*  *  *  *

Jeanne knelt and prayed over Shaka's body. She sobbed quietly.

Jeanne: "I did not try hard enough to save him; and now he is damned
	 for all time."

As the dust settled, Charles breathed deeply, and regained his calm and
composure.

Charles: "I am glad, that my Bluff was no bluff.  You are excellent
	  compatriots, and better friends."

Charles looked over at the body of Shaka.

Charles: "Here lies a great Warrior.  He died avenging his honor, and
	  aiding our cause.  No man can ask for more.  He will be a
	  difficult man to replace."

Charles bent to pick up the metal scythe from near the fallen corpse.

Charles: "Let this be therefore, a symbol of virtue and office.  To
	  whomever leads the guard, and drives back the enemy -- let
	  him Carry this weapon as a symbol of Shaka's bravery and
	  skill"

Charles planted the haft of the weapon into soft ground, so that it stood
upright like a flag of sorts.

Mishima glanced at the scythe and looked over each of the men in the
camp.

Shaw stood from Shaka's lifeless body and shook his head. He opened
his mouth as if to speak, but instead walked away silently, looking
among the dead, but remaining close enough to heed the words of the
others. Benjamin collected weapons from the corpses. Jeanne held on to
the bows she had taken from the fallen archers.

Charles approached the bound form of Joseph.

Charles: "I do believe that I asked you some questions before, Joseph.
	  I am not a person accustomed to be being denied.  I expect
	  answers, and truthful ones."

Joseph remained silent.

Charles paused and looked at the others.

Benjamin: "Herr Stalin thought the most important Question to ask us
	   was which of us remembered our past Lives, and about our
	   Visions and Dreams.  This makes me think that the Mystery
	   of our Memories and the Mystery of the Disappearances are
	   related, or are one.  We must learn what he already knows
	   of these Matters."

Benjamin: "Also, if he knows from whence came the Scythe, and how it
	   was manufactured, we should know."

With fire in his eyes, Mishima eyed Joseph and the scythe.  

Charles: "I need answers. and I will get them.  There are many ways to
	  get information, and there are many ways to prolong the
	  agony before death.  If you know me as Charlemagne, you know
	  that I am experienced in such matters.  You can believe,
	  that I consider your soul already lost.  You information is
	  what matters to my path and to God's.  I will extract what I
	  need from you, one small bone.  muscle.  eye.  ear.  tongue.
	  genital.  and bit of skin.  at.  a.  time."

Joseph: "I will tell you nothing."

Charles paused for a moment and then gripped Joseph's right hand and
began to press the tip of his dagger beneath the thumb nail.

Jeanne began to plead with Joseph to speak and save himself from
needless suffering. She turned to Charles and the others.

Jeanne: "This is not right. If he has indeed made a pact with the
	 devil, he must be cleansed so that his soul might be
	 saved. We must deal with him as the sorcerer he is: purify
	 him."

Freud: "Perhaps there is an alternative? I could hypnotize the man,
        and we could learn much that he might not otherwise tell us,
        and without torture."

Joseph glared at Freud.

Jeanne: "Ensorcellment? It is just as much witchcraft to enchant a
	 witch as a mortal!"

Freud: "No enchantment, just a drawing out of the unconscious..."

Jeanne frowned and shook her head. 

Louis: "Peut-etre I can assist."

He turned to Joseph.

Joseph: "You will learn nothing from me. Soon I will be reborn
	 elsewhere, where I can forge new weapons."

Louis: "Joseph, we have learned enough from you already. You are a
        man, like me, and yet you have done things I could not. You
        must have aid from somewhere else, someone else. And perhaps
        they will not be pleased with your failure."

Joseph paled momentarily, but returned Louis gaze firmly.

Louis: "Let us hold him, for now, without food or water. Perhaps in
        the morning he will have gained enough curiosity about the
        source of our aid to speak."

Joseph looked startled as Mishima led him away to one of the ravaged
huts, and stayed to guard him.

Shaw: "We must go to the slavers camp and take it before any other
       do. It is better fortified than we are here, and we can free
       any slaves that they may have had.  We can also find out the
       secret of this metal scythe. I say we leave at once."

Charles: "I think we are all too tired to cross the River tonight."

Josephine nodded. 

Josephine: "There's a token force there, and it gives the outward
	    appearance of being manned. We should be able to take them
	    in the morning."

The group returned, exhausted, to the their huts. Watches were set but
this night was far less eventful than the one before.
				   
			      *  *  *  *

Shaka felt the darkness around him lighten almost imperceptibly. His
body seemed to be floating, but there was no sensation of water. He
struggled to move his arms and legs, but found them frozen in
place. Defenseless, and yet unconcerned, he saw the shadowy figure of
a man with a lion's head approach him. The man stopped before him, and
a scythe with a metal blade appeared in his hand, a twin of the one
which Shaka had won from Temuchin. The lion-headed man pointed first
to the scythe and then with the scythe; Shaka somehow felt he was
pointing to the north. The man opened his lions' mouth in a great
yawn, exhaling his breath on Shaka, who fell into unconsciousness
again.

			      *  *  *  *

As morning broke on the encampment, the companions approached the
grailstone, their prisoner in tow. Each inserted their grail into the
stone, except Joseph, who had not brought his to the invasion. As the
grailstone fired, Josephine nearly jumped as the figure of a
dark-skinned man materialized beside the grail with the requisite pile
of towels. And they all stood in gape-mouthed shock when the figure
proved to be Shaka!

The final surprise came when Shaka, arising, greeted the others in
fluent English.

As the group crowded around to speak to Shaka, Joseph began gibbering
in confusion and horror, pointing to the newly-resurrected man.

Joseph: "It...can't be! They wouldn't allow it!"

			      *  *  *  *