The dusk had fallen already. Three horse riders were approaching the city from the west. In the deepening twilight they drove their tired horses carefully over the broken and uneven ground.

The city wall had not yet appeared in the horizon. Liz looked restless. Ethan knew the reason. He was not sure whether they were still being pursued or not. In that case, spending another night in the wilderness might prove dangerous for them, especially when Juran was not with them anymore.

In other words, they must reach the city before nightfall.

They had been urging their horses for some time now. The horses had been fed and rested well during the day, so they had been galloping at a considerable speed. Still, it seemed that they would not be able to reach the city before nightfall.

The ground below them had already darkened. An early moon had just started to show its thin scythe in the far-off firmament. The stars had not yet come out to play. Ahir had brought out a small lamp which blazed enough to give them a good view of the ground below and around them. But outside the circle of light created by it, lay the vast wasteland engulfed in darkness.

It was in this darkness that two pairs of murky red eyes glowed a few feet above the ground and started to bound forward in the direction of the three horse riders.

Ethan was the first one to notice them. Suddenly he felt a chill running down his spine, giving him goose bumps. Swiftly he turned in around and saw two huge quadrupeds bounding towards them. Curved out of solid darkness, the tips of their fur glistened, making them look like silver-tipped needles were protruding from all over their bodies. They bodies were not taller than four feet from the ground, but they were long and slender. Their face resembled that of a wolf, but in every other aspect they were far from being just ordinary wolf. For, their open jaws were full with rows of shark-like teeth and their murky red eyes gleamed with the fire of hell!

Ahir was the first on to react. "Gloams!" He cried out. "Stay back, everyone!"

As he said this, he brought his lasso and threw it at one of the advancing monsters. But the silver-tipped spikes of fur tore open the noose of fire around its body. In an instant, the lasso retracted into Ahir's hand.

Liz had brought out her bow and quiver. She now took aim at the four horsemen who had been galloping down the slope of the hill behind the charging monsters. From the hand of one of them dangled a long whip of fire which he wielded at the monsters, making them double their speed.

By this time, their horses were mad with fear. The sight of the ghastly beasts of darkness had unhinged them. So they dismounted and let the horses gallop in the direction of the city.

Liz released a set of arrows at the charging horsemen and pulled out some more from the quiver. Ethan couldn't help but ask, "Gloams? What are they?"

"Creatures of darkness!" Liz replied, releasing another set of arrow and erecting a wall fire in front of the enemy. "But I've never seen anyone controlling them!" She exclaimed in a confused voice.

There was no time to say anything more. The two Gloams had dodged the wall of fire and jumped over the rocks which Ahir had sprouted from the ground. Now they loomed large over them.

Ethan snatched the lasso from Ahir's hand. In his hand it turned into a long spear which he hurled at the Gloam which was preparing to pounce on Ahir. The spear created an arc of blinding light and pierced the Gloam's throat. It howled as it fell on the ground and melted into it. Instantly, the spear reverted back into the lasso and returned to Ahir's hand.

The other Gloam was already on Ethan. With an inhuman shriek, Ethan thrust both his hands into the Gloam's chest. Like two sharp silvery blades his hands went deep into the Gloam's body. There was a sickening sound of 'crunchhhh!' as the bones and flesh gave way to the blade-like hands and the Gloam's body flopped on the ground. Within a moment, it, too, melted into air.

But the horsemen still came charging at them. The fiery whip which was previously being wielded at the gloams, were now pointed at Ethan and his friends, its tip creating an arc of fire from time to time. Cereb swords glowed in the hands of the other three.

Liz had exhausted her arrows. Throwing away her bow and quiver, she had taken out a sword, too. Ethan picked up the empty quiver and hurled it at the charging horsemen. The glowing projectile hurtled itself into the ground before them. It tore open the ground, sprouting magma and throwing the attackers off their horses.

But that didn't stop them; the assassins. They picked themselves up and charged at them on foot.

With his lasso Ahir bound one. In the blink of an eye, the man was charred to death. But another man had swung his sword at Ahir, sending a streak of lightening sizzling through air towards him.

Without a moment's hesitation, Liz threw herself in front of Ahir and put her sword diagonally across the path of the lightening. It entwined itself with her sword and the sword was yanked out of her hand and thrown some feet away. Before she could retrieve it, another streak of lightening came charging at her.

Instinctively, Ethan thrust out his hands in air in the direction of the assassin who had attacked Liz. His hands didn't show any sign of change, but the air around the man suddenly sizzled and crackled. In an instant, his body was on fire. The man cried out and started to run in the other direction, but he couldn't move further. Within a few seconds, his body turned into a heap of charred bones and ashes.

Recovering her sword, Liz turned to Ethan. He was panting from exhaustion. He had been instinctively using the powers hidden in him, but it was taking a toll on him.

Only one assassin was standing now. The one with the fiery whip. Something in Ethan's heart told him that it wouldn't be easy to defeat this one, and he was right there.