death, or his people? In that instant his face spoke more than many
others' do in their entire lifetime. It was cut through with a
contrasting countenance, and yet inside of his eyes there was something
foreign to them shining through, something that I had never seen on his
fretless features before: evil intent. I could not tell if it was
natural to them and simply well hidden, or if it was an alien
expression, but it was fearfully expressed, and his eyes seemed to say,
even at that great distance, that he took a third course, that he would
save me, but not for my sake, instead for his peoples'. And then it
passed, for he looked away, replaced the remote to his belt, and leapt
to the ground, where the other Canitaurs were awaiting him. I saw him no
more until the situation was much changed.






Chapter 8: The Temple of Time



I turned slowly away from where Wagner had disappeared over the side of
the wall and faced my captors, the Zards. Chief among them was the King,
he being a foot or two taller than the others, with a graceful and
powerful pose that struck awe into the eyes of the beholder with its
innate command and dignity, both of which flowed from it as naturally as
water from a well. There were about twenty guards in the squadron that
protected the King, but it was not so much from the terror of them that
the Canitaurs fled, nor was it because of the guards that patrolled the