Yanko bolted upright as the door slammed shut and through a haze of frustration he could see Kandra standing in the doorway holding onto the necklace. Yanko counted the glowing stones and as he counted he was sure he had miscounted, so he started again. He realised quickly that his first count was right, eight. Kandra walked over to him with a very determined look on her face.

"Before you ask yes I have already collected todays, but I made the most of the freedom I had." She pulled up a chair and sat opposite him.

"What have you done?" He asked reading the undertones to what she was saying.

"Well Chris lied to us, he already knew about his bloodline, he also set us up with the Warehouse and allowed the Sons of Oris to get into the library. He is literally a viper in the nest." The Librarian shot her a look that she knew well. "Look I hate having our ass handed to us, so I spent some time shaking down some Orisian scum, I used a travellers camp as a means to collect the hearts." Kandra looked away for a moment before meeting his gaze again. "I set the camp on fire before I left."

The brief pause between them was intense. "We cannot tell Malic that his friend betrayed us." She added and the Librarian nodded in agreement. "I'm going to check on Kate then I'll be back." Kandra stood up and walked out of the room toward the night room where Kate was asleep in bed and Malic had fallen asleep in the chair next to her.

A few hours later the Library was alive with activity as Uthar and Kalab trained in the main hall. Malic woke to the clash of metal and rushed out of the room to see what was going on. Coming to a sliding stop just beyond the doorway Malic rested his hands on his knees panting as Uthar raised his sword to deflect a blow from Kalab's scythe.

"Ah Malic come to train with us then?"  Asked Kalab as he made a midrift swing with his weapon only to find Uthar side stepping the attack and counter attacking with a quick thrust of the hilt of his sword into Kalab's right shoulder. "Damn man, I'm distracted." He said as he lowered his weapon.

"Any excuse Kalab. Malic where's your hammer?" Asked Uthar as he stepped closer to the door.

"I've just woke up, you guys fighting woke me, I thought we were under attack." He replied looking a little ashamed that he hadn't grabbed the hammer.

"Go grab a coffee, wake up a little, then meet here in here with the hammer. I'll keep giving Kalab here a beating while I wait." Uthar smiled and Kalab laughed before lunging.

Malic watched for a moment as they both moved with grace and precision, striking, deflecting, dodging, they made it all seem effortless. Turning to leave he saw Kate standing there. Her wounds were completely healed and she was looking radiant.

"How are you feeling?" Malic asked.

"Better." She said looking passed him to the two men fighting it out in the hall. "That looks intense, I might go and join them." Kate looked at Malic, "You coming Honsi?" She asked.

"Who Kate?" Malic replied looking at her with confusion.

"Kate?" She answered "Why is Kate, Honsi, I am Dianasis." She walked off it to the hall and sat down watching Uthar and Kalab spar.

Malic walked off and found Yanko and Megan in the study room. "Is Kate ok?" He asked openly.

"Yeah she should be why do you ask?" Replied Yanko without raising his head from he book in front of him.

"I just spoke to her and she said her name was Dianasis." Malic watched as Yanko lifted his head slowly, something about that name had caught his attention. Without a word Yanko rushed from the room. "She's in the main hall." Malic shouted after him as he disappeared out of sight.

Megan looked at the confused expression on Malic's face. "It's ok he does that alot." She walked over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "If Kate is Dianasis then the others must be reborn somewhere. She was Yanko's eternal partner, she died almost one hundred years ago and She was the last one of us killed. Since she died they has only been the ten of us, until now." Walking off down the corridor Megan looked back at Malic and smiled, then continued walking away.

Uthar stopped barely avoiding a swing of the scythe as Yanko came running into the hall. He quickly looked about and then saw Kate sat near the pillar watching intently. "Kate catch!" He shouted as he threw a wooden mace across the hall. Kalab and Uthar watched with interest as they had when they threw Malic's hammer toward him.

"I'm not Kate." She said as she stood up to catch the weapon. "I am Dianasis." As she spoke her hand grabbed the handle of the mace which began to grow and change from wood to reinforced metal. The spiked ball like wise grew and changed material in front of everyones eyes. "Hello Yanko." She added holding the mace like it was an old friend.

Standing with his mouth wide open Kalab dropped his scythe which instantly changed back into its small wooden form. "Damn Dia, you always knew how to make an entrance." Yanko shot him a steely look. "Just saying, that was a rather cool coming out trick." Yanko shook his head while Uthar slapped Kalab around the head.

"I take it then the Opinox is upon us." Stated Dianasis as she looked at the others.

"The Opinox?" Questioned the Librarian.

A short while later everyone looked at Yanko as he declared he had found it. Everyone pulled their heads out of the books they were searching through to wait on Yanko speaking. "The Opinox is the Last Harvest." He began. "It is said that when the final Fallen of Nefi returns the Opinox would be upon us. That if successful the Harvest will seal the fate of the bloodlines for all eternity, if it fails the world will fall into ruin for the remainder of time."

"So if Dianasis is now here, that means this is the Opinox." Rhetorically asked Kalab.

"No." Replied Kandra. "She is in the body of a twenty four year old, that means a child has been born since the last Harvest that carries our bloodline. The translation of Return has also been represented as Rebirth. I stumbled upon this a few years ago. It's not something we have ever put stock in, which is why Yanko here didn't realise it's importance. It's a story told by the Daughters of Orla to comfort them, as it is said they will deliver the final guardian." Kandra looked at Yanko.

"I may have been wrong, we may still be wrong, we don't know if it's the last harvest, there are no mention of what signs to look for. If it is the Opinox then the Sons may not realise it and they may have five of us, but that would mean there are ninty five of us still alive. If that is true then we will have to find the others." Yanko looked around the room as everyone nodded.

"There is another thing I heard, it might be nothing, but the daughters believe that as well as being the last it is also the first. They think Honsi will die again when the Opinox happens and that the cycle will begin again." Kandra looked at Malic.

"But we don't know for sure?" He said as he looked back at her. "If we cannot be certain this is the Opinox then we do not know if these are just stories." He looked at Yanko. "You told me about the lies and half truths littered through religious beliefs, what if this is the same thing." He asked eagerly.

"We don't, and more worryingly we won't know for sure until after it happens one way or the other." Replied Yanko looking a little distant, he closed the book slowly imprinting in his head the image on the page he had been reading. "I think we need a plan."

It didn't take Yanko long to have everyone training in the hall. It was clear that despite the long absence Dianasis was still as skillful as her former self, it was definitely a morale boost for everyone. Midway through Malic took the Librarian to one side.

"How come I am not as good with my hammer, I mean we all got them at the same time right?" He asked a bit concerned about his own lack of fighting flair.

"Not really, you had your hammer long before any of us had our weapons. Yet we had a lot longer to perfect our fighting styles. You may not be as good as Dianasis because you are still fighting the fact that you are Honsi, and while you hold onto yourself you are unable to tap into your full fighting potential, and trust me when I say this, Honsi trained us all to fight, he was every bit a warrior Priest the Gods expected him to be. One day soon so will you be. Just trust in who you are." Yanko whistled and everyone switched fighting partners.

Malic shook his head unsure if he ever wanted to forget who he was then as he walked back to train he was met by Kandra. Instead of her bow she had chosen to fight using her daggers and while she was quick Malic was worried he would hurt her easily with the hammer.

"Fight someone else Kandra." He asked merrily not wanting to sound ungrateful.

"Not a chance." She replied as she took a step forward followed by a flurry of strikes which he avoided. "Better move faster." She added sportingly before strikig again.

It was the fast footing of Kandra that force Malic from the hall and into the corridor, he was at a serious disadvantage as the hammer was too clumsy in such a space so he had to resort to hand to hand. Ducking and weaving her attacks he had managed to make it to the night room before managing to get the footing to strike back. As they ducked each others assaults something in Malic stirred a sense of familiarity and as it intensified his fighting skill peaked until he had managed to manoeuvre and strike Kandra causing her to fall.

As she lay on her back he held out his hand and pulled her to her feet. Instinctively she threw her arms around him and kissed him. "What are you doing?" He said as he pulled away from her a little. Malic looked at her there was something about her, something he wanted.

"I want you." She said and kissed him again, this time he embraced her and felt a wave of passion explode through him.

While the others trained Kandra took hold of Malic and he felt alive. A fever like desire burning inside driving him passionately into her arms. It lasted for hours and when they were finished the Huntress turned to her lover. "I remember how it used to feel." She said with a smile. "That was so much better." She kissed him again before rolling off him to get dressed. "We best rejoin training." She added throwing him his clothes from the floor.

"I think that might be a good idea." Malic added.

With training over and the group having sat down to a hearty banquet provided by a local Chinese restaurant they were all in good spirits. The food was good and the mood itself was positive. Everyone noticed the lack of tension between Kandra and Malic but no one dared to ask.

"A toast!" Began Uthar as he stood up with his glass of water raised in the air. "To the Harvest and to finding old Friends." The other stood up and repeated what he said.

Meanwhile across town in a run down corner pub Chris was sat at a table with a few other men with drinks set out on the table. The eldest of the men looked at Chris with interest.

"So you are Karls youngest boy." He said seeing the same facial features in the boy as he did in Karl.

"Yes I am." Replied Chris as he took a drink of the ale in front of him. "He sent me over here to collect payment for the library job." He placed the half empty pint glass down on the table.

"Ah I see, too afraid to come himself I presume." The old man signalled one of his men who was stood near another table. "I have the payment here, but first lets talk, I presume you have the authority to speak on your fathers behalf." He coaxed. "I mean he wouldn't send you here without a heads up that I am first and foremost a businessman now would he." The old man smiled and rose from his seat. "Follow me boy."

Leading him through a door marked store room between the two doors marking the toilets, the old man pulled on a cord and the small box room was lit up. Chris was slightly concerned until the back wall began to divide down the middle as it folded open like two doors. Behind the wall was a long corridor which the old man walked down.

Staying close behind Chris tried to pay attention to everything, yet the further down the corridor they were going the smaller it seemed to get. Then going through a door to his right Chris followed the old man into a large room full of shelves, each crammed full of books. "So Chris anything like this at the library?" He asked.

Eager to please he told him there was, and instead of black covers the books all had gold covers. The old man seemed pleased. Walking over to a table the old man sat down and motioned Chris to take the other chair. "Draw me where the room is." Asked the old man glaring at the youngster.

"I'm not too sure." He replied, not a million miles from the truth as Yanko often took him the long was to everything. "I can't map it out for you, but I did try and help the others locate it while we ransacked the place."

"Yes the team said good things about you, so much so they were impressed that you repeatedly stabbed your house mate without being asked when she tried to talk you round, that Chris is cold." There was a flicker of pride in the old mans eyes. "I value pride over most things, taking the time to kill cleanly and without remorse is great agent material, but you lack the skill to kill cleanly.

"Still we could not find it, so we do have to look down other avenues and well since you have been there we hoped you would prove valuable to us." He added.

"I can still be valuable to you." Stated Chris looking at the paper and pen on the table.

"Oh you already are." Said the old man before quickly removing a pistol from his jacket and pulling the trigger. The back of Chris's head exploded and his body slumped in the chair. "We don't need you alive my boy to be a value to us." The old man added before he got up.

Before he could leave the room one of his men walked into the room. "Sir we have found another." He handed the old man a brown folder. "We have a team on route now to collect." He added matter of factly.

Opening the folder the old man smiled. "So she will bring our count up to forty eight then, we have almost half of them." He closed the folder. "And we also know where six more are. I think we are ahead in this game, and I don't think the other team knows it's involved." The old man laughed like a man almost a quarter of his age as he walked out of the room. "Oh and before you leave clean him up." He said to his visitor pointing to the motionless body of his latest victim.