The rag tag band of dragonborne, the remnants of an army, and Lineak hobbled through rocky terrible terrain a tremendous feeling of accomplishmet coursing through their veins.  They had just laid to rest a horrific evil and the feeling was incredible.  As wonderful as the feeling was though it was tainted by the sheer number of dragonborne slain over the last few days.  An army that once numbered in the hundreds now numbered in the dozens.  As horrible as the losses were however there was a sense of hope that permeated the group.  With the enemy defeated they would no longer have to live in fear of being hunted down and massacred or of being exterminated by mass poisonings of their food sources being tainted.  The last they would have to make do with for the short term but plans were already in place to accomodate it.

The sun changed position in the sky overhead and the army grew closer to their destination.  An hour before sunset the men began attempting to build a camp of sorts and Lineak was more than impressed when a few dragonborne worked together to create temporary shelters that seemed to grow straight out of the earth itself.  Small little burrows really but easily big enough for the remnant that was left.  Small magical fires were lit providing warmth and light while stories were told about the fallen and about the future of the dragonborne race.

Nearly asleep Lineak reached into his pocket and his fingers brushed paper.  He could not recall where it was from or why it was in there.  Curious he pulled the small scraps of paper out and studied them.  Strange writings covered them as much as he stared at them he could make no sense of them.  Confused he turned to one of the dragonborne.

"Is this in any language you can read?"

"It's old, very old.  Those symbols down at the bottom of this one look like runes.  I can't tell you anything else though.  Maybe Harazthgar the Old will be able to help you.  Him or one of the other elders."

Runes? Lineak tried to think back to anything he had ever read or heard about runes.  Strange figures drawn or carved onto objects and had some kind of a magical property about them.  A lightbulb when off inside his mind and he grabbed hold of the shotgun.  He tried to hold the barrel up to the light to glimpse inside but the dancing shadows of the fire made it impossible.  He would have to try to figure things out in the morning when there was more light.  The revolver had glowed blue as well once before.  He unholstered the pistol and stared down the barell small etchings could barely be seen along all sides.  Runes.

Who had put runes inside these weapons? How did that man and woman get hold of them? What was the purpose of the runes? So many questions and not even a hint at answers.  Matter of fact the questins only brought up more questions, also without answers.  With the weapons in his possession and the scraps of paper as well he decided staying on this planet might just be worth it.  He might learn something, something useful.  Hopefully nobody would try killing him in the process.

The last thought brought a brief chuckle before he closed his eyes and went to sleep for the night.

Morning brought with it stomaches that hadn't been fed in the last two days, and attitudes.  The idea for small hunting parties was brought up before being vetoed.  It was still possible for all of the nearby game to be poisoned.  A collective groan went through the ranks but was silenced when it was brought to everyone's attention there would be food, and much of it, when they arrived back at their cave.  A renewed vigor livened the spirits and temporarily silenced growling stomaches and argumentative mouths.

Lineak made his rounds appologizing he was going to have to depart from the others.  In his current hungry state he pointed out he was an enourmous danger to them.  Not one of the dragonborne had the slightest disagreement with Lineak's choice.  In an hour he was free of the group as he walked he caught the scent of sheep on the wind and his mouth began salivating.  Moments later he felt his body growing smaller.  He quickly adjusted to the wolf form and loped in the direction of the wonderfull odor.

The kill was quick as was the meal that Lineak made of it.  Blood and viscera lay in a disorganized mess on the ground next to what remained of the carcass.  As Lineak lay on the ground contented he was sent back to his feet when the sound of howls came his way.  He raised his voice along with theirs.  The howl seemed almost a defiant one he thought.  Telling the planet that whatever was thrown at the the wolves would survive.  Rather fitting for me Lineak thought before laying back down.

The sound of growls and snarls woke him.  It seemed the pack he had howled with had found him.  They had finished where he had left off with the lamb and were now fighting amongst themselves for scraps.  The largest of the wolves, a massive grey wolf with a white blaze on his chest, approached Lineak with teeth bared.  Unsure what to do Lineak stood and looked at the wolf.  The brief moment of eye contact triggered a rage in the wolf who quickly lunged forward on the attack!

Without a thought and without any form of control on his part Lineak's body changed.  No longer wolf and no longer man in his werewolf state he grabbed the wolf's throat in midair.  Bringing it up near his face he roared.  He set the wolf on the ground and then returned to his wolf form moments later.  The once alpha wolf departed from his prescence tail between his legs.  As he did the other wolves came one by one to show their loyalty to their new pack leader.

Lineak lost track of time running with the wolf pack.  With the pack he found a bond unlike anything he had found before.  Loyalty was absolute as were the drive and desire for hunting.  It was also with the pack that he found himself learning to shift at will between his three forms wolf, man, and werewolf.  Not only had the ability to shift at will come to him but the time it took to shift had lessened tremendously.  The changes hadn't effected his time with the wolves in very many ways other than they had allowed him to remain the alpha.

As the alpha wolf he had learned to cue in on the body language of the rest of the pack as well as the yips, growls and barks.  He learned the variety of howls and their meanings as well.  Already being a hunter he had brought his hunting knowledge to the pack only to find the pack had its own hunting tools.  Never before had he been forced to use senses other than sight so often and for such prolonged amounts of time.  His aleady acute senses seemed to open up to another world of possibilities as he used them in new ways.

Day after day week after week he stayed with the wolves.  Playing, hunting, sleeping and occasionly putting a rival in his place were quickly becoming the norm.  It took the wolves ranging into new territory for Lineak to recall what it was that felt he needed to do on the planet.

On that particular day Lineak drawing on his past hunting skills followed day old scat from numerous deer north.  The trail was an easy one to follow as the sheer size of the herd meant there were prints all over the ground.  With the memory of the last deer they had felled fresh in his mind Lineak was ready and eager for the kill.  He pushed the pack faster and farther beyond their borders.  The forest gave way to an unusual environment.  Huge rock formations stood towering over a red sandy domain.  Trees had disappeared entirely but the landscape held a variety of small brush like vegetation.

The shifting wind swept sand meant Lineak had to fall back on hunting like a wolf utilizing his senses of smell and hearing.  He sniffed the air smelling water, deer and feer.  His feet sinking into the sand hit something underneath repeatedly as did the other wolves.  What it was he could not tell.  Something not normal his mind told him.  He took a moment to begin digging into the sand and eventually found what he and the other wolves were walking on, glass.  Somewhat perplexed he turned his attention from the discovery and back to the hunt.

A few miles north from the discovery that they were all walking on glass Lineak encountered a small structure in the sand.  A single structure basic in every way sat in the midst of nothingness.  If the small one roomed structure was not strange enough the deer's fear seemed to radiate from this location.  Looking around at the pack he could tell it was making them uncomfortable as well.  He paced around the structure taking it in.  What was it about those designs that intrigued him?  He sat on his haunches trying to think when a conversation from what seemed like a lifetime came to him.

"It's old, very old.  Those symbols down at the bottom of this one look like runes."

Why was that conversation important to him? He couldn't recall the why, only that it was.  He approached the door to the structure, sniffed it and then brought his eyes level with a small hole in the door.  Stairs.  Out in the middle of nowhere in a one room building there were stairs going down.  He turned his attention to his pack for a moment studying their behaviour before swiftly changing into his werewolf form.  In just a moment he had completely freaked the pack out sending them running for their lives, good.  This was something he had to do on his own.  He approached the door and using his superior strenth ripped it away from the rest of the structure.  Inside he changed to what was now an unfamiliar form, his human one.

Lineak descended the stairs and was greeted with a door on the right, and more stairs.  He turned the nob but the door didn't open.  Fair enouh he thought before changing forms just long enough to try and break the door down with his muscle and bulk in werewolf form.  This door stood firm.  He changed back to human form and studied the door for a moment before wiping away cobwebs, sand and dust.  There they were those rune things.  They were inscribed all along the doorframe and even into the door itself.  He would have to come back later.  He turned back to the stairs and once again descended deeper into the mysterious place.

Light faded away as Lineak began moving farther under the earth although a faint blue light was coming from somewhere.  He went through the strange belongings that had reappeared when he changed forms and saw two metallic objects that were glowing that strange blue on the inside.  He took the larger of the two placed the non-glowing end against his shoulder and directed the light from the other end at the walls and stairs ahead of him.

The stairs ended on a small platform wit two doors one infront of him and again one on the right.  He tried the door on the right once again it didn't open.  The door ahead of him was different, metal, all metal.  Something about the door made him try to think, try to remember another door.  What was it? 

Hassska vitara gnementayna.

The words were foreign to him but somehow familiar what was it about those words? He stumbled through them once, twice growing more confident with each repitition.  The fourth time the door swung open granting him access to whatever mysteries lay beyond.  Strange, the door seemed to have opened into a cave of some kind. 

This cave seemed to be rather well equipped.  Overhead lights lit up a large and open cavern.  Huge concrete pillars were placed strategically around the cavern to ensure it didn't collapse.  In the center of the cavern a large wooden square stood four feet higher than the surrounding floor.  Steps lead up to it the top of this strange square held a small cube roughly three feet in height width and length. As Lineak approached it he could see a seating area ahead.  This square must have been where somebody important addressed a large grouping of people.

He looked around the chamber small tables seating four to five people each were numerous as were chairs.  They were economic in nature able to withstand weight but simple in design and function, just cheap chairs.  Beyond the tables and chairs what looked like long sets of stairs that went nowhere.  Who would make stairs twenty feet long that went nowhere? 

The cavern held nothing else to hold his attention so he began searching for passages that led elsewhere, there were three.  It looked as if the three passages may have been at ont point mere extensions of the existing cave.  These extensions had been heavily modified now each one with precise floors and walls.  The corridors each had been painted different colors as well blue, pink and green all pastel.

With three choices Lineak decided what the hell and proceeded down the blue passage.  The passage had a gradual arc to it and within the outsive curve of the arc were numerous doors.  Lineak took the time to open each door finding each room to be nearly identical.  A large desk sat at one end of the room facing numerous desks, classrooms it would seem.  What was taught here he wondered.  He continued his progress eventually finding a passage leading off to the right also blue.  He veered off in the new direction somewhat puzzled when the passage changed from blue to pink.

In this particular passageway there was no longer an arc and doorways lined both sides.  Intrigued he enterered the first door on his right.  It also appeared to be a classroom of some sort.  Instead of desks this one had fairly high tables lining two sides of the room.  The beakers that lay strewn about were the final clue needed to surmise this had once been a lab of some kind.  He exited the room and opened a door on the other side of the hallway.  This room's walls were a vibrant white that somehow had been able to repel the massive amounts of dust and cobwebs that were present everywhere else.  What they had not been able to repel were what looked like burn marks in the floor, ceiling and walls.  No desks or chairs in this room it nonetheless had a feel of a classroom with the loose papers that littered the floor.  Lineak picked one up to see if he was correct and grimmaced.  Strange undecipherable writing from top to bottom nothing he could read for sure.  He pocketed the paper for further study.

Down the entire length of this pink passage were similar rooms.  Some still contained books of one kind or another.  These Lineak looked over before either discarding, taking or ripping loose a few pages.  The amount of information in this place was staggering.  Books in the various labs covered subjects ranging from baic chemistry to nuclear fission and from basic anatomy to what was called cybernetics.  Whoever had been in this place must have been incredibly brilliant, or a lot smarter than himself.  In the other labs the books also covered a variety of subjects, at least those he could read.  Mystical Uses of Common Flaura and Fauna was an interesting find he though although he left it on the floor.  Magical Beasts was the title of another Lineak laughed at the title and set it aside.  Magical beasts indeed.  He was on the verge of exiting that room when he paused before returning to the book.  He flipped through it until he hit the w section.  Werewolf was indeed in the book. 

He quickly found himself immersed in the particular section of the book.  Lycanthropy passed down by being attacked with tooth or claw of an infected beast and living through it, fascinating.  It made sense of course Lineak himself had been attacked before becoming a werewolf.  He continued reading.  Superior senses, check.  Strength, dexterity and stamina increased also a check.  Ability to turn from human into a bloodthirsty killing machine? That was a check too.  Strange they did not list the ability to shift into a wolf though.  Lineak cringed as he continued reading.  Methods for dealing with such creatures silver weapons not limited to swords and spears bullets are far safer and work just as well.  If  captured DO NOT ATTEMPT STARVATION.  Lineak chuckled at the warning wondering how many bodies had been chewed on before learning that lesson.  He turned the page only to find the section concluded.  So much for that.  He threw the book over his shoulder and exited the room.

As Lineak continued working his way though the rooms he encountered more and more oddities.  Animals in jars filled with some foul smelling concoction.  Strange drawings on the walls and floors of the magical labs.  What Lineak guessed were plans for electric motors, what fool would give up on gasoline?   What troubled Lineak most though were the vials of liquid he found in the magic labs.  Vials of bright pink, purple and blue.  All three tucked away inside of a locked desk.  They lay beside some book called the Art of War.  He had picked up the book and read a few passages only to snort in amusement.  It read like it was written hundreds if not thousands of years ago.  Still there might be something worthwile in it.  He placed it alongside the other occasional books he deemed worth more inverstigation.

The pink hallway gave way to the open expanse where he had started his exploration.  That was interesting.  He had been through the pink and the blue it was time to explore the green passage.  This passage arced similar to the blue but in the opposite direction.  This time there were doors on his right and none on the left.  Room after room that he entered appeared to be living quarters, and there were lots of them.  Bunkbeds lined both walls of the small rooms inbetween them a very small living space leading to a door.  The door lead to a small bathroom and to another door on the other side.  Unsurprisingly the door led to another room in turn leading to another bathroom and so on.  If he was going to rest anywhere right here was probably as good a spot as any he decided.  He jumped on one of the bunkbeds unsurprised when the material and the bed itself collapsed under his weight.  He'd just put his back up against a wall and rest, better that way.

A short rest was all Lineak needed to recharge himself.  He continued going through the rooms one by one looking for the final room.  The last room had a final door that indeed led to a bathroom that was not used jointly.  It was much larger than the others and furnished considerably different.  The other bathrooms had been spartan with a tolet a shower and a sink no more no less.  This bathroom held a bathtub large enough to bathe at least four people in addition to a massive shower along with a toilet and sink.  In addition to the sink there was a large cabinet over the sink.  Lineak opened the cabinet and as he did a key fell off the top into the sink.  He quickly retrieved the key before peering inside the cabinet.  Inside there was nothing of interest, a pity.  The key though no telling what its use had been.

Having discovered the last of the rooms Lineak began going back through the earlier rooms more thoroughly.  If these were living quarters perhaps the people who had lived here had left other belongins behind besides a few books and a key.  Most of the rooms offered nothing of value.  There were the books both fiction and nonfiction.  There were clothes that were rotting, the same in every room.  What was most interesting was some strange device hidden under one of the rotting mattresses.  Lineak shook his head imagining some poor lad hiding it away there and wondered what had happened to him.  He'd never know he guessed. 

After finishing with the living quarters the next set of doors he came upon opened into a large open room full of long rectange tables.  Along one wall was a set of double doors he guessed, looking around, that they would lead to a kitchen.  This must have been the mess hall.  Who had these people been and where did they go? He tried to piece together bits of information from what he'd seen.  Magic and science both being taught here.  The absence of toys of any kind meant no small children.  The spartan rooms and same clothes present in each uniforms maybe? The pieces clicked together in his mind, some kind of a military school.  Then what was it doing this far underground? And what was on the floors overhead?

The green corridor opened into two passages one preceeding forward and one going off to the left, a pink one.  Lineak grinned knowingly, he'd been expecting this.  He went forward just past the pink passage and saw the green passage turn to blue.  It was as he'd expected.  The green and blue passages formed a semicircle split down the middle by the pink passage.  Rooms extended along the outside perimeter in what shape he couldn't tell.  What he could tell was that he was going to have to revisit the last of the living quarters.  Starting there to find out what the key went to.

He walked the short distance back to the room and begin to search in earnest.  His hands roamed over the walls searching for tactile inconsistencies, nothing.  He searched the walls and floor with his eyes looking for mismatches in the paint or floor pattern, nothing.  Sighing he sat on the side of the tub looking over towards the large shower.  Why have both? Shower and bath, why? He turned so that he was sitting with his feet in the tub and stared at its bottom.  The drain hole was too big, it had to be.  He put his hand up to the drain and grinned.  Rather than being able to put a few fingers in the drain he was able to put his entire hand down inside.  It felt almost second nature to curl his fingers and pull backwards at that point.  As he did the bottom of the tub lifted up revealing the door of a safe below.  Key in hand Lineak approached the safe, the key fit.

The click that followed Lineak putting the key in the safe ecoed ominously in Lineak's mind.  What was he going to find?  He was almost scared to find out.  Curiousity took Fear by the throat and crushed it.  He needed to know.  He opened the large door and was not entirely surprised by what he found.  The safe was deep, much deeper that he had anticipated.  Inside the safe pistols, rifles, ammo and large wooden dowls?  This place taught magic they couldn't be dowls, wands then? Amidst the weaponry Lineak caught sight of a familiar blue glow.  It was coming from a partially open box of ammunition.

He reached for the box and began to examine it.  The box itself was a standard ammo box holding .45 ammo, nothing special.  He then opened the box.  Inside four rounds of ammo each one glowing blue, and yet each one different.  A desire to load his rune laden revolver suddenly came over him but he fought the temptation.  These rounds could be dangerous.  He knew nothing about them after all.  He pocketed the four shells and began digging farther into the safe.

At the very back of the safe Lineak found three small books, but not books.  The writing was not printed on the page as per the norm.  These were handwritten by somebody.  He began trying to read them but soon found he could not.  He took his time going through the pages though studying pictures drawn on the pages.  It seemed as if they were drawings of the inside of his guns.

Guns.  The word came easily to his mind.  How had he not known what they were earlier? How quickly one forgot such things in wolf form.  It seemed to be true if you didn't use it you lost it.  He fully intended on using not only the firearms but his mind.  This place was one big puzzle and he wanted to find out everything he could about it.  He shook his head at the thought though.  As of now there was still no way to gain access to the above floors.  He would have to take the odds and ends that he had aquired and try to glean any information he could from them.  That meant finding somebody who could actually read the writing.  Finding anybody was going to be be a challenge.  As a wolf he'd avoided contact with anything other than other wolves and prey.  What was life without a challenge though?

The sun beating down on him reminded him he had not had anything to drink in what felt like days.  It might have been.  It was before he had entered the strange building anyway.  The wind blew the red sands in this area so fast and so frequently that he was unable to get his bearings.  He tried using his other senses only to hear, see, and feel the wind and sand battering him as the sun baked him.  What a way to die he thought to himself.  His energya and his will expended he staggered and fell face first into the sand.

"Hey lookit what we got here."

"Reckon he doesn't look like much of a dragon."

"If he's dead I get his guns."

"His chest is moving he's not dead, yet."

"Are you really going to patch up that scrawly little nothing?"

"You forget we're down three men here?"

"No.  No I haven't forgotten.  Fine fix him up and lets get out of here."

Lineak awoke to a cool rag being brushed across his face.  He tried opening his eyes but could only see blackness.  He moved his hands frantically searching for any ifnformation about his present predicament.  His body was intact, more than that it was healed.  His hands met slight resistance and he quickly discerened his was lying on a bed of some kind with covers pulled tight around him firmly securing his body and limbs.  The cool rag being used on him there might be a clue there.  He breathed in deeply testing the air and was rewarded with the scent of sweat mingled with an intriguing scent of flowers.  Either there were flowers present or somebody was wearing perfume.

"Slow down stranger you don't want to over exert yourself.  I have questions and you're going to give me answers.  If I like your answers I'll release you.  Hell, I might even let you join us.  You ready?"

The voice was feminine almost sweet but with a hint of steel to it.  Her speach was forced not her native language? But she had known it was his somehow.  Thinking hurt his head it would be so much better to just drift off to sleep and deal with the situation later.  The slap impacted with the force of a freight train forcing the entire bed Lineak was on to move.  He opened his eyes to state about in the dark depths to find who had hit him and why.  From the other side of the bed another slap just as potent. 

"No games.  You're awake and going to stay that way until we have our answers.  Is that understood? Now then Lineak, that is your name, how did you come to be out here in the middle of nowhere where we could stumble across you armed to the teeth no less."

Lineak tried to talk but found he could not.  His mouth was too dry, his mind too fuzzy, and his willingness to give this woman anything was hair thin.  She could have introduced herself before smacking the crap out of him for starters.  He tried once more to utilize his other senses.  Multiple heartbeats off to his left a creature with multiple hearts seemed unlikely so a pair of visitors.  The strong scent of antisceptic strange he hadn't smelled it before.  His hands rubbed the surrounding fabric,  beneath him he could feel the texture of mass manufactured garbage quality sheets.  Wouldn't bury my worst enemy in those.  He rotated his wrists to feel the fabric above him.  Strange it was almost like it was made for the current purpose.  Strong coarse thread interwoven with metal of some kind to give it added strength withought losing any of its warmth.  He could be wrong but he wasn't thinking this product came cheap.

"Satisfied?" 

A cool cup of liquid was brought to him and he felt himself lifted up into an upright position.  A straw lifted up to his mouth.  He was tempted to sip and then spit the liquid but his mind was changed the moment it passed his lips.  The fluid was thick almost like honey but had a creamy texture to it.  The taste was phenomenal tasting akin to sugary fresh lemons.  The fluid oozed down his troat and whatever it touched was instantly soothed.

"Now.  Back to our questions."

A light flickered followed by others before the room was bathed in a soft yellow light from overhead bulbs.  Lineak gasped as he studied the woman in front of him.  If he didn't know any better she could be the previous owner of his shotgun.  A woman who had tried to seduce him on the field of battle.  One he had savagely disposed of right after she had terminated her own lover.

Lineak stared at the woman his mind reeling.  He had only laid eyes on the other woman twice before, and only briefly.  However she had made one hell of an impact on his life.  He tried to conceal his recognition but knew it was probably in vain.  He wasn't the greatest of liars to begin with and the stress of the situation was going to make matters worse.  He a moment to look over the woman carefully before responding to her questions.  She was petite but hourglass shaped standing roughtly five feet tall.  Her pale skin was highlighted by her vibrant red hair and bright green eyes.  Hight cheekbones and almond shaped eyes gave her an intoxicating and mysterious appeal.  Her womanly curves and small waist did little to curb the appeal. 

From what he'd heard the best way to tell a lie was to hide it in truth.  It wasn't much to go on as he didn't have too much practice but it was better than nothing.

"I'm a mercenary hired to come down to this planet and investigate what was happening to the locals in the area.  I found out they were being experimented on and exterminated.  The locals and I fought back and eradicated the threat.  I've been looking for a way off of this rock since."

"No food, no water and no sign of the locals.  You really expect me to buy your story? Or how about these little books you have here? These runes might just get you killed.  What do you know about them?"

"They were in a ruin I came across and were about the only thing there that may have had any value.  As I said I'm a mercenary and I need off of this rock.  I thought I could sell them somewhere.  They're bound to have some kind of value."

"Lineak we're going to have to test your value as a merc to see if you're worth our time and effort.  If you live you may join us.  Die, and well you won't.  I hope you're up for the challenge."

The woman grabbed hold of the blankets securing him to the bed and whipped them off. 

"No time for games you need to get ready for your fight.  Oh, the rules of the fight I almost forgot.  You are not allowed to kill your opponent.  He will not have that same rule.  Matter of fact he'll be compensated for killing you the gruiesomest way he can.  Other than that little rule there are no rules.  Come on now follow me."

It was easy to figure out Lineak and the woman were aboard a vessel of some kind although it proved impossible for Lineak to figure out what kind.  In the mazelike passageways of the ship he quickly became confused as to where they were going or had come from.  After a short time the woman stopped in front of a door placed her hand on a pannel and the door opened.

"Through here please.  You'll find fresh clothes in the closet and food and drink to recover your strength.  You have eight hours to prepare yourself.  I'll come for you then."

Lineak spent some time looking the room over.  Nothing extravagant about the room at all.  A single twin bed sat above two pull out drawers.  He ipened the drawers to find them both empty.  A single four drawer dresser up against one wall.  It held men's undergarments.  Lineak laughed at the thought.  No way was he going to die wearing some other dude's underwear.  He'd freeball it before that happened.  The closet was next on his list of things in the room to investigate.  Here he found a variety of shirts, pants and shoes of all types.  He picked out some loose fitting clothers before setting them aside and climbing on the bed.  If he was to fight he was going to be well rested before then.

The door opening woke him and he reached for a firearm that wasn't at his side.  The laughter that rang out irking him.

"You won't need that here with me.  But you may pray you had it shortly.  Follow me."

"I can't change my clothes?"

"Eight hours is eight hours.  Your time is up."

She wanted to be an ass about it Lineak could do the same.  He followed behind her kicking off his clothers along the way.  The woman didn't seem to hear him doing so, or didn't care.  From one corridor to the next they walked for roughly twenty minutes before stopping in front of a sliding door.  The woman once again put her hand to a pannel and the door swung open. 

Lineak could not have pictured this room on a ship if he had tried.  The interior of the room looked as if the floor was made of dirt.  He reached down to touch it with his hand and found it to indeed be dirt, sandy even.  He rubbed some on his hands to make sure before standing up and observing the rest of the room.  Inside a small crowd had gathered none of those in attendance wearing anything reselbling a uniform.  The crowd opened up for him and soon he found himself on the inside of a large circle surrounded by a cheering and jeering band of miscreants.

From the other side of the room chanting began slowly.

"Keegan.  Keegan.  Keegan.  Keegan."

The chanting quickly began getting faster and louder it seemed all of the occupants of the room were in a mad frenzy shouting the word over and over again.  Lineak could only assume this Keegan was gong to be his opponent.  He wondered what kind of a towering monstrosity he was going to have to face.  Wondered if today was his time to die.  His thoughts went back to his farm days where he eagerly went looking for challengers to face him one to one.  Boxing and wrestling had been his fortes then.  So much had changed in such a short time.

The crowd in front of him opened and a small figure entered the "ring".  Standing roughly five feet tall the figure was nothing like Lineak had expected.  Keegan was a humanoid figure clad in blue steel chainmail.  Fists were encased in spiked guantlets, feet and legs were encased in greeves equally spiked.  Keegan's helm was strange.  It looked to be metal in orgin but painted to represent some kind of demonic skull. 

Lineak nodded his head to the figure, Keegan nodded back. 

"Keegan kill this one and you are free.  If he wins we are adding to your sentence.  Understood? Now fight!"

The first think Lineak noticed was Keegan was fast, unbelievably fast.  Within a single second the armored figure had traveled twenty yards and delivered a devasting blow to his right kidney.  A swift kick to behind his left knee sent him down to one knee.  Followed by a blow to the head.  Blood poured from his scalp and cheek where Keegan's spiked gloves had impacted and from his side. 

With a howl of rage he found himself transforming into his werewolf form.  The only thought to kill the creature causing so much pain.  Keegan didn't seem to mind the change.  Blow after devastating blow rained down on on as he changed.  Shots to the head, the body and to the legs over and over again.  Each blow helping to weaken him even in his killer form.  He tried repeatedly to hit the small figure tormenting him but it was like hitting air.  He tried grasping hold of the amored beast only to have it duck under his arms and pound away at his exposed back.  He sceamed in pain and in frustration.

Inside his mind a small measure of humanity told the beast things had to change.  If a plan wasn't formulated it was only a matter of time before death came knocking.  How to deal with the incredible threat that was Keegan?

Speed was critical.  Lineak dropped to all fours as the change to wolf overtook him.  He wasn't going to inflict any damage in this form against an armored opponet, he knew that.  What Keegan didn't know was that he had fought fights for leadership in his wolf pack with an unusual style of fighting.  He lunged towards Keegan who brought up a knee quickly to slam into his chest cavity. 

In mid flight he began the change to werewolf and unleashed a trio of strikes with razor sharp claws.  The claws easily pierced through chainmail and soft skin underneath, the blow from Keegan's knee easily absorbed.  The force of the leap and the strikes caused Keegan to fall backward to the ground with Lineak astride.  However, Keegan did not stay there for long.  In what seemed like a heartbeat the armored figure placed several blows to Lineak's head and torso before rolling him away.  A quick leap from the ground and the two opponents were once again squaring off on their feet.

Lineak could smell blood in the air and knew it was Keegan's.  He had done some damage and would have to find other ways to do the same.  He would have to be smarter about it though.  Deal damage without receiving more in return.  How to do it though?  He returned to his wolf form as Keegan moved in to deliver more blows Lineak ran forward attempting to run between his foe's legs.  He began switching forms even before the act was complete, turning his body as he did so. 

In a split moment he turned to human form and was behind Keegan.  He tool the opportunity to grab hold and begin a suplex.  As soon as his hands were locked he began changing forms once again.  This time to werewolf.  The added size and weight of the new form increasing the potential damage incredibly.

Keegan's helm hit the ground with a sickening thud followed by gasps from those watching.  Still in werewolf form Lineak began shredding chainmail link by link.  A gunshot fired into the air caused him to cease and stare in its direction.  The woman who had led him here stared at him cooly.

"You've proven your worth.  If she's still alive."

She? Keegan was a girl? He'd been getting his ass kicked by a girl?  Lineak changed forms once again to human and looked down at Keegan.  She was stirring, barely.  He kneeled down and slowly removed her helm.  Yes, it was a girl for sure.  Not human, not exactly.  Ruby red eyes stared back at him defiantly. 

"You know what you just did you stupid oaf?"

"Uh. Just got myself more time among the living?"

"No you idiot.  You just showed Rasch what you really are.  She's never going to let you go.  Welcome to a life of enslavement, fool.  It would have been better if I'd killed you."

The red haired woman, Rasch, approached Lineak and helped him to his feet.  She grabbed his arm and held it up as she called out to those watching.

"Meet your newest champion and newest one of us! Lineak the Destroyer!"

In a quieter tone she addressed both Keegan and Lineak.

"Keegan I hope you haven't been speaking ill of me.  I'd hate to have to deal with you later.  Lineak you and I are gong to need to talk.  I knew there was something special about you.  I can't wait to hear all the juicy details.  A werewolf on my crew.  I love it!"

Leaving Keegan in the dirt Rasch grabbed Lineak by the wrist and led him though the crowd.  Exiting the door they moved swiftly down one hallway and then another.  Finally pausing before an ornate wooden door.  The door was carved with intricate runes wich began to glow as Rasch spoke quietly.  Words that Lineak could not hear clearly let alone understand.  When she was done speaking Lineak watched in woderment as the door split in two down the middle and opened inwards.  Rasch walked in and laughing turned back towards Lineak.

"Oh come on now.  You're not afraid of a little magic are you?"

Her tone had changed.  It was off, almost flirty.  Lineak wasn't sure what to make of it.  Strange how quickly things changed.  He passed through the door to find himself in a living quarter, presumably hers.  A large four postered bed dominated the room.  A bright red comforter covered the length of the bed the bloody coloration broked up by a series of shiny black pillows.  Lineak watched semi entranced as Rasch sat on the bed and slowly began removing her garmets.

"So tell me what am I to do with you? You're obviously a skilled fighter, you'd make a great addittion to the crew I'm sure.  I'm not sure that I fully trust you though."

More and more of her skin was becoming exposed and Lineak was begining to feel less and less comfortable.  She pulled her bottoms down her legs slowly and Lineak could only gulp.  Here she was now in only bras and what passed for underwear.

"I think you know more about those papers than you are letting on and I'm going to find out one way or another."

She stood up and seductivly began walking Lineak's way.

"You can't resist me, no man can.  So. Better to just play along."

Her bras hit the floor and Lineak stared at her beautiful figure.  He wasn't sure what was going on but was sure that it didn't really involve her throwing herself at him.  It just didn't make sense.  His mind tried to give him a glimpse back to another encounter but he found his attention drawn elsewhwere.

"Look at me.  You want me I can tell.  You want to talk to me.  You need to talk to me."

The woman turned her back to Lineak, bent over and began removing her final undergarmet.  Fully exposed to his gaze she continued her verbal assault.

"You can have this, all of this.  But you need to talk to me."

A flash of memory passed through Lineak's mind and he grimmaced.  This woman and the other one he had killed had both thrown themselves at him.  There was a woman on the dragon planet who had tried doing the same.  Think... Black blood.  Not human.  A small smile passed over his face Rasch had given herself away.  No man could withstand her huh?

"Put your clothes back on you succubus slut.  I don't care if you trust me or not.  If we talk I talk on my terms.  This, this isn't them."

With a deep breath he turned his back to the woman and exited the room.

Lineak roamed the halls unknowing and uncaring of where he was going.  He was certain if he stayed here he was going to be found out.  Facing Keegan one on one he couldn't imagine going against higher odds.  In a forest he had taken on twenty to one and come out victorious, this was no forest.  So, how to use this particular environment to his advantage? He groaned in frustration.  He didn't even know his way around yet.  There was no way to use it to his advantage.  No way at al.

As he walked a small figure approached him calling out.

"Lineak? Is that you?"

The small stature and the voice it had to be Keegan.  Of all the people why was she calling out to him? Still he figured she might make an allie of sorts.  He'd take some time and try to feel her out.

"Yeah, it's me.  Been looking for me?"

"No.  Just making sure it's you.  You've been implanted with a tracking device.  I implanted you with a tracking device."

"You what? How?"

"Our fight it was easy to put a small tracker on one of the spikes on my gloves.  Remember where I hit you first? It went directly into your bloodstream.  They can track your movements anywhere onboard."

"And you're telling me this why? Out of the goodness of your heart?"

"No.  You're going to help me get out of here.  We're going to take some things with us as well."

"Things?"

"Please.  You can't tell me you haven't figured out the crew, and this ship, aren't normal.  So, we take what we can get our hands on to help us on our way.  Either an insurance policy or just added currency depending."

Lineak took a moment to think before addressing Keegan.

"Do you know why Rasch is so interested in the papers she took from me?"

"Papers what papers? What are you talking about?"

"I found some papers, runes I think, in an ancient structure she seems fascinated by them.  You've no idea why that is?"

"I assume she took you back to her room?"

"Yes, she did."

The look of disgust that came over Keegan's face was unmistakable. 

"We went to her room but nothing came of it.  Why do you even care?"

"She uses her body and magic to get what she wants out of men.  If she took you to her room she wants something from you, badly.  And don't get flattered, it's not you."

"I figured that out, thanks."

"So then she must think you know more about those rune paper things.  We'll have to make sure to take those with us.  It means finding them first though doesn't it?"

"How well do you know this vessel?"

"Well.  I've been aboard for over five years, why?"

"Going to need your help to gather my belongings and get those papers back from Rasch."

The footsteps were the first sign of things not going right.  There were many, many footsteps.  The second was when Rasch spoke up.

"Congratulations Keegan we know where your loyalties lie.  Lineak I had high hopes for you.  It doesn't seem as if things are going to work out between us though.  Gentlemen escort Lineak to an airlock and let his explore the great outdoors.  Keegan lets get you back to your cell shall we.  You did marvelous today, your acting was impeccable."

Hands reached out to grasp him by the arms, Lineak fought back.  Changing into wolf form for just a split second he then transformed into werewolf form throwing double uppercuts as he did.  Two men crumpled to the ground.  A trio of men encircled him each pulling out small extendable clubs.  Lineak smirked those woulnd't be enough to deter him, he was going to enjoy this.  He changed into human form and went into a fireman's cary on the man in front of him.  Grasping the man's arm holding the club.  With the men astride his shoulder he changed form and threw the man to the ground.  He then used the body as a springboard changing into the wolf in mid air.  Teeth soon found a jugular and man and wolf hit the ground blood spurting everywhere.  The third man turned to run and Lineak let him.  He had other fish to fry.  Rasch had heard the commotion and turned to face the wolf.