a chance to move before the ground before her exploded and a grusome figure crawled out. It stood about 10 feet tall and was almost the same wide. It's face was a patchwork of human, and what Angela guessed, cat and dog. The creature's eyes were nonexistent, yet seemed to know exactly where she stood; it let out a roar, the mouth opening more like a flower then up and down, showing many sharp teeth inside. The creature took a lumbering step towards Angela, reaching out with it's frightenly long arms; Angela did a small jump back, spun on her heel to the side and ran as fast as she could. She recognize that thing....it was the creature that had been haunting her dreams before she came here. Angela made herself run faster, figuring that this had to be one of Kryton's people; but if so, she would have to change the dream somehow so it didn't end like it alway did.

	She ran on, the trees closing in around her as all sorts of noises forced her to run faster yet. Angela slowed to follow a turn in the path, risking a look behind her. That thing was still close, the mist of the swamp and her dreaming covering where it was. On a sudden impulse, she turned to the right off the path, ignoring the branches that scratched her and ripped at her clothes. Behind she could hear the nightmare give a confused snort, then the sound of it charging off in a different direction. Angela slowed, a welling of hope that the creature actually fell for the trick this time and she was safe. She stopped in a small clearing, looking up into the overhanging dreams.
"Okay, Angela! Time to wake up!" she shouted to the sky, hoping that this would somehow work. Only problem was that as soon as she shouted, the hunting nightmare started back towards her. Angela started running again, but to only stop too soon at the cliff that always appeared. She did have a few extra minutes to think of how to escape, so she started searching the edge for a way to climb down. She had just started when a shadow fell across her, causing Angela to look up. There was a young man there, hanging in the air without falling. He was human and wore a white outfit, consisiting of a long sleeve jerkin with a long V down the front and opening the youth's chest to the air. His pants were also white and the two pieces met somewhere under the wide cloth belt around his middle. Whoever this was stood over 6 feet tall, with brown hair that hung loose to his shoulders, the wind whipping a few strands around. He stared hard at her with bright blue eyes, that suddenly shifted to behind her as the creature chasing Angela made itself known again. Angela quickly looked over her shoulder to the sound, then turned back, ready to jump again; maybe if she went down stright without going spread eagle she would hit and wake up before the monster caught her this time. It turned out she didn't need to jump as the man before her held out his hand as he still floated in mid-air. Angela just quickly grabbed the hand, pulling herself tight against this stranger as he floated back from the edge. Just as they reached a safe distance, the nightmare plunged out of the woods. It tried to skid to a stop at the cliff's edge, but went over anyway. As it twisted around, Angela thought she saw the creature's eyes, or what she thought were it's eyes, go wide as it stared at her and her rescuer.

	They didn't stay to watch the creature hit; instead the young man brought Angela back to the cliff, landing a safe distance from the edge. She carefully stepped back, looking at the guy carefully. She judged him to be about 25 years old, though it was hard to tell as he had a scar that ran across his chest, that gave him a slightly older look.
"Um, thanks...." Angela stammered. The other human just nodded, then reached behind the wide belt he wear. He carefully withdrew a flower exactly like the one she had found earlier that day, but had left behind. 
"Things of such beauty should remain together." he said in a deep, but pleasent voice as he handed the flower over to Angela. She cupped her hands around his to catch the flower; the young man withdrew his hand, then turned quickly.
"Wait!" Angela called out. "Who are you anyway?" There was no answear as a light breeze suddenly picked up and he was blown away like a pile of sand. Angela just stood there, looking from the flower to where the guy had stood. So lost in thought, she didn't notice everything around her dissolving into blackness....

	Angela blinked, the raising sun shinging right through the tree and into her eyes. She sat up, looking around. She was back in reality, or what she would have to consider as such; behind her Trom and Vicki were already up and eating quietly around the rock fire pit. Angela struggled out of her bedding, rolling it up and stuffing it back into her pack before she joined the other two for breakfast. Vicki had speared a fish somehow out of the fast moving river next to them while Trom found some roots that he assured were quite tasty. Angela ate her breakfast quietly, hardly looking up to the discussion the other two were having.
"I figure we have one more night on the trails before we reach this town," Trom was saying and Vicki nodded.
"At least we'll be out of these blasted mountains and into some forest," she added. "I'm not comfortable being in the open like this...."
Trom nodded and stood, picking up his pack. "I'm going ahead to scout out the best way down....I'll wait at the first safe spot or the bottom." Vicki watching the wolf leave as he carefully went down the stone steps, then turned to Angela.
"You still tired, Angela?"
The human shook her head. "No....well, sorta. I had a very odd dream last night....but it's not important." She stood, tossing the rest of her breakfast into the ashes of the fire. "We better get going in case Trom needs help." Angela slipped her pack on as Vicki stood and dismantled the fire pit, covering the ashes with dirt. 
"I think Trom can handle any trouble that comes to him." the feline said with a smile as he got her own pack on.
Angela smiled back. "Oh? Is there a little something between you two already?" she teased. Vicki laughed as she started down the steps, Angela following about to follow along. She paused at the edge as something caught her eye. She knelt, picking up a flower resembling the one she had dropped and that dream figure gave her. Angela stood and looked around; nobody around and she didn't remember seeing another bush of these at the camp site. She gave a mental shrug and fitted the flower into her red hair and smiled; maybe something good would come of this. She started off after Vicki, her spirits up more then when she woke....

	Several minutes passed in the now open clearing before two shadows broke apart from the surrounding woods, one forming in to a short body with a tail and the other in to a young human. The shorter form glanced down the trail, then turned towards the tall human.
"Why did you let them go? Lord Kryton will displeased about this...."
The human had moved to stand at the river's edge, watching the rushing water. "I will deal with my father if he has a problem with my decision. We may need them alive to find those statues...." The shorter figure gave a snort of disgust.
"Very well. I will report to Lord Kryton and tell him of your plan. You had just better hope it works, Michael...." The short figure made a gesture, a strong wind picking and the body was blown away like a pile of ashes. The human just kept looking into the water, using a little of his given power to call forth a vision of the human, feline and canine walking along. He stared intently at the one called Angela.
"It is too much of a coincidence....it can only mean that the time is near." Michael looked up from the water. "I can not escape what was foreseen...."