Joshuel followed his authoress around faithfully, never letting her far from his sight. He had been doing this since she had over exerted herself by turning most of an army to dust, fought what was left of the army, and then nearly went into a coma. She appeared to be doing fine now, but one never knew...
Justyne sat down at the computer and opened up her homeschoolblogger account, drumming her fingers on the mouse while the page loaded. Watching over her shoulder, Joshuel saw that she was getting ready to start a new episode for Poverty Flatts. He grinned and grabbed a chair. It was fun to watch the authors become characters as they passed the episodes around, taking turns writing. Justyne's imagination was going well today, and Joshuel suspected that wild things were in store. He felt a rippling, fading sensation as the story started...

Justyne hopped through the cluttered house known as Poverty Flatts where she lived with her four siblings and their characters. Maddock and Joshuel were stretched out on the floor playing chess, Jordaan was cleaning his weapons, Isilwen was lying on the couch, typing, and Ninwaii was reading. Theynore and Kantare were involved in a deep discussion on tactics and had turned the rug into a map: knick-knacs and odd bits of clutter making up divisions, forts and bits of geography - that necklace that Justyne had been missing for a few weeks was the cavalry line.  There were other characters about the house as well, attending to various matters that, apparently, only concerned characters.
After successfully navigating the livingroom without messing up the boy's map, Justyne entered the kitchen, her queendom, and began cleaning it up and planning the next few meals. This domestic occupation was abruptly interrupted when an arrow hissed through the open window and struck the table, impaling the recipe book she had been consulting.

Justyne stopped typing and nodded with satisfaction. The episode was now ready to be sent off.  She went to the 'select friend' section and found Theynore's username, then hit the 'send message' button. Soon, Joshuel knew, he would feel that fading sensation as he came under the control of another author....

~~**~~ 

Jordaan saw that Theynore had just received a message from his sister Justyne. Now of course as he well knew Justyne was not a relative, bloodline relative that is, but then blog adoptions were quite strange to him anyways. Theynore was quite concerned at first, knowing the stress she had been under only yesterday vanquishing half an army by herself and nearly going comatose in the process. He watched as his author's face lit up, and he went in closer for a look. He could see that a story was brewing and so he pulled up a chair and felt himself transitioning into the story, always a pleasant feeling as he recalled...

Normally things did not surprise Jordaan, though there was that one time with the hairy dustballs under the couch. Oh, and that little thingy Theynore called a rabbit's foot that was lucky. Of course he'd seen them before, but he just hadn't been ready for that little gag. But of course Jordaan would be startled when he is cleaning his weapons. "I like to think when I clean," he once said to Isilwen, "it helps me keep my mind clear." The subtle "thock" in the book on the table, startled Jordaan in one of these rare occurrences. "What was that all about?" he half shouted, half asked, being how irritated he was because his thoughts were interrupted. Everyone looked up from what they were doing and stared at Jordaan, and then the arrow in the book. Justyne was quite cool and calm about the whole thing and walked over to the arrow and extracted it from the book. "There is a note attached!" she exclaimed in excitement. Everyone stood up and looked at her in excitement. "Read it!" Joshuel prodded.

Justyne needed no goading in this matter, "Ahem, it says it is from 'Your Neighborhood Enemies'. Do we know any of these people?" 

She handed the scroll to Kantare and he looked at the handwriting. "I do not recognize this."
"Nor do I," added Theynore.
He handed the note back to Justyne and she opened it carefully...

A slow smile crossed Theynore's lips as he added the last words. Jordaan just rolled his eyes. He knew how devious Theynore could be, especially at leaving people hanging in thin air. He watched as Theynore selected the 'Select Friend' tab and went down to his dearest sister Isilwen. He would (hopefully) also be sending this to Justyne, but seeing as how fickle computers could be it could do anything, possibly even blow up. Jordaan decided to back away and go to another room to wait for another author to be dragging him back to the story...

~~**~~

Joshuel frowned crossly. Justyne had just turned off a very exciting piece of music on the excuse that it was hindering her muse. He perked up as she started another song, but she promptly turned it off. He nagged in her ear to turn the music back on. Justyne glared at him. "If I turn the music on, the 'Neighborhood Enemies' will start dancing arm-in-arm around a bonfire singing 'lai la lai lai...' and so on," she said.
Joshuel grinned. "So??"
Justyne turned away, put the music back on, and tried to start writing. The attempt failed as the music got in her blood, and she started dancing with Joshuel around the living room, singing. She sat down again later and gave the writing another try, wondering why Josh like Middle Eastern inspired music so much...

Justyne carefully spread out the scroll that had been wrapped around the arrow on a side-table, everyone leaning over her shoulders.
"You know very well who we are," the writing on the scroll said. "Meet us two hundred yards behind the gazebo, in the woods, at midnight tonight and give us the copyrights to your books. You must turn your characters over to us as well. If you do not comply, we will take what we want by force. Do not think that you will be able to resist us." The letter was signed with a red 'X'.
Justyne's eyes blazed. "Just let them try to take either Josh or my copyright! I'll turn the lot of them into dust!"
Joshuel started to say something about her over exerting herself again, then decided that the others would probably help her and keep her from fainting again and said nothing.
The other authors reacted much in the same way, although Maddock and Jordaan looked quite nervous at first. Renegades to the core, Maddock and Jordaan did not always get along with their authors, and Isilwen and Theynore often resorted to drastic methods to control them. Isilwen, however, announced that she would not let Them take 'her Maddock.' Maddock, who normally would have protested to the possesive case being used, was very relieved that he was not going to be traded off because of his behavior. Theynore's sentiments towards Jordaan were much the same.
Justyne shook her head at her brother, sister, and their characters. "It's a love-hate relationship between you four, isn't it? Now, what are we going to do about this?"
No one really had an answer to this, and there was a great deal of standing around and thumbnail-chewing until Kantare finally suggested that they hide in the woods that night and find out who They were.

Justyne rose from the computer and went into the kitchen to pace, thinking. Joshuel slipped into the computer chair and went to the 'select friend' tab, handling the mouse carefully. He selected Kantare from the list, knowing where his authoress had intended to send the episode and then clicked on 'Send Message'.
Justyne had heard him and returned to the computer to find the message sent. Joshuel saw her eyebrows start to go up.
Most people didn't think that Justyne had a temper. In fact, when she gave them her 'I-am-getting-very-angry-at-you' look, they normally laughed, not thinking that she was serious. Joshuel, however, knew that when he got that look, he'd better have either a good explanation or start out-doing himself begging for mercy.
"I didn't write anything!" he said desperatly.
Justyne calmed down imidiately. "Nothing?" Joshuel still looked like he'd been caught breaking the law and the unruly strands of hair hanging over one of his eyes only made him look guiltier.
"Weeell," Joshuel amended, "I did tell him that he should write the next part with the same layout that's been used so far and then send it to Ninwaii, but that doesn't count, does it?"
"You're sure you want to subject yourself to Kantare's pen and imagination?" Justyne asked Joshuel.
"I've already subjected myself to both Theynore and Isilwen's pens," said Joshuel dryly. "It can't get more terrifying than that. Now, can you turn that music back on?"

~~**~~

Thoene knew when Kantare was letting himself loose on the keyboard of that strange box just by the sound. He ran quickly to where his author was sitting, and saw that Joshuel was already watching. Thoene flicked his neck, slinging his dense, black hair away from his eyes. Joshuel grinned at him, and all three felt that familiar pulling into another dimension. Their dimension. The dimension in which all the authors and characters lived in a harmony that had a strange twist.
They entered their home: Poverty Flatts...

There was much bustling after Kantare made his suggestion. Ninwaii and Isilwen loudly voiced their doubts of the slung together plan, while Justyne and Theynore argued over which weapons to bring. Thoene and Maddock did not seem to care. Whatever happened they knew they would not be going on the skirmish. All the authors knew how much trouble they could cause, and besides that, they were both a little tipsy. "At least let Glynzora come along," Ninwaii complained when she found out her maid's lover, Hronthir, would not be coming. Some battle in a distant land was his excuse. "Fine," Theynore sighed as he snapped his curved dagger into it's sheath. "We may be able to use her longbow, but she is NOT to be stirring up any type of trouble. At least until we know who these "Enemies" are. Kantare drummed his fingers on the spotless countertop. Justyne was obsessed with order, and he was getting restless to begin. Isilwen bounced on her toes, restlessly fingering the blade of her short sword. "Are we going to leave or not?" she asked impatiently. "It is already getting dark, and the wood elves will be out tonight. Their magic will affect all of us; most of all those from Trinity, and we must find out who these people are before they resort to force. Kantare! Where is your weapon?" Kantare raised an eyebrow. "My weapon is water, and water is my weapon. I have power over that Element, do you not remember?" Isilwen rolled her eyes at her brother. "You will have to duel me one day you know." Finally, Justyne had found her weapons, and the six of them started out...

"Wait, you mustn't stop there!" Thoene and Joshuel exclaimed to a satisfied Kantare. The two boys had their feet propped up on Kantare's desk, and several bowls of popcorn had been consumed. Kantare clicked the Select Friend and chose his sister, Ninwaii, and he sent a copy to Justyne. Thoene sighed and sauntered out of the room to go find Jordaan. His sword hand was itching, and he knew his friend could help with that. Joshuel smiled to himself. He knew Kantare wouldn't do anything evil...yet. But change was in the air, and Joshuel felt himself slowly slipping to Ninwaii's ownership. Sounds of swordplay rang loudly from out of doors, and Joshuelshook his head at the boys antics. What would happen next, only Ninwaii and Glyn know.

~~**~~

“NinWAAAAII!!!” Glynzora bounced with excitement in front of the computer screen.
“I thought we already had the discussion about invasion of PRIVACY, Glyn,” Ninwaii grumbled when she came in and saw the monitor. “Get your own blog.”
“What’d he say? What’d he SAY?!” Glyn jumped out of the chair offering it to Ninwaii.
Ninwaii clicked on her message from Kantare and scrolled down the page, her eyes getting wider the further down she scanned.
“Oh, this is just brilliant! They want ME to tack onto this... this...”
“Anthology?”
“Thank you. And I don’t have near the capacity of imagination that they do. My dreams have a better imagination than me.”
“Ninwaii.”
“And besides, I’m not a fantasy writer. I’m just a character! A... a CHARACTER’S character!!”
“Ni-"
”Now look! I’m starting to bite my fingernails!”
“Ninwaii! Quit stressing. Just put yourself in the story.”
“IN the story?” After a quizzical glance at Glyn, Ninwaii shut her eyes tight and sat stiff against the chair.
“No, no. You’re trying too hard,” Glynzora chuckled. “Let me help you...”

The five siblings, with a few characters who had managed to come along, stood in a distorted circle in the darkness. Silence reigned for nearly seven minutes as each pondered within themselves. Some formed battle plans, others wished to be back in the comfortable abode, and still others wondered how long this excursion would last and when the next meal would be.
The band had been in the forest for nigh a half-hour previously. There had been a scramble of “preparation” for the unexpected until Justyne had ordered everyone to get in a circle, so they could “discuss the situation rationally.” And so had they stood, speechless, until a distant and high-pitched “Hehehehe...” broke the silence.
“What was... that?” Isilwen gulped. Then it was heard again, this time nearer and seemingly above their heads. With a gasp, the siblings stepped back as a small creature landed on the ground from a tree overhead . Theynore, standing nearest the being, drew his sword as a message of caution, only to have it engulfed in a long tongue and disappear.
“Too much nickel in your sword. Terrible aftertaste. I prefer solid silver,” the little fellow chattered to a bewildered Theynore.
“Please forgive my companion’s lack of good manners.” All eyes shifted, straining to see, as the small body of another voice entered the dim light from behind the newcomer.
“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Wry-Terz, and this is my comrade Blocke...”

“Wait! That was fun. I wanna go back!” Ninwaii told Gynzora, as they sat in the office again. “I think I know someone who might be able to arrange our return,” Glyn assured. Ninwaii watched as her friend made a few clicks of the mouse, selected ‘Isilwen,’ and clicked ‘send message.’
Then Ninwaii looked up and added, “I thought I told you to get your own blog...”

~~**~~

Isilwen walked into the room munching an apple while listening to 'Army of the Lord' and carrying her overly long sword. She saw Maddock on her laptop and was tempted to hit him with the hilt of her sword.
"What are you doing?" she demanded.
Maddock looked up and muttered, "I was writing on my blog!"
Isilwen rolled her eyes and she took the computer from him, she had work to do and did not want to wait around for him to post. she opened her own blog and found a message from Ninwaii. A smile spread over her lips as she read.
"What?!" Maddock was worried, the last time Isilwen had smiled like that he had ended up dead.
"You aren't going to do anything evil are you?" he asked.

Maddock its me, what do you expect?" Isilwen asked as she began to type.
"Your siblings are brave, that is all I can say!"

Isilwen wondered if so small a man could be the one causing all the trouble.
“What do you want?" Kantare demanded as he looked to his right and then his left, Isilwen wondered if he was looking for a body of water, she grinned at him and swung her overly long sword about in slow circles.
“Why you should know what we want," Wry-Terz said with a smile. “For surely you got our note we sent?”
The authors all looked at each other and Jordaan glared at him and snapped, “Now listen here you short little man, now one threatens my author and gets away with it!”
“I did not threaten your author,” the man said, he glared at Jordaan showing his annoyance. “I demanded they turn their stories and their characters over.”
“And if we refuse?” Justyne asked.
Wry-Terz lifted his hands over his head and without warning brought a tree branch down on her head. Joshuel saw it and pulled her out of the way in time. “You do not want to mess with me children,” he said as he laughed.
Maddock scowled and looked ready to attack, he might have had not Isilwen held him back. She waved her sword at the short man and said, “You do not know who you are messing with, we are
great fighters!”
“And you look like it too,” Wry-Terz laughed. “Three little girls and two boys all playing with swords and bows and arrows.”
“We have fought armies and destroyed them,” Theynore told the man.
“You are in trouble now,” Ninwaii said.
Wry-Terz just laughed, knowing that even now his plan was in motion and could not be stopped.

Isilwen giggled gleefully as she prepared to send the story to Justyne. Maddock as sitting in the chair watching her with a scowl. He could only imagine the kind of things she had put him through.
“They are going to disown you after this,” Maddock said as Isilwen sent it. “You will be living in a cardboard box!”
Isilwen rolled her eyes as she swung her legs off her bed and grabbed her sword. “Where are you off to?” Maddock demanded as she tossed on her coat.
“My Miraz board is calling!”
“You are going to fence? But it is snowing and freezing cold……” too late; she was gone as quickly as she had come.

~~**~~

Joshuel bounced impatiently. Justyne was taking WAYYY to long deciding where to take the
story. At last she sat down and began to type.

Justyne was getting angry. This short fellow was threatening to take her characters, her sibling's characters, their copyrights and, to top it off, he had tried to kill Isilwen. "Hear me, Wry-Terz.  Young though we may be, we are no children. When I was not yet 100 years old, I challenged the entire Sarconian army, and was fully capable of wiping them out. My power, I warn you, has not waned. My quests have been many and difficult, for I am a Trekker, and I have overthrown and destroyed many of your sort."
"I'm shaking in my boots," Wry-Terz taunted.
Justyne said nothing, only looked quite mysterious, smiling slightly, for she felt the Wood-Elves magic began to throb through the forest. She knew that she could channel it, and doubted that Wry-Terz could, for he was obviously wicked, and the wicked could not use this magic.
Suddenly, vines shot down from the trees, heading for the characters. Kantare, Theynore, and Justyne combined their power and flung up a water shield with little exertion on any of their parts.
Wry-Terz's eyes darkened, and he began to try something else.
Before he could, however, it began to rain violently. Everyone was taken by surprise, for the night had been clear. Wry-Terz suddenly vanished, and a figure came through the water shield.
Justyne stepped forward, recognizing one of her characters. "Cartagh! What...?"
The ageless Fire Nymph smiled grimly. "This Wry-Terz is causing serious problems in several worlds. He's trying to get control of them by forcing authors to give up their books and characters. My twin sister, Charissa, caused the storm so that you could get away. Wry does not yet dare to challenge the Nymph's power, and so our leaders have comanded me to bring you to the country of the Nymphs that we may plan to stop him."
"Nymph country?" said Isilwen, shocked. Justyne had told her much about the Nymphs, and she knew that the usually only allowed their own people past their borders.
"The Elves are our friends, and Kantare is the wielder of an element as we are," said Cartagh.
"For their sake, you all have passage. Come quickly." And with that, he teleported them to the guard-post on the border where Charissa waited.

Joshuel wasn't certain about the inclusion of the twin Nymphs: Theynore had argued with both of them. Still, the Nymphs would be a valuble asset to overthrowing Wry, and Josh didn't like him.  At all. He went off to eat ice cream and imagine treeing Wry during a bad windstorm while Justyne sent the episode to Theynore.

~~**~~

Jordaan began to bounce up and down as he saw the incoming message. "Now what have I said about you eating sugar this late?" Theynore said as he entered the room.

"I have not been eating sugar!" Jordaan retorted, "You got another message from Justyne! That's all." Theynore crossed his arms and said, "I talked to you about that too. Out of the chair." Reluctantly Jordaan moved. Theynore sat down and began to write, and Jordaan felt himself fading into that distant reality...

Theynore was not quite sure he was ready to trust the Nymphs since they were quite quarrelsome. But anywhere away from that pig Wry was good enough for him, even in the land of the Nymphs.
"Welcome," Charissa said to the group, "We have rooms prepared for you in the city. We are safe from Wry here. He tried to enter one week ago and was quite handsomely thwarted at the gate."
Everyone was glad to hear this and they entered with glee. Kantare wondered aloud, "I wonder how we shall get word to some of the others that we won't be back for dessert?" Cartagh gave a laugh and said, "We can get a message to them quite easily, and we can also bring them here if you like." The group thought about this for a moment and decided they would make a more worthy decision once they had a hot meal and were in their rooms. The city was quite the spectacle, for since no one had ever truely seen the Nymphin culture it would have been hard to describe. The buildings were great and majestic, with the granduer of some of the cities in their own worlds. It took only minutes to reach the Inn at which they would stay, and the setting was what some would call in resemblance to a French Chateaux of the 16th Century. A warm fire blazed in the hearth and there were many Nimphs lazing about the lounge. Cartagh approached the man, or Nymph as they can be mistaken easily for each other, and said, "Good sir, we have some guests for you. They are the authors and characters sent for by the council. Do you have rooms?"

"AW! Why'd you stop there?" Jordaan whined. Theynore only rolled his eyes and said, "Because, if I go on any longer it will become only my story, besides, Kantare is the next one to work on it." He selected the 'friends' tab and clicked on 'Kantare'. His brother was going to have a good time with this part! If only he could see how it was to be written. Jordaan, however, knew what would happen and so he braced himself for Kantare to assume control over him.

~~**~~

Jordaan shook his head to clear the fog. He was standing next to Kantare at his desk, along with Joshuel and Thoene. Kantare was listening to some sort of music, jazz he found it was called; he rather liked it. "Well, shall we enter our world again?" Kantare asked as he started typing.  Thoene grinned at Jordaan, and the journey continued.

Several hours later, after several more hours of rest, the authors were summoned to appear before the council by Charissa. She led them through halls decorated with great crystal chandeliers, and high arches. Finally, they stopped before two massive oaken doors that could be opened only by two large golden rings. Charissa lifted her hand slightly, and they opened quietly. Inside the spacious room there was a long glass table. Seated there were seven Nymphn lords. Regal the looked, each was as majestic as a king. A silver-haired Nymph at the end of the table stood.
"Welcome, Penmen of the clan of Inkfire. Never have we allowed any in our halls save Nymphs, but for the sake of Kantare and Justyne you are the first. Please be seated; we have a problem that seems like it cannot be solved."
From the shadows of the room, a rich voice reached Kantare's ears. One that was very familiar.  Ninwaii too looked up in surprise. "If you are looking for a way to defeat Wry-Terz, there is only one way, and I may be able to help you." From the darkness stepped the person Kantare least expected to see: Master Andropholus.

"No WAY!!!" Thoene shouted jumping up from his seat. "Master ANDROPHOLUS is friends with the Nymphs!? That is a GREAT twist." Joshuel grinned at Thoene. It was a good twist, but his younger friend was a bit too energetic. "Oh...we're going to the beach!" Jordaan shouted as he saw Kantare select Ninwaii from the friends list. Kantare waved goodbye to the three as the winds of words misted them away to his friend. He couldn't wait to see them again.

~~**~~

“Glyn!” Ninwaii’’s voice called from the office. Glynzora ran in to see her friend, eyes closed, back rigid against the chair. “How does this work again?” Ninwaii whispered, eyes still tightly shut.
“Huh? Oh,” Glyn replied after looking at the computer screen. “Okay, here we go...”

“But, Master Andropholus... I don’t quite-"
“Birds?!” Theynore interrupted Kantare with exasperation as he walked in behind his youngerbrother and Andropholus. The five authors had been led through a series of corridors by Kantare’sancient friend and mentor, proceeding the greetings and conversation of pleasantries with the seven lords. Now they stood awed in the entrance of a great hall.
“Precisely,” Andropholus answered as he held his extended palm in the direction of the myriad of fowls flocking, flapping, and squawking all around. The massive room housing the birds, though bright and chaotic in the cluster of wings, seemed to have a rather peaceful air in the eyes of the siblings, despite their present confusion.
Then Theynore spoke again, “Do you mean to tell us that THIS is the army you have prepared for us? A bunch of petty birds?! Are they to peck the eyes of the enemy while we hide behind a bush and watch?”
“Apparently, you have not read up on the class of famegreeds, a relative of the leprechaun, and the creature with which you are dealing,” Andropholus stated with utmost sage. He continued, “They have a terrific fear of birds of all kinds, or anything with wings for that matter. It has been a lasting result from the historic tragedy of distant ancestors.”
“But we are well prepared to fight the framegropers, or whatever you called them, ourselves and with our own weapons,” Isilwen chimed in.
“Ah, but that is an example of a common issue with young writers of fantasy. They constantly compete with their own broad imaginations and soon find themselves excessively distant from simplicity and reality. Every term of excitement and battle is uncovered. I do, however, commend your zeal and bravery in the desire to protect your stories and characters.” Andropholus paused, and looking each author in the eye, concluded, “Now, you must consult one another and come to an agreement on what action is to be taken.”

“Oh, Glyn, why couldn’t we have continued a bit longer?”
“Don’t fret. We’ll go back before long. Be joyous.”
“Joyous. Now I have to go empty the dishwasher...”

~~**~~

Maddock could not believe she was messing at a time like this! He had about given up finding her when he found her on the porch, lost in a book.
"Isilwen! Come on!"
"Not now Maddock, I wrote three chapters today! I am done!"
"No!"Maddock maoned. "Not that book! Ninwaii sent you the story!"
The next moment Isilwen was up and running to her room started her part.

Birds, they were to fight with birds. For some reason the thought had nevr crossed Isilwen's mind. She looked over at the others who where debating the matter and then over at the birds. Maybe Theynore was on to the eye plucking thing, but other then that she did not see how birds could help them much.
"We have to do it," Justyne was saying. "We do not have a choice!"
Kantare sighed, Isilwen was sure he would rather just blast the little man then send birds after him. But he too agreed, and Isilwen knew she would have to agree as well.
They went and told the master who smiled as though he had known all along they would agree. "Then we shall send you back with your army. But even then do not think this will be an easy task, Wry has followers and he will not give up without a fight. You have a hard task before you, but I know you will all do well."

Maddock shook his head as Isilwen stopped and tied to get her pointer on the 'select friend' button. Sending it off to her sister Justyne, she sat back with a contented sigh and reached for her book only to find Maddock waving her sword at her and saying, "I bet you could get another chapter done before bed!"

~~**~~

"Come, come, authoress! Think of something!" cried Joshuel, as he leaned over the back of Justyne's chair.
"Right now?" she moaned. "But my muse..."
"I don't care if your muse wants to sleep! Isilwen's given a great cliff-hanger to work with, and everyone else is dying to know what happens next!"

Justyne stepped forwards and held out her right arm, which, because she handled her bow with her left hand, had a bracer on it. One of the birds flew down and perched on her arm, which dipped momentarily under the sudden weight. She spoke softly to it in Elvish, then turned to Andropholus. "These birds are more than they seem," she said.
"Indeed," he said as it flew away.
Justyne turned to her siblings. "Now what?"
"Out swords and...um...birds, and TAKE THEM APART!" said Jordaan, waving his sword for emphasis.
"Not so quickly," said Ninwaii. "The Flatts aren't very defendable, and we can't meet them in the open."
"We must choose the ground ourselves and make them meet us on our terms, not their's," said Theynore.
Justyne and Kantare looked at each other and grinned, knowing that they were thinking the same thing. "The canyon," they said together.
"They'll never catch us in there," said Justyne.
"When this become a defensive war, again?" said Glyn.
"Yeah," said Jordaan. "Why don't we attack them?"
Justyne sputtered for a moment. "I...I..we can't. I just, know that, somehow."
"Coward," hissed Jordaan.
Justyne's pent up anger blazed. "I am not!" she yelled, "But we can't just rush into things like you do all the time!" She was very close to Jordaan's face by now. "Do you want to get your head chopped off, GENERAL?"
"You're a girl," Jordaan blazed. "You don't know about stuff like this! I'm a warrior!"
Justyne's hand fell to her sword hilt. "Want to bet?"
Jordaan drew his sword. "Bring it on."

"Oohh," said Josh, with delight. "Conflict between allies."
"Yep," said Justyne as she sent the message to Kantare, feeling rather satisfied with her improptu twist. "The action is going to heat up."

~~**~~

"Kantarer, WHAT are you doing?!?" Thoene shouted as he raced into the little room in which Kantare was currently staying. He was at his grandparents house; already he had done some drastic things to him in his novel, and NOW the crazy author was going insane at his grandparent's keyboard. "Look at what Justyne just ddid," Kantare said, shaking his head in amazement. Thoene put his head in his hands and walked out of the room. "Tell me if I die," Thoene said, and that familiar pulling sensation swept them back into the story.

Justyne whipped out her invisible sword, or so we think, we can't really see it, and faced Jordaan. Kantare grabbed Theynore. "We must do something," he hissed in his brother's ear. Theynore nodded, wide eyed. No one ever dared to step in front of Justyne, especially when she was mad, and now they both had to do it. The two brothers joined forces and blasted the two combatants weapons from their hands. Ninwaii and Isilwen restrained Justyne, and Kantare, Thoene, and Theynore tackled Jordaan. "Look at you two!" Ninwii shouted when everything was relatively under control. "Fighting when we have an enemy on our heels. You," but she was cut off as Justyne blasted her restaints from her with a surge of energy. "She's all yours brother," Thenore said to Kantare. Kantare stepped forward...

"I don't want to hear a word," Kantare said. His muse had calmed for the time, and his grandmother's chocolate cake was calling. "Your turn Ninwaii."

~~*~~

Ninwaii cupped her chin in her hands as she stared blankly at the monitor. Sighing, she thought,“Goof-head. Why couldn’’t he have taken up engineering or something? WHY writing? FANTASY writing! Invisible swords?! What’s wrong with realistic and rationally comprehendible stuff? Wonderful. That WAS a nice looking fingernail...” Glynzora interrupted her thoughts as she walked in. “Oh, yay! More fun. Quit
chewing that fingernail, Silly...”

Kantare stepped forward, but infelicitously so, for at that same moment, Justyne thrust her sword in Jordaan’s direction only to catch with it Kantare’s upper right arm, which was extended directly into the path. Kantare instinctively grabbed his arm as a low moan escaped his lips. Isilwen and Ninwaii each contributed a disturbingly loud gasp and Theynore clinched his teeth as his hands balled into fists by his sides in sympathetic pain for his brother. Justyne only gaped on in stunned silence. “Kantare,” she finally whispered. “I - I’m so sorry.” Then she collapsed on the floor, burying her face in her knees. Isilwen, Ninwaii, and Theynore rushed over to Kantare, Jordaan standing limply, almost forgotten, in the corner. Instantly it seemed, Andropholus was in the midst of them, examining the injured sibling.
“Come, Kantare,” Andropholus said, then turned to help Justyne up with a steady hand.  Andropholus led Kantare down another hallway, with the rest of the group following quietly behind. After a few moments, Andropholus stated, “There isn’t room for selfish pride, when a battle is at hand...”

“Ninwaii, I told you to stop that! You’re not going to have any fingernails left!”
“Sorry. Just antsy I guess. Hey, where’s Theynore been?”

~~**~~

Jordaan paced quite nervously in the hall waiting quite anxiously for Theynore to wake up. "I wish that author of mine would wake up! Four in the afternoon is quite too long for sleep!" Jordaan muttered.

"It is not Jordaan!" Theynore said as he yawned, "It is the perfect amount if you tend to get to bed a little too late. Now, I take it that there is a new post my character?" Jordaan just rolled his eyes and followed Theynore to the computer. He felt his world fog up as hey transfered to the realm of the Nymphs.

"Your ego is too much Justyne. You must control yourself." Master Andropholus was saying. He slowly pulled out the sword in Kantare's arm. Theynore watched as his brother's face contorted in pain, and he placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. Master Andropholus pulled a small satchel from under his cloak and applied it to Kantare's arm. There was a great sizzling and crackling, but the wound seemed to heal quite painlessly. "You as a character, Jordaan," Master Andropholus said, "must also control your temper. This is not going to be a one sided battle! You must all plan a decisive victory, or it will all fail!" Jordaan and Justyne looked at the ground dejectedly, for they knew what Master Andropholus was saying was right. Jordaan was the first to step forward, "Justyne," he began, "I'm sorry that I lashed out at you. I didn't mean to call you the things I did. I'm used to having my orders obeyed, not questioned." Justyne looked up shyly and gave a little smile, and she said, "I'm sorry too Jordaan. And Kantare, I didn't mean to throw the sword at either of you, or hurt you Kantare. I was just trying to prove myself. I see that I don't now." Master Andropholus was quite pleased and was beaming wide. "Now!" he boomed, "You have put aside your differences. Now is the time for you to plan how to defeat
Wry and his allies!"

"AWW!!!!" Jordaan whined, "You're stopping NOW??!!!" Theynore smiled and patted his character's back, "Now, Now Jordaan! Don't make such a fuss! It will come around sooner or later. But now it is Isilwen's turn." He selected the 'friends' tab and went down to Isilwen. Boy was she going to like the turnaround! Jordaan couldn't wait to see Maddock again and walked back to Theynore's room to take a light dose before the next event...

~~**~~

Maddock blinked several times and looked about, he was in Isilwen's room again, which could only mean..."Out of the frying pan and into the fire," he muttered as Isilwen grinned.  "Come now, at least in our story you do not have a woman holding a dagger to your heart." He muttered under his breath as he felt himself drug off on another adventure.

Isilwen stood looking at the birds and thinking over the plan she had just heard. It sounded a little rash, but weren't all battle plans in a way? She shook her head and sighed and turned as the others joined her, they were all ready to head back.  After another warning Master Andropholus bad them farewell and sent them back to their home. They moment they returned they, and the birds, set off for the canyon, making enough noise and leaving enough tracks so that they could easily be found.
On reaching the canyon they quickly ran to their posts that had already been asigned and waited. The sun beat down without mercy and Maddock began to wish he was back at the Flatts, though the upcoming battle did hold excitement. He looked over at Jordaan who was cutting sticks on
his sword.
How long had they been waiting? Hours? Had to be going on two hours at least, maybe three when they finally heard the sound of tramping feet. Everyone sat up straighter and waited, knowing that Wry was on his way.

Maddock sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Now that you are done, can I rest for a while?"
"Are you kidding?" Isilwen clasped her hands together. "You are in a stand off with Joel, we have to get this over with! I am so close to being done!"
Maddock moaned and muttered, "This is what I get for holding her at sword point."

~~**~~

Joshuel snuck up to his authoresses room, slipped up behind her, and clamped a hand over her mouth. Justyne uttered a surprised shriek as he marched her down the stairs, dumped her in the computer chair, and stood over her, trying to look intimidating.
"What, Josh?" said Justyne in a somewhat tired voice.
"You've had enough time to think about what you're going to add! Just do it!"
Justyne sighed, decided that she didn't have anything better to do, and began to write...

Joshuel looked over at his authoress. Keeping with her dramatic side, she had changed into her own reproduction of Queen Susan's battle garb. Josh had not been overly disturbed by his Justyne's loss of temper. Justyne, although an Elf, had been part human because of an earlier banishment. Lately, she had been shaking off that human part, and it was known that such a change brought on dramatic mood swings. They could be controlled, however, although Justyne had failed to do so. Now her eyes had turned purple and were glowing slightly as she eyed the dust from the approaching army, trying to gauge their numbers, and Joshuel knew that there was no longer any trace of human blood in her.
Justyne exchanged glances with Kantare and Theynore. They were the only three of the Penmen who had powers, and therefore the only ones who could combat Wry and any magicians he might have with him.
Justyne probed forward with her Gift and slammed into an invisible wall. She hissed. It would take no less than five skilled magicians to build such a wall. They had suspected this, however.  She signaled to her brothers, then to Isilwen, Ninwaii and the other characters, telling them that she, Kantare, and Theynore would have to fall back and use their strength to take out the magicians while the others went into battle. She glanced up at the ledges where the birds sat, signaling them with her arm. When the time came, three of them would fly to Justyne, Kantare and Theynore to protect them, while the others flew down the canyon with the initial charge. They hoped that this would break the magicians concentration enough that they could break the sheild that was around the attacking army. Once the magicians were mostly disabled, and the two siblings had regained energy, and Theynore had finished his attack, they would act as a small reinforcement group and back up the others. If this wasn't enough, they could always summon other characters and the Nymphs.

"Much more of this build-up to the battle and I will go crazy!" said Josh impatiently.
"Well," said Justyne, "I'm sending it to Theynore, and he'll probably start some action, him being a boy and all. Now, Josh, I was getting ready to go to bed when you nabbed me."
"Sorry."
"Hm. Go get my rice bag, nuke it for two minutes and bring it to me. I'll be in my room."
Josh went to look for the rice bag, feeling rather like a page.

~~**~~

Jordaan burst into the garage where Theynore was feeding the family cat B.C. "What NOW Jordaan? Have you been eating sugar again?" Theynore groaned. Jordaan only gave an impatient scowl and said, "The next part is here!" Theynore put the serving cup back in the food tin as B.C. ate hungrily of what he was given. Theynore rushed up the stairs and got onto the computer. Jordaan felt himself fading into the world of their imaginations as the story took off...

The army continued to draw nearer to the head of the canyon. The birds were getting restless in the rim behind the cavern to their left. Jordaan wasn't sure how much more suspense he could stand. The very large birds were armed with steel balls that had spikes on them. They had a special coating on them that made them able to pierce through anything a magician could throw up to protect the army. The birds were also armored with breastplates and small helmets. They had put down a mark so that when this army crossed it they would signal the birds on the attack. After that it's pretty self explanitory. If they got lucky they might knock out a few of the magicians before the characters, their authors and the small army they had mustered went on the attack. Theynore had a weird look in his eyes, and he reached his hand up. The next thing everyone knew the lead horseman was flying in the air. He was writhing in agony, and Theynore was smiling.
"How are you doing that?" Justyne asked.
"Takir," Theynore said.
"Tai what?" Ninwaii asked.
"Takir, the ancient power I possess. I can move things using it, and I can use electrical currents to torture the victim. It's not really tied to anything natural, so it can pierce the magician's shield."
Theynore said.
"I see," Kantare said, "But what else can it do?"
"This," Theynore said.
He said a couple of words in Altak, the "Old Sacred Language" of the ancient Prethamians, and the body began to shake violently, they could see blood shoot out of the body, and it began to break apart. Theynore set his hand down, and the body dropped onto the magician's shield, disintagrating into several thousand pieces.

"Don't stop now!" Jordaan cried, "It was just getting good!"
"Don't be such a whiner!" Theynore scolded, "I can't continue, it's already too long. I'm sending it to Kantare now." Jordaan folded his arms and pouted as Theynore seleced the "friends" tab and picked out Kantare's name. He clicked sent and then went back to his writing. Jordaan skulked downstairs and waited for the all too familiar change to come again...

~~**~~

Kantare was lying on his bed, halfway asleep when he felt the edge of a sword prick his throat. He opened one eye, not in the least disturbed, until he saw whom the figure was threatening him. Or at least, didn't see. Maud, his muse, was standing over him, and all he could see was her shadowy shape. Kantare groaned and turned over. "Not again," he complained. "Leave me alone! You just made me defeat THREE fallen angels, and an entire mob! What next?"
"Your siblings require me," she hissed, and then disappeared. Kantare knew what that meant, and Maud forced him to his feet. Kantare cast a glance and Thoene and Joshuel, and motioned for them to follow. It was time to fight.

"I assume the shield is down now?" Kantare asked, watching the spectacle with interest.

"It is," Theynore replied. "And Wry is approaching."
"You don't have to tell me," Kantare replied. "I already knew."

Just then, the sky turned black, and a flash of lightening revealed Wry and his entire army at the other end of the canyon. Everything looked very familiar, some old battle Kantare remembered, save this time, Wry was ten feet tall, had massive black wings, and two foot fangs to top it all of.  The latter was also dripping with poison.

"Typical," Kantare thought. He built up his energy, and sent his mind soaring into Wry's. Theynore and Justyne were ready for this, and they began assaulting the entire army with their Gifts while Kantare grappled with Wry. Ninwaii raised her magnificent trident, and led the charge into battle, with Isilwen at her side. Kantare heard Wry's demonic voice rumble in his mind as he continued to wrestle with him for control over each other.

"That's IT!" Kantare cried as Maud appeared once again. "You're not playing as nicely as you were last night you know!"

Maud laughed lightly, and Kantare could now see she had taken the form of a lovely lady. "God commanded me to be your muse, Kantare, and he gave me a personality of my own. I can do what I wish, as long as God allows it. I should very much like to meet the other authors muses. Glyn, I already know. She is Ninwaii's muse obviously. I don't know about the rest though." Kantare grumbled and laid on his bed again, waiting for Maud's next whim. It could come any moment.

~~**~~

“Hmm,” Ninwaii pondered intensely for awhile. Then, as a sneaky smile spread over her face, she started typing...

Birds chirped peacefully as they flew through the clear sky above. Ninwaii dropped back into the soft grass where she had been sitting. The long blades tickled her face. A caterpillar began crawling up her hand. Ninwaii reached for the closest daisy, and after taking in some of its fresh scent placed the caterpillar –

“Ninwaii! What on earth are you doing?!” Gynzora walked in, a look of exasperation on her face.
“I was, uh -“
“That’s the WRONG story!”
“I was just relaxing before I had to go into that miserable turmoil that’s erupted,” Ninwaii argued.
“Well, enough. I’m ready for the turmoil part.”
“Yes ma’am...”

As the two forces rushed forward to meet, weapons towering and aimed at the opposition, the din of orders and shouts became almost silent in the ears of the five authors. The seemingly unbridled motion became as an eerie dream-like swirl. A bird flew past Isilwen’s face. As the creature flew towards one of the armed enemy, Isilwen noted the expression on his face. Though a forced menace of intimidation was present, she could see in his eyes the pitiful abundance of utter fear. Ninwaii observed the happenings of the tumult, not intentionally becoming somewhat of a spectator, but wondering at the professed “powers” of her siblings and if such were really worth possessing in a state of truth. The darkness of the morbid scene seemed to wrap around Justyne like a thick, tangled blanket, and she had more trouble concentrating than she could remember ever having. She glanced over her left shoulder to see Kantare and Theynore side by side preparing to rush at three sinister looking men, if they could be considered so. As she was about to shake herself to regain composure, Justyne saw a large form, carrying a long, jagged, and horrifying weapon she guessed to be a sword, leap for Theynore’s back. Justyne attempted to call out for her brother, but, as nightmares usually conclude, only a whisper came form her lips...

Glynzora sighed and shook her head at her friend. “You’re worse than an alarm clock ringing right in the middle of a good dream.”
“Well... at least you didn’t die or something. Wouldn’t you rather I stop before you or me one gets pierced through by a short little dude?”
Gynzora mumbled her reply as she walked away, “It might be interesting...”

~~**~~

"She did WHAT?" Kantare nearly screamed at his muse. He ran to the computer at his church and looked at the PM. "Huh-uh," he whispered in disbelief. "If she EVER tells me she can't write," he said, and then he too got a sinister thought. Maud grinned; this was the moment she had been waiting for for a long time.

All at once, it happened just when no one thought it would. Kantare sat up with a start, cold sweat soaking him.  Justyne fell off the couch, screaming her brother's names and nearly impaled the coffee table before snapping out of the dream.  The world of Inkfire began to cross with the world of reality and Kantare grinned at the other authors who were gaping at him. Yes, he had finally done it. "THAT is how you're ending it?" Isilwen screamed and drew her sword. "Yes," Kantare replied. "It has has been going on for a long time. What better way to end a dream than like that? Ninwaii just unwittingly ended one of our longest episodes: congratulations." Justyne sat back and rolled with laughter; she hadn't seen it coming, but her twin had certainly done it. She was glad it was over, as was everyone else.

"A worthy ending," Maud said after scanning the end. "Thank you," Kantare said grinning. I can't wait for our next adventure. I'm sure it will come soon."

The End