"Four distinct peoples inhabit this peninsula now, in four distinct Kingdoms. But the Dajan will always be one peninsula, and it's children one family. The Borders between the Four Kingdoms may define us, but never let them divide us." King Tallus, inaugurating the newly drawn border between the Kingdoms of Tilluria and Brishnia.

COMPLETE!! PART FOUR and PART FIVE, chapters Thirteen to Twenty-Two added November 4, 2002.

Description: Along the Border, reality can get a little blurred. All seven will need all their wits to not get trapped there.

Notes: This is Book Four. In Book One, an ancient evil called the Divine Mandate was reawakened by a maddened king's desire to create an Empire in place of the Four Kingdoms of Brishnia, Tilluria, Cathacus and Danaeria. The Seven came together and succeeded in preventing King Farron from plunging the Kingdoms back into the dark ages. However, the Mandate left its legacy. The Kingdoms are in ruins after the wars, and the Fay, creatures that had once been relegated to myths and legends, are once more plaguing the people of the Dajan Peninsula. In other words, the world is still teetering on the brink of chaos, and, when we last left the boys, they were leaving a recently freed city of Leda, the capital of Danaeria, with the goal of bringing balance to the rest of the Kingdoms.

Chapters: Twenty Two.

PART ONE: The Border (chapters 1-4)

PART TWO: The First Four (chapters 5-9)

PART THREE: The Final Three (chapters 10-12)

PART FOUR: Learning to Cross (chapters 13-15)

PART FIVE: The Seven of Spades (chapters 16-22)

The Border

Aye, the Border, the wondrous Border

Between Freedom and Imprisonment

Between Anger and Laughter

Between Dreams and Reality

Between Good and Evil

Yes, the Border, the Shining Border

Between Right and Wrong

Between Us and Them

Between Truth and Falsehoods

Between Dead and Alive

There's the Border, the Only Border...

And that's the way the future lies

Chapter One

Warm spring air and bright sunshine welcomed the seven across the border into Cathacus. Vin gave a whoop as they crossed over, Ezra waved hello and goodbye to the simple signpost, and even Nathan laughed, though the thought of what awaited them in this, the oldest of the four kingdoms, lay heavy on his heart.

The week long trek had been uneventful...even peaceful...since they left Leda. After all they had been through, such a unusual thing was making them all smile.

A few miles past the border, Josiah slowed his horse, his eyes drawn to a set of rolling green hills not far to the east. The smile faded from his face. Riding next to him, Nathan slowed as well, seeing the other's change in demeanor.

"Thinking of your old home?" the healer asked quietly.

The mage nodded, not trusting his voice. His old village was nestled in those hills, where his father had worked as a priest, using his connections to the old gods as a means to keep the people subdued. It wasn't until his return upon his father's death that he learned just how much the people had hated the old man.

Josiah turned his eyes away, looking at the others. Chris and Vin rode up front, talking quietly about something. Buck and Ezra were riding point and rear, scouting for danger, and JD rode in the middle, just drifting. Perhaps sensing the scrutiny, the youngest member of their group turned to look back at Josiah and Nathan, and smiled. The mage and healer smiled back.

"He's a good boy, that one," Josiah said conversationally.

"Yup."

"And still a dreamer, even after all we've seen."

"He's young."

"Yes, but....It's more than that."

"Oh?"

The mage sighed, "Most people, when the first are faced with the ugliness of human nature, stop dreaming, Nathan, or else their dreams become individualistic, self-serving." He looked down at his hands, shaking his head. "Why save a world that's not worth saving? Why help people who spit on you when you try to lend them a hand?" Josiah's eyes softened. "JD's seen how horrible, greedy and petty people can be and yet...he still dreams of a better future for everyone."

"Ah," Nathan nodded, understanding. "You wonder how that's possible, I take it."

"Just...I don't remember the last time I had a dream," the preached said sadly. "Finding my sister the way I did...burned all my dreams out of me."

"Oh, I'm not sure that's true. You brought us together, and we are still riding with the hope of finding that better future."

"No," Josiah shook his head, "I'm am merely trying to stave off the ancient evils, old friend. I have no hope that people will suddenly become happy, whole and peaceful. Greediness, ugliness and ruin will still continue. The only difference is, it will be of human making as opposed to the gods or the fay."

Nathan's brow furrowed, and his eyes looked down.

"You don't disagree, do you," Josiah stated, eyeing him carefully. "You know what I mean."

Nathan shrugged. Two months he'd spent trying to bring order to Rhea after Farron's fall, to stop the city from falling into a hell pit without a monarch on the throne to lead them, but nothing seemed to work. The very people who had helped them bring down Farron were the ones now bringing the city to ruin. Some sort of heart needed to be returned to Rhea, and they were riding to help find that.... But they were probably kidding themselves. What could they really do?

"And yet, JD has no worries. His belief in us, in the goodness and the Light, has never wavered," the mage continued, looking again at the kid.

"Are you so sure?" Nathan asked. "We have not...."

"The boy still dreams, Nathan. You can see it in his eyes. I'm not sure any of the rest of us do."

Chapter Two

They set up camp on the banks of a small river. The light had long since faded behind the tall Mid Reaches to their west. Josiah quickly bound the site with warding spells, a complex combination of fire and air, as he'd always done. Vin caught some rabbits and was making a stew, while Nathan and Chris filled canteens and replenished any supplies from the light forest they were taking shelter next to. The only ones not working were Buck, Ezra and JD. They sat near the campfire, playing with Ezra's cards.

"What do you mean, I scratch my chin?" Buck touched the five o'clock shadow on his chin, feeling the roughness there.

"Every time you consider bluffing, Captain Wilmington, like clockwork," Ezra smiled weakly and set his cards down. Ever since leaving the black castle, Buck had tried to cajole Ezra into teaching him how to improve at poker, something which the prince had just as persistently tried to avoid. Telling someone there tells was like pointing out that they could lose some weight or should get a hair-cut – it immediately put them on the defensive.

"I do not touch my chin!" the captain insisted, pointing at Ezra. "You're just trying to throw me off."

"Actually, you do," JD shrugged, "though I never really noticed that you do it every time you bluff. But you touch your face a lot. Smoothing your moustache, rubbing your forehead, scratching at your jaw...."

Ezra smiled and nodded, eyes sparking as he looked at the kid. "Excellent, JD! That power of observation is what makes a good player. You need to read your opponent. The trick now is to equate the tell with...."

"Hey! You're supposed to be teaching me, not the whelp!" Buck chastised loudly. He even thumped his chest, causing Ezra to laugh while JD just shot him an incredulous look.

Still grinning, the prince explained, "I can't teach you, captain, if you won't listen. What I just said to JD goes for you as well."

"How so?"

"You asked me to tell you how I was able to play you so easily these last few games. It's because I know your tells. And then you asked me to describe them to you, which is obviously a good start. But that's barely a quarter of what you would need to know in order to improve. JD, on the other hand, has been not only paying attention to his own foibles as we've gone along, but has clearly been trying to catch his opponent's as well. Tell me, JD, were you watching me as well?" Ezra asked.

JD nodded. "You've been running a hand through your hair, rubbing your thumb over your lip and, I'm not sure, but I think you roll the fingers on your left hand."

Ezra's smile faltered, "Roll my fingers?"

"Yeah, like this," the kid put his hand out and lifted and lowered each of the fingers just once and gripped the hand into a fist. "You don't do it often, but I think you do it when you're unsure about something."

Ezra grinned and looked at his hand, "Really? I had no idea. I thought I'd mastered all my own tells."

"I saw that too," Buck interjected. When JD glanced at him sharply, the captain sneered. "Fine, fine, so I didn't."

Ezra chuckled, "Did you see any of them, captain? The first two Master Dunne mentioned were ones I was doing on purpose, for your benefit." He raised his eyebrows, expectant. Buck's face danced, his mind clearly spinning its wheels as he tried to decide whether to lie or not. Ezra shook his head.

"Your hesitation is answer enough, Buck."

"So what you're saying is...."

"Perhaps, rather than trying to spot the faults you make, trying spotting them in others first. That will, in turn, make you more aware of your own."

The ladies' man grimaced and sighed. As instructed, he tried to pay more attention to what the others were doing after that hand, but found it was such a distracting endeavor that he tended to forget even his own cards. Still, it was with great relish that he pointed to JD and said:

"He purses his lips!"

The kid looked up, confused, then over at Ezra. The prince was laughing.

"I'm right, aren't I? He purses his lips, like he's about to kiss a fish!" Buck said again, mocking the action by sticking his own lips out.

"Hey! I do not do that!" the kid retorted.

"Actually, you do, I'm afraid," Ezra smiled, "though obviously not to the extent being demonstrated by the captain." He then looked at Buck and gave the solemn nod of the teacher to the student, "Well done, Buck."

Buck grinned.

"But can you tell me why and when he does it?" Ezra asked then. "Is he bluffing? Has he got a good hand? Or is it merely mediocre, but with promise? Or is it mostly crap? And in the next round, does he aim to bid low or high?"

Buck's grin faltered, "Err..."

"Well..." Ezra shrugged, smiling roguishly, "it's still a good start, Captain Wilmington."

"Oh, blisters!" Buck tossed his cards down. "You're so smart, Standish, you tell me what he has in his hand!"

"Yeah Ez," JD brought his cards close to his chest, "What do I have in my hand?"

Ezra arched an eyebrow, "You sure you want me to do that?"

"Well," Buck taunted, "if you can't do it, then maybe you're not as smart as..."

"He probably has a two-pair. A good hand, but average." Ezra looked at JD, "You almost had a full house, but didn't make it. Instead, you're trying to decide whether the two-pair, neither of which are face cards, are enough to justify a fairly large raise of the pot, since you're pretty sure you can beat Buck. You don't know, however, if you can beat me. You think I'm bluffing, right?"

JD's lips parted, his eyes open.

"Well," Buck said as the moment continued to stretch. He was looking curiously at the kid, "is he right?"

"Wow," the kid said simply, grinning suddenly and laughing. "Dead on! And...and are you bluffing, Ezra?"

"Don't you know?"

"Well, you...you rolled your fingers again, so...so I figured you were."

Ezra smiled wickedly, and turned his hand down for them to see. Three of a kind, all aces. He would have beaten the kid easily. "You can use tells to your advantage as well, Master Dunne. I was bluffing that I was bluffing, knowing that you were watching for that particular move."

"Shoot!" JD put his hand down. Sure enough, he had two-pair, eights and threes. Buck had a pair of queens. The captain chuckled in amazement.

"I've been doing this for a very, very long time, Master Dunne," Ezra said, taking their cards. Very quickly, he'd folded the cards back into the deck. With one hand, he shuffled the deck one handed, tapped the top card, then flipped it over to reveal the Ace of Spades. He looked at them, and a strange look crossed his face as he then looked at the card, "...a very long time."

The strangely solemn tone of his voice caused the other two to suddenly decide it was time to quit for the night. Thanking the former thief, both Buck and JD got up and were soon quickly swapping notes about what they'd seen in each other as they played. Ezra smiled, taking the Ace of Spades off the top and holding it up, planning on returning it right side up into the deck.

It was with some surprise, then, that he found himself now looking at the seven of hearts. Where had that come from? Confused, he folded the card back in the deck and turned the whole set over. Seeing nothing amiss, he turned it back over, ran his fingers over the edge, the cut the cards and once again flipped up the top card.

The seven of hearts.

Confusion turned to annoyance. He'd felt the tricky edge of the Ace under his fingers. It made no sense that it was the seven that had turned up.

More than annoyed now, he again turned the deck over.

They were all the seven of hearts.

"What the hell!" he shouted, dropping them to the ground and standing up. The hearts merged together until every card was red. He took a step back and stared at the blanket of blood on the ground.

"What's the matter?" Buck asked, jogging back to him with JD. Ezra looked up at the captain, then back down at the cards he'd spilled. His eyes narrowed as he realized that they looked like any normal deck of cards.

"I, uh..." kneeling, he reached out to touch them, then started gathering them together. "My imagination playing a trick, I suppose," he said softly. "Nothing's the matter."

"Your imagination?" Buck's tone was not judgmental. "Why? What exactly did you see."

Ezra grimaced, shaking his head. "I'm sure it was nothing."

"It's rarely nothing, Ezra, not where you're concerned," Josiah said, joining them. "What did you see?"

The prince's grimace turned into a frown of irritation, "I assure you, it was nothing." Standing, he packed the cards back into a neat stack in his fingers. Holding them close, he walked away towards the horses.

Buck grimaced. "When will he learn we're not trying to gang up on him?" he hissed quietly.

"Probably when we stop ganging up on him," JD said with a shrug. "I'll go ask him again." With a nod, he jogged lightly after Ezra. The mage sighed and shrugged when the captain offered him a dark look.

Ezra walked until he was standing next to his horse, a handsome chestnut horse that he'd missed sorely while up in the Northern Reaches. The mount turned and looked at him a moment before returning to eating its fill of the grass on the ground. The prince reached up to scratch the chestnut's withers.

"How's he doing?" JD asked, walking up next to them.

"Chaucer?" Ezra smiled and patted the horse's neck, "Fine. How's that horse you rented?"

"Bonnie? Not as nice as Lucky. I suppose I'll see him again someday. I hope the stables in Tallus are treating him well."

"I'm sure they are," the prince replied.

"What did you see, Ezra?"

The prince frowned. He knew that was why JD had followed him, but he'd vaguely hoped that it wouldn't come up.

"I flipped the wrong card and got a little annoyed, my friend, that's all."

"Oh?" JD wasn't buying it. "Which card?"

"The seven of hearts."

"The card of divination," JD said.

Ezra's eyes widened, and he looked squarely at the kid.

"How did you know that?" he demanded.

"Wells told me a little about reading cards," JD shrugged. "She taught me what the sevens meant, and I remembered the seven of hearts was the card of visions, of fairy favors, that sort of thing. That's the card you flipped?"

Ezra nodded dumbly.

"But why should it mean anything? It's not like all the cards had turned into the seven of hearts, perhaps you just made a...." JD stopped, seeing Ezra's pained expression. "You mean they all turned into....?"

Again, Ezra nodded dumbly.

The kid looked at the ground, then back into the heart of the camp, where the others were clearly pretending not to be watching them.

"I think you should tell them," he said softly. "It could be a warning. You're still tied to Light, so....maybe the goddess is trying to warn you about something?"

Ezra looked down at the cards in his hand. Slowly, he turned them over and looked at them again. Completely normal.

"If she is, why the seven of hearts? It doesn't mean anything more than possibilities."

"Can you read cards?"

"Some. There was a time I used to tell fortunes for a living, while I was traveling. One of my many...," he smiled, "sources of funds."

"Maybe you should do a reading."

"What I did was bunkum, Master Dunne. Fake. I couldn't...."

"What could it hurt? Come on. We may not have an Oracle traveling with us, but that doesn't mean a little soothsaying might not be helpful. We're heading towards a maelstrom, perhaps this will help."

Ezra shut his eyes, gripped the cards, then nodded. "Fine. But you tell them. Until I see them all nod, I'm not going back over there with this deck."

Chapter Three

"I've seen street performers and the like doing this," Nathan said, as Ezra laid down the cards in a three sets of threes, "but I'd always thought it was nonsense."

"It is," Ezra agreed, placing down the last card. "But Master Dunne insisted."

"Let's just see what happens, okay?" the kid said, smiling. "Who knows what we might learn."

Ezra sighed, but straightened his shoulders and set the remaining deck by his left hand. The others had gathered round in a rough semi-circle, some standing, some sitting.

"The first pile represents the past," the prince stated. "And hopes for the future."

The prince reached forward and turned over the first card, looking at it curiously.

Thankfully, it was not the seven of hearts. Instead, it was the seven of diamonds. He gave a small smile.

"This represents arguments, fighting, plans and attempted battles. It also represents failed plans, and other annoying things."

"Ha," Buck said, "That certainly makes sense."

"What's next?" Chris asked, leaning forward on his knees where he was sitting.

Ezra flipped the next card, "the six of diamonds. A journey, by water or by convoy, meaning that you were not necessarily moving of your own volition, but that someone else was guiding you."

JD gave an involuntary shudder at the memory of the horrible ship he'd taken with Vin to get to Danaeria. The others said nothing, though their faces darkened slightly.

"And last," Ezra continued, flipping the last card. He smiled, "The two of diamonds."

"The two? What does it mean?" Josiah asked.

"Balance, my friend," Ezra smiled warmly. "Courage, friendship, concord in the state of arms."

Chris raised his eyebrows, while Buck grinned and whacked Vin's arm. The scout gave him a dark look and rubbed his shoulder.

"So, that's the past," Josiah said. "Lots of diamonds."

"Diamonds are the cards of war, my friends. Of sharp edged swords and hard won battles." The prince shrugged. "Depending on who you talk to, they are also the cards of hubris, wealth and greed."

"Often related," Chris muttered.

"True," the prince agreed. "And now we look at the present." He moved his hand to the center pile. Gingerly, he lifted the top card. For some reason, again, he thought it might be the seven of hearts. It wasn't...it was the eight. The prince's expression darkened.

"What does that mean?" Vin asked, seeing the look.

Ezra snorted, "Unhappiness," he said, "Turning your back on what you have – which is felicity, enterprise, success – to either try something new, or simply because you no longer believe in it."

"How nice," Buck noted sourly. "Cheery."

Ezra lifted the next card, which was the four of hearts.

"Another heart," JD said, interested.

"Yes. The four of hearts – weariness, aversion to what is offered, rejection of help and goodness, disquiet with ones surroundings, imaginary troubles besetting the paranoid."

"Better and better," Buck smiled. "I always thought hearts were cards of love and hopes."

"Most are, but there are always rotten apples in every hand," Ezra shrugged and turned the next card over. The seven of hearts. His hand trembled slightly. He wondered if anyone else noticed.

"Well," he said, "That completes that pile."

"Why, what is the seven of hearts?"

"Visions," Ezra looked at JD. "Promises and dreams, favors and hopes, enterprise and the like."

"Sounds positive," Josiah said, looking at Ezra. The prince shook his head.

"They're castles in the clouds, mage. Fake. Unattainable. Impermanent. You can reach for them, but they will never come to pass."

"But...Wells told me it was a card of hope," JD interjected. Ezra shook his head.

"False hopes," he said coldly. "Let's stop this."

"No...go on," Chris said. "I assume you have the future in that last set. We've listened this far, let's hear the rest."

Ezra shook his head. "No, this is pointless. They're just cards."

"Then what harm is there?" Buck demanded. He was standing, and crossed his arms to stare down at the prince. The hairs rose on the back of Ezra's neck. Something felt wrong here.

"Yes, go on, Ez," JD indicated the cards impatiently. "Only three to go."

"You may as well," Nathan agreed. "That is to say, though I don't necessarily believe in this either, it is somewhat amusing." But the curious light in his eyes betrayed him behind the nonchalant facade.

"It appears you are outvoted," Josiah said, "as I also want to know what they are."

Ezra looked at Vin, the only one not to have spoken. The scout was frowning, but, after a moment, he nodded. He agreed with the others.

Swallowing, the prince tried to shrug off the feelings of unease and turned the first card over. He hissed.

"More diamonds," Josiah noted. "Strange that all the cards have been red, don't you think?"

"What does the nine of diamonds signify, Ezra?" JD asked.

The prince didn't answer. Instead, he flipped the next card.

"The ten of diamonds?" Vin said, looking at Ezra's face. The prince was losing the colour from his face. Still, he turned the last card. The three of diamonds.

"No," he muttered staring at all the red.

"What does it mean?" Chris demanded. "What is it?"

"This can't be right." Shaking his head, Ezra grabbed the deck and turned it over. With a gasp he let the cards fall from his fingers.

"Well, there are the black cards," Nathan said, not looking closely.

"No, they're not," JD stepped forward and picked one up. "They're all just one card."

"What?" Chris leaned forward, staring at the splayed deck. "What is going on here."

"Perhaps the Rook is playing with us again?" Vin asked, looking up at the others.

"Or Light is giving us a warning?" Josiah suggested. "What do they mean, Ezra?"

"The seven of clubs," JD put his card down with the others. "Casey told me it was advantage over one's enemies. A card of victory. Is that right?" He looked at Ezra, to find that the prince had crossed his arms over his chest and shaking his head.

"They're just cards," Nathan said, not very convincingly. "And besides, how can diamonds be bad? They all seemed fairly positive before," he pointed to the cards representing their past.

"As I said before, Diamonds...when I read cards...represent the swords of the deck," Ezra said softly, looking up again. "Very little about the swords are positive, though there are a few," he looked at the deuce, wishing he had the balance and equanimity it promised right now. Then he shook his head, "But, of all the cards in a deck, the worst are the diamonds you see before you. The nine signifies desolation, fraud, misery and despair. The ten means pain, affliction, agony. And the three...the three is dishonour, loss of faith in those closest to you, the breaking...no...the stabbing of the heart on all sides." He looked up at them all, "Your closest friends betraying you."

"And the club card?" Chris asked softly.

Ezra closed his eyes, "The image represented by that card is of a single man beset by his enemies. He stands above them, wielding his staff...his wand, using it to keep the evil at bay. The evil is represented by six staffs threatening him from below."

"Six against one," Buck frowned. "So what you are saying is that the cards suggest one of us is going to turn against the others."

"Or, that we are all going to turn against each other," Ezra said, looking at the cards. "The breaking of our group."

"They're just cards!" Nathan said. "I could care less what they say! The future is NOT set, you hear me?! I will not believe in this garbage!" Glaring at Ezra and the others, he strode away from the group to sit on the edge of the wards to stare out at the woods.

"I believe in destiny," Josiah said quietly. "That some bonds are created that can never be broken. It is our destiny to be together, not apart. Whoever has magicked these cards is playing with us." With a shake of his head, he too walked away, headed towards Nathan to speak with the upset healer.

"Could...could you have read them wrong, Ezra?" JD asked, eyes wide. "I mean, you said that you read the diamonds as the swords. What if diamonds represent something else?"

"They are what I believe them to be, JD. Diamonds are swords in my deck. Had I believed, say, spades to be swords, I am sure I would be looking at the same numbers on spades."

"This is absurd," Vin stood up and crossed his arms. "I'm with Josiah and Nate. It's not the cards, but what's in here that matters." He tapped his chest with his fingers.

Chris was still staring at the black seven, then he looked directly at Ezra. Light green eyes met dark. Then Chris looked up at Buck.

"What's the watch schedule tonight?" he asked the captain gruffly.

Buck sighed, "Um...You and me first, I think. Then Nathan and Vin. JD, Josiah and Ez last."

"Right, then let's bed down. I think we've had enough games for one night, don't you?" Standing, the gunslinger brushed off his black cape and headed towards the horses to grab his bedroll and satchel. Shrugging, Buck followed. Vin sighed and reached forward to help collect the cards. Ezra knocked his hand away.

"I've got it," he said coldly. Vin's brow furrowed imperceptibly, but he nodded.

"Come on, kid," the scout said to JD, who was just standing there with a miserable look on his face, "let's get set for bed."

Slowly, carefully, Ezra pulled the cards together. In a short period of time, he had reformed the deck. Closing his eyes, he shook the cards in his hands, letting them slide around. He did this until his fingers began to tingle, and his brow furrowed as he commanded the cards to return to him. Opening his eyes, he cut the deck, felt along the edges...and flipped the top card.

He frowned. Again, it wasn't the ace of spades, as he'd hoped, but it was, in some ways, something more interesting.

"The seven of spades," he whispered, lifting it up. Looking up, his eyes traveled to where the others were settling down, looking for the least rocky patches of earth. His eyes lingered on them all, then on one in particular. Gripping the card, he brought it to his chest. Then, grimacing, he looked down at it again and shook his head.

He was now holding the Ace of Spades.

'We'll see," he said, looking up again. "We'll see."

Chapter Four

Vin yawned and reached up to rub at his eyes with his fist. They were watering with the number of times he'd yawned in the past five minutes, and he could feel that they were bloodshot. The air around him also seemed heavier than normal, almost oppressively humid. Considering it was still early spring and they were in the mountains, it should have been enough to warn the scout, but his brain had stopped working properly around the twentieth yawn.

"Na...," he yawned again, "Nathan, are you falling asleep?" he blinked furiously and stood up, looking across the campsite to where his watch partner was leaning against a rock. Between the two of them, the others were curled up inside their blankets around the dying embers of the fire they'd built, as peaceful as can be. Vin frowned when the healer didn't answer him.

"Nathan?"

Staggering towards Nathan's resting figure, he somehow tripped over Josiah's leg when his feet refused to lift high enough. Landing hard on his stomach with a whumpf, he cried out loudly in annoyance and pain. Gritting his teeth, he turned himself over in order to apologize to the mage.

Josiah never stirred.

"Josiah?" Vin crept forward and touched a hand to the mage's arm. It was warm and he could tell from the blades of grass ticking the man's nose that he was still breathing. The scout frowned. He should have awoken.

Shaking his head, he resolved to tell Nathan.

If he ever got over there.

It suddenly seemed incredibly difficult to stand up. He had to consciously tell his legs to move under him, for his arms to push him off the ground, and his back to straighten as he stood. His whole body felt like it was made of lead. Vin swayed, stumbled, and looked again at Nathan.

"Healer," he hissed. "Healer! Something's...something's wrong!"

Nathan didn't move. In fact, as the bright moonlight came out from behind a silver cloud, the scout nervously realized the healer was as fast asleep as the others.

"Nathan! Wake up, damn it!" Vin physically bit his lip, hoping to use the pain to shock himself into wakefulness. All it did was make his lip throb slightly. Spitting out the metallic tasting blood he'd drawn, he got himself all the way to Nathan's rock.

Falling to his knees next to his partner, he reached out and shook the healer's shoulder, "Nathan! Nathan, can you hear me? You have to wake up!"

Nothing. The healer was dead to the world.

And Vin's vision was getting grayer and fuzzier by the moment.

"What is going on," he demanded of the soft air. As he spoke, he tried to gather himself up to move away from Nathan, but his body refused to climb up again to his feet. Still on his knees, he peered out at the dark night through half-lidded eyes, trying to find the cause of this. "No...," he shook his head, "...I...won't...." His body tipped forward, and his hands hit the cold earth in front of him, supporting him, "...fall...." Gray eyes shut. The lids were just too heavy. The world was too heavy. "...asleep...."

That last word was hissed out at the calm, quiet grove. After that, the only other odd sound heard was that of a body falling heavy on its side to the ground.

________________________________

It was only a few seconds. Animals scattered. Birds disappeared. The crickets stopped their symphony. They knew what was coming, and it wasn't interested in them.

Soft laughter drifted across the clearing from the woods. If any creature or insect still hung around, it instantly made itself scarce.

From out of the gloom, a single shadow separated itself from the rest and headed towards the group of men on the ground.

A long, heavy black cape covered the being from head to toe, hiding its face. The fabric shimmered and shook in the bright moonlight as it moved, like mica in a granite wall. The being itself didn't walk so much as drift as it closed in on Josiah's wards, the cape dragging along the ground without ever separating from it.

At the edge of the circle it stopped. It had watched the mage create the shield of air magic, and even now it could feel the strength of the invisible wall. The soft chuckle returned, amused.

Then, a strange sound. Like that of dry sand being poured out of a jug to the ground. The based of the cloak shifted and changed, turning into dirt, and the being sank into the earth. Soon the chuckle faded, hidden beneath the sound of the cascading sand as the creature's entire body seemed to collapse into the earth.

And it was gone.

Silence returned to the clearing.

Near Vin's feet, the earth shook slightly. Dirt and earth shifted, then started to turn in circles, as if a tiny cyclone had chosen that place to set itself down....except that there was no wind.

And then the sand and earth rose upwards, swirling ever faster, forming itself into the black hood of a cape. Shoulders came next, and arms, and the torso, until the rest of the being reformed itself completely from the sand that was its source.

Once whole again, the cloak as black as the shadows again, the being turned and looked down at the scout. It knelt down on one knee and looked closely at the sleeping face.

"You lasted longer than most, young one," it whispered. The voice was soft and scratchy, like old paper. "And for that, I will give you the honor of being first."

One arm lifted itself away from the body, and a pale hand, colored blue in the moonlight, became visible. The hand held something, and, as it passed over the sleeping Vin's face, it opened.

A glittering silver powder drifted gently down, disappearing as it reached the scout's face. Vin frowned in his sleep, and the being nodded.

"Welcome to the Border, Vin Tanner," it whispered.

It stood then and walked over to Nathan, repeating the process. In moments, it had walked the entire circle, releasing the silver powder into the air over all seven men. When it had finished, it walked close to the embers of the campfire, stopping just next to it. Lifting up its hands, it gently lifted the hood of the cloak off its head.

He was handsome, no question. Almost beautiful. Jet black hair, black eyes, and dark lips framed a pale face, the angles of the jaw, nose and cheekbones as sharp as if they had been carved. As he looked at the seven men at his feet, he smiled.

"I am Morpheus," he told them, "I am the Sandman. The Border is my kingdom..." he laughed again, but this time, there was no softness to the sound, "and in the Border you belong to me."

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Continue to PART TWO: The First Four