..it was Pohontos himself!! Pohontos swung his mighty sword and struck deep and hard. the first blow wasn't fatal, but left his victim severely wounded.

saying nothing, and without any look of mercy, Pohontos took the second swing of his mighty sword and plunged it deep into the heart of his victim.

As he lay there, life draining out of him rapidly, he saw only the red eyes of Pohontos, as if they were smiling kindly watching him die. then all was black and The Life had left yet another.

Pohontos walked slowly back to his relm, hands with blood on them, he went into his castle. there he found.....

Whilst he was gone, the Dragon had escaped it's lair and had laid waste to the land. Pohontos screamed in anger and then went into the castle to insure the safety of his

He felt like he was in a daze. What were these strange words that kept forming in his mind. Explosives? What is that, what are they used for? He had no knowledge of this thing called explosives. He shook his head and walked slowly to the boy. He glanced down and saw that the boy had a strong resemblance to Broken Trail and rightly so, for he was Broken Trail's brother!

He had been captured many years ago and was being raised as a son. Pohontos knelt down and felt for a heartbeat and felt a faint one. He then

...deaf.

meanwhile, the spirit of The Maiden floated gracefully over The Valley. her spirit reflected her long hair, now white, her fair skin, now like a transparent film, but her eyes still sparkled like blue diamonds. she sat upon a tree limb, watching ever so intently for.....

The essence of Broken Trail to show itself. She knew that his strong will to live and to complete the task would not allow him to leave this world so quickly. She looked at his mangled body lying there with the blood slowly spreading across the ground, a tear started fand flowed slowly down her cheek until finally it fell softly to the ground.

Touching the ground, the tear quickly spread across the ground, creating a

..a tranformation. it slowly crystalized everything in it's path, turning plants into living prisms. the light from the two suns radiated from them with such brilliance filling the surrounding area with every color imaginable. the light show lit up the once dark forest floor. the trees were so tall that no sun light was ever able to reach the ground.

Now, because of The Maiden's single tear, life was about to begin once more. She gently floated down and stood in the middle of the lights. the thousands of prisms sending beams of colors into her body. she extended her hand slowly and....

opening it revealed a small seed laying in her palm. Kneeling she placed the seed in the ground and then walked to the body of Broken Trail. Now nothing but a empty shell, the life having left him.

She reached down and touched him and the wounds slowly disappeared, the blood that had flowed into the ground formed a ring of white flowers around his body. The blood stains upon his clothing disappeared.

As she got up, the maiden spoke softly.

"We shall meet again, warrior, your journey is not over."

She looked North towards the Dark Castle and then summoned her

As Broken Trail slowly approached the now deserted camp, he looked to the East and was amazed to see