Chapter Four Radeeka’s laughter echoed in Hardex’s ears as he regained consciousness. Shaking his head to clear the fog, he looked around. He was chained by his wrists to the wall in a room with a low ceiling and lit with one dim lightstone. And looming over him, the glow of the lightstone shining around her shadowed face, stood Radeeka.“Traitor,” he spat accusingly, half noticing at the same time that his mask was missing.“Traitor yourself,” she said, her voice maddeningly smooth. “We both know you could normally beat a mere Skakdi with one hand behind your back.”The chains glinted in the dull light as Hardex strained against them.“No use doing that,” Radeeka said, smiling at the attempt. “I didn’t waste time in making sure that these could hold you.”He glared at her, and noticed that something was… off.“Of course,” she continued, “you never were very good at noticing an obvious deception.”“Get out of my sight.” Hardex growled.“Now what kind of come back is that?” she said, moving out or the way of the lightstone and allowing the full light of it to fall on Hardex’s face. “Come on, try again.”He said nothing and continued glaring at his tormentor.“Well since you don’t want to talk,” she said with an evil glint in her eye, “I’ll tell you a story about a Ga-matoran, a pool of molten protodermis, and a most unfortunate accident that left you without a friend.”Hardex lunged at her in rage, and the look in his eyes was enough to make Radeeka stumble back to get out of the way. He strained with all his might, but the chains held. Collapsing to the cell floor, he looked up at his tormentor.“Go to Karzahni.”Radeeka smiled even wider than Hardex thought possible. “Very well, I’ll see you later. At your execution.” She slammed the cell door as she left. * * * Radeeka regained consciousness in a cell that was, in her opinion, less than impressive. The low ceiling and dim light were, of course, made to create feelings of helplessness and despair in the prisoner. However, she did have to admit that, despite the second rate lock on the rusty cell door, the chains around her wrists that kept her well away from the door were more than strong enough to hold her.Radeeka considered what had happened before she lost consciousness as she examined the chains that bound her. She had been holding off her Skakdi opponents with surprising ease when, for no reason she could see, they stood to attention as though she was in charge. Looking about she saw Hardex on the ground, though he didn’t look like he was fighting his best and she thought he smiled right before one of his opponents knocked him out. She had started forward to help when everything went black.“Having fun?”Radeeka looked up from the chains as Hardex entered the cell, casting his shadow upon her.“Oh bunches, however the décor could use a little cheering up. Your head would fit quite nicely in that corner there.”He looked in the corner she indicated, then in the corner opposite. “Yes, and yours would fit just as well in that one.”“Well we’ll have to work on that later; I’m hot on the quest for a weak link in this chain. Be sure to close the door on your way out, it gets awfully drafty in here.” She then continued to study the chains and completely ignored him.He shrugged. “I’m afraid that your quest will be futile. However if that is how you wish to spend your time, be my guest. I’ll see you at your execution.”Still smiling larger than should have been possible, Hardex slammed the door behind him as he left, knocking the lightstone to the floor. * * * ‘Hardex’ turned to one of the guards outside the door and gestured for him to follow. As they walked, his body grew leaner, his smile, impossible as it may seem, grew wider, and his armor changed in color. In a few moments, the transformation was complete and beside the guard stood an unusually tall Skakdi in blue and golden yellow armor.“I think it’s about time we had those two sort out there differences,” Xylax said, removing his Mask of Illusion. Drawing a blade from a sheath hidden in the armor of his right forearm, and testing its edge, he added, “Although I would hate to clean up afterward.”The guard, who was a low ranking Skakdi in green armor with hopes to have a far greater position one day, would never admit it, but he felt a chill go down his spine.