A Visit to Ireland

Part 3

Faint light from the dawning sun fell over the bed, rousing Leonardo from his sleep. He groaned to himself, vowing to toss his siblings down the nearest flight of stairs when he caught them. If there was one thing he hated, it was waking up after being sedated. It gave him an awful headache.

"You all right?" came the whisper beside his head.

"'Morning," he mumbled. Suddenly he realized that he was in the same bed as Venus and he sat up quickly. Bad idea. His head swam, and he leaned back against the pillows again. "Boy, those guys have a sick sense of humor."

"You don't think they know anything, do you?" Venus asked.

Leo glanced around the room and spotted their roommate. "No," he sighed in relief. "Or else they wouldn't have put Riana in here."

"She's still asleep?"

"Not everyone wakes up as early as we do," Leo said, smiling as she lay her hand on his. "Which is a good thing, I guess."

She curled up against him, sighing. "I suppose we should smack Raphael and Michaelangelo for doing this."

"I'm not so sure I mind anymore," he admitted, and they both laughed. The noise was enough to rouse Riana, though, and they reluctantly parted before she could wake up entirely.

"Good morning," Venus smiled, slowly rising and opening the curtains.

"Och, 'tis ta eirely ta beh mourning," Riana moaned, burying her face back in the pillow.

The two ninjas glanced at each other. "What?"

Riana sighed and forced herself to sit up. "Sorry, muh accent gets a wee bit thick in the morning."

Leo laughed. "You should hear Raph when he's tired. It's impossible to tell what he's saying."

"Speaking o' which, how did ye twa sleep? That was a dirty trick they played on ye last night."

"Yeah, it was," Leo growled, and they could both hear the anger in his voice. "Me and Raph need to talk."

"You can ask him about the mess outside, then," Venus said, staring out the window.

Riana and Leo glanced up, then stepped to the glass when she did not explain. All of them gazed outside.

"Whut on earth?" Riana whispered.

Leo sighed. "Looks like we missed out on a party," he said.

Huge stones in what seemed like roughly humanoid shapes littered the surrounding area. A few boulders were scattered here and there, but what made the scene horrific was the amount of blood sprayed everywhere.

"Come on, let's make sure everyone's all right," Venus said, heading for the door.

She opened it and they all stepped into the hall. Mike was in the hallway, having managed to somehow fall asleep even in the stiff cypress wood. Venus smiled and crept up to him, lunging to cover his mouth and hold him still. He flailed wildly, just barely managing to throw her off.

"What the--?!" he gasped.

"Some guard you are," she scolded him. "A pack of elephants could come marching through and you wouldn't notice."

"Hey, you weren't the one fighting up on the roof last night," he snapped.

She lay one hand just below his throat and leaned her whole weight on him, pushing him back on the wall. He stared in surprise.

"I know," she smiled much too pleasantly, "and do you remember why that is?"

"Um...'cause you were drugged?" he whispered.

"Exactly! And do you remember who drugged me?" Her hand tightened.

"It was Raph's idea!" Mike said as fast as he could. "I didn't want to do it, honest! I've never even done it before."

She rolled her eyes and smiled. As much as he annoyed her sometimes, he was the only one who could get away with murder with any of them.

"That's obvious, you used too much in the tea. But don't you think we know when we've reached our limits and need to back off a bit?"

Mike sighed. "I told Raph that, but he wouldn't listen. And Don just backed him up."

"He would," Venus muttered.

"Hey, where's Leo?" Mike asked, glancing down the hall. "Is he awake yet?"

Riana smiled from the other wall, where she had been watching. "Ah think he went to speak with yuir brother."

As if on cue, they heard a muffled cry and then several low voices in the other room. From the other end of the hall, a door flew open and Casey came out, hockey stick in hand.

"What was that noise?" he demanded, barely noticing Venus for a moment. "Hey, you're up. Cool. Where's Leo?"

"All right! Back off, Leo!" Raph's angry voice came from the other room. "I swear, all right?"

Leonardo came out of the room with a very pissed off Raphael just a few feet behind him. Raph was about to say something when his elder brother turned back around, staring him in the face.

"And what's with the mess downstairs?" he demanded.

Raph wanted to howl with frustration at how his brother could turn things around so fast. "We had company last night," he growled, his New York accent growing stronger. "There was a big fight up on the roof, and we managed to keep them out. Happy?"

"Actually, it was the spells on the house that kept them out, right?" Mike asked in a tiny voice.

Raph shot a harsh glare at him.

"Yeah, it was a great fight," Casey grinned, putting his weapon down. "You shoulda been there."

"Well, we would have been," Venus said.

Leonardo was thinking about something else, though. He turned to Riana. "Do all the things up here turn to stone in the sun?" he asked.

She nodded. "Usually. If they're really weak, they'll just fizzle oot. The stronger one's will petrify, though."

"Hey, what happened to all the bodies!" Donatello's voice suddenly echoed from his room. He came out with a distraught look on his face. "What's with all the stones out there?"

"Those're your bodies, Donnie," Raph told him.

"Aw, man..." Don sighed in disappointment. "I can't dissect stones..."

"Och, ye dinnae want tae get too close to those nasty little things," Riana said. "Their insides are poison."

"How do you know?" Don asked.

Riana blinked. "It's...common knowledge," she said. "Everyone knows that."

At that point April came out, yawning but already dressed. "Morning! What'd I miss?"

"Oh, not much," Mike said. "How'd you sleep?"

"Like a dream," she said. "I haven't slept that well in ages. Probably because I didn't have someone screaming next to me in bed."

"Hey!"

"Wait a second," Raph said, "you mean you guys didn't hear anything last night?"

April shook her head. "Should I have?"

"Well, we just kinda took on a whole army on the roof," Mike said.

Everyone looked at Riana, who shrugged. "I've heard that sound can warp around magic, but that would go beyond anything the legends mention. Of course, it could have something to do with the wards. If they are failing, then they may be keeping what they can out, and sound would be the easiest."

"Well, they were working pretty well last night," Don said. "Everything that tried to get in kept getting shocked back out."

Riana stared at him in surprise. "They tried to get in?"

They all nodded.

She shook her head. "No, that shouldn't be possible...there are three circles around the house, one a mile out, one a foot around on all sides, and one covering it like a sheet."

"I'd say that last one is the only one that's still good," Casey said, leaning against the wall.

"Damn," she muttered. "Then we really don't have much time left. We have to repair those spells, but they're fairly complicated."

"All right," Leo broke in, "Don, it's probably best if you go with Riana and look up those spells. Casey, Mike, Raph, I want you three to go searching through the house, make sure we don't have any weak spots or cracks in the walls."

"Where are you going?" Mike asked as he gathered up his weapons.

"Venus and I are going back through the fields, see if we can't find something that could act as an enemy base. You never know, we might have an evil sorcerer on our hands."

"No!"

Venus and Leo looked up in surprise at the simultaneous response Donatello and Raphael gave. "What did you say?"

Don stepped forward. "No. You're in no shape to go riding alone. You're exhausted--"

"And whose fault is that?" Venus asked.

Raph grit his teeth. "The point is--"

"You're all busy," Leo said in a voice that practically bristled. "And unless you think I'm gonna take April and Shadow out on that kind of search, get used to it."

Raph and Donatello grumbled, but eventually they backed down and everyone went off to their respective tasks. Once they were all gone, though, Leo went up to April.

"Could you check something for me?" he asked.

She nodded and smiled. "Check out the records of this place, and see what kind of past it has?"

He stared at her in awe for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

"I'm a reporter, Leo. I'm paid to know this stuff."

"Yeah, but...geez...okay, just see if this place is built over an old Indian burial ground or something like that. I don't want things popping up from under us while we're worried about the outside." He glanced down at the child beside her. "And keep Shadow with you, okay? Don't let her wander off."

"You think they're after her?" April asked.

He sighed and shrugged. "I just know that in every old faerie tale the monsters are always after the kids. Just keep her out from under staircases and closets."

*

A few minutes later, Venus and Leonardo had saddled up their horses and were riding off over the grassy fields. They both kept their eyes open, but aside from a few shroud-covered rats, neither of them spotted anything odd. After several hours, they came to a halt on top of a rather tall hill where they could see for miles.

Venus sighed and shook her head. "I don't think we're going to find anything out here. It's too flat. I thought we might find some more hills out here, but..."

"Nothing. You're right, this land is unnatural. We'll probably have better luck in the forest back by the castle."

They both turned their horses and walked them back, taking their time.

"So, how do you like Ireland?" she laughed.

Leo sighed with a smile. "Well, except for the child-eating monsters, water spirits and the undead trolls, it's not that bad. I just wish we didn't have ghosts in the castle itself."

"You mean the ones that made the bed run around?" Venus nodded. "Do ghosts really bother you?"

He shrugged. "Splinter says they're the souls of our ancestors..."

"Do you believe that?"

"I used to. After awhile...maybe they're like that in Japan, but in America, I've dealt with a few spirits, and they're not benevolent family ancestors. And here...if they're not waking you up in the middle of the night, they're trying to tear you to pieces. Are the Chinese ghosts like that?"

Venus smiled and shrugged. "Depends on who you listen to. I think they're more of a mix of the two. There is some ancestor worship, but then there are malevolent spirits as well. It's not as cut and dry as your Shinto gods."

Leo glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "You'll keep that a secret, right? If Splinter ever thought I didn't believe what he does, or that I'm not gonna be Buddhist...he'd probably think he'd screwed up his karma or something."

She shook her head. "It's all right, I won't tell. He shouldn't be so surprised, though. It's natural for a swordsman to take the religion of swordmakers." She smirked now. "Of course, it would help if you didn't talk to your swords at night."

"What's wrong with that?"

"It wouldn't be so bad if you hadn't given them names," she replied. "They don't answer you, do they?"

"If you don't start acting nice, I'm gonna turn this horse around and go back," he mock-threatened her.

She was about to say something else, but they both noticed that they were only a short distance from the tree-line. They halted and stared deep into the shadows, trying to see past the first few trees.

Venus shook her head in frustration. "It's no use. It's too dark in there. We're going to have to go inside."

Leo looked back. He could see the castle far away in the distance. "Damn...I don't like this forest at all. Something's not right about it."

"You feel it, too?" she whispered. "Like a negative energy all around it?"

"Like it's more than a forest...more like an animal. You can almost feel hatred in it, as if we were trespassing."

"If I was going to attack the castle, this seems like the only place I could do it from," Venus said. She backed her horse up a few paces. "I think it's best if we don't enter this place alone. Maybe we should--"

*snap*

They both perked up, slowly easing their horses away from the treeline.

*snap*snap*

"Something's coming," she whispered.

"Get ready to run," he said.

She nodded. Better to lure whatever it was into the clear hills than try to fight near this forest.

*snap*snap*snap*

Leo looked around. Except for those twigs cracking, there was no sound. The crickets had stopped, there were no birds in sight, and even the wind had died.

*snap*snap*snap*snap*snap*snap*snap*snap*snap*snap*snap*snap*

"It's getting faster," she said.

"Let's go!"

She turned her horse as Leonardo did, and they both started to gallop away. Half a moment later, Venus looked back at the forest, and she could hear the crashing of trees being pushed down. Something was coming through at break neck speed, and she could see the very tops of the trees falling in a straight line towards them.

"Don't look back, just go!" Leo yelled at her.

She caught a glimpse of red eyes in the darkness, and she turned in her saddle once more. Don't look, don't look, I must not lose my nerve!

There was a loud roar, and then heavy steps following after them. They could feel the ground shake beneath it. It was larger than their horses, and faster. In a few seconds it would be on them.

"We can't lead it back to the castle!" Leo shouted over the sound of its steps.

Venus looked at him, then nodded. They would have to fight it out here.

Leonardo carefully stood in the saddle, gathering a handful of throwing stars as he did. One last balance check, a quick prayer, and then--

Venus watched as Leo leaped from the horse, twisting in the air to face the monster behind them. He threw the stars at once, and there was a scream of pain as they all connected. On the way down he drew his swords and landed, prepared to fight.

Venus abandoned her own horse, sending it off with the other, and looked back. She had to crane her neck to see the top of the creature. It was at least three times their size, coal black, with brilliant red eyes that glowed above the yellowed fangs. It stood on its hind legs, but while it looked like a hideously warped wolf, its front arms were more like mantis claws.

Don't freeze, attack! she told herself, whipping out her own shuriken and throwing them. Each one disappeared into the dark fur, and the only way she knew they had connected was by its howls.

Leonardo stood still as it raced madly, its eyes intent on him. It was only a moment away, and it raised its claws, ready to strike. Suddenly he darted forward, rolling under its arms and slicing at its leg. He felt the blade connect with something, and when he got back up, he saw the damage.

He'd taken its leg off.

Leo backed away as it screamed, not in pain, but in anger. "That was too easy," he whispered. "There was no bone or muscle..."

It turned back to face him, blood spilling out and steaming on the grass, which instantly died at its touch. Four shuriken pierced its body from behind and hit the ground around him. He could see light shining through its body where the metal had gone through.

"I don't think this thing is real!" Venus yelled. "It's some kind of creation!"

"Doesn't make it less deadly!"

The monster snapped at him, moving faster than he'd thought possible on three legs. He managed to dodge just in time, cutting at it again. His sword cut through a part of its midsection, but his enemy didn't even seem to feel it.

Venus shook her head in disbelief. "No way...that should have killed it."

"We're gonna have to take it apart!" Leo said, backing up.

"More like hack it apart!" she yelled back. She shook her head in worry. All she had were daggers, and those would be no use against this.

Leo held his second katana up like a javelin, and then threw it through the monster, watching it disappear through its body. "Venus, catch!"

She ducked down, letting the blade fly over her, and reached up to catch the hilt. Once she had it in her hand, she readjusted it and slowly advanced.

The creature seemed to realize that the tables had just turned, but although it took a few steps back, it did not run. Instead it planted its feet down, as if it was saying "I won't retreat any further."

"You want the high road or the low road?" Venus called out.

"You're faster in the air than I am," Leo replied.

Venus nodded even though he couldn't see her, then took a running start and leaped up into the air, spinning the katana so fast that it became a blur in her hand. It sliced deep into its shoulder, and a spray of blood erupted over the grass. She landed solidly, not moving even to turn. Behind her, she heard a wet sound which was its arm as it slipped from its body and hit the ground.

The monster reared back its head, howling in pain, and its howl only raised in pitch as one of legs was amputated as cleanly as if by a scalpel. It looked down in horrified surprise at its stumps, and it slowly toppled over to the side. The ground actually shook as its body slammed into the dirt.

Venus rose and held her sword at the ready, cautiously edging closer. Suddenly it sat up and lashed out at her with its remaining arm, cracking the end of its 'hand' like a whip and sweeping her down. Then its arm rose up, preparing to come down on top of her with all the force of a thousand hammers.

Leo ran forward, throwing his shuriken as he did. Each star ran through its upper arm, leaving several punctures that light shone through. Barely a second later more stars followed, cutting deep before the other holes could heal. Venus rolled out of the way, somersaulting back on her feet. At the third volley of stars, the arm sloughed off harmlessly.

The creature looked directly at Leonardo, its face distending horrendously as its jaws grew radically, making way for hundreds of razor-sharp teeth. Leo was too close to turn, so he made a gamble. He threw his katana through its head, making it reel back with the sheer force of the blow, and then jumped right over its top. Without hesitating, Venus tossed her katana to him.

He caught it and landed, pivoting almost immediately. It had already shaken his other sword free and had whirled at lightning speed, ready to sink its fangs into him. He ducked beneath its teeth as they snapped shut mere inches over his head, and then turned, rising to the left and bringing his sword with him. He felt a jerk, and then his sword was free.

Leo took a moment to catch his breath, but Venus grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back. He looked down in shock.

"It's...melting..." he whispered.

They both stepped back as the black liquid oozed down into the soil, and the grass beneath it turned brown and withered away. The two ninja shared a glance, and Leo tossed one of his left-over throwing stars into the edge of the mess. Smoke hissed out as the metal crumpled and disappeared into the darkness. Finally the body stopped its decomposition and vanished into the dead soil.

"That was no little rat," Venus said.

"It must have been what Don saw in the forest," Leo said. "Good thing he didn't stay to fight. That staff would've been useless against it."

"He's lucky he had that horse with him," she nodded. "It warned him..."

They stared out over the hills and spotted their horses grazing not far away. Venus whistled, and both mounts trotted obediently back to them, allowing them to jump onto their saddles.

"We have got to get those wards working right," she said. "If that thing had come inside the castle, no one would survive. There isn't enough room to fight...in...those halls..."

Each of them was struck with the same terrifying thought. Not a moment later they were riding back at a full gallop, just a few shades away from panic.

"Did you notice it, though?" he asked over the pounding of the hooves.

"Notice what?"

"It's arms..."

She gave him a confused look, then nodded as she recalled its shape. "They were twisted apart before we even started on it."

"Something has got to be controlling these things." They continued to ride in silence.

*

Donatello stood in awe of the sight before him. Rows upon rows of bookshelves filled to overflowing with old books...just waiting to be read. Every where he looked, there was another stack of books, teetering on tables and chairs, stuffed into shelves and perched on other piles. A bibliophile's dreamland.

Riana noticed and chuckled. "Do ye like it?"

"Oh, yeah..." He leaned his staff against the doorway and entered slowly, gazing all around himself. "Where...where do we start? There are so many of them..."

"Best ta look in muh father's personal notes," she said, pointing to the left.

Donatello turned and spotted a shelf slightly set off from the rest, holding yellowed notebooks and cloth-bound hardbacks that were falling apart. They both stepped closer to it, and Don was almost afraid to breathe too hard around them for fear the pages would disintegrate. "Did he write all of this?"

Riana shook her head. "No, a lot o' that came from previous generations. The castle's been passed down from father tae son for so long that it predates our family records, perhaps hundreds o' years."

"Only father to son?"

Riana nodded. "Ours was a rather patriarchal family." She took one of the larger books down and handed it to him. "Here, this is muh father's research journal. It's probably the best place tae start looking."

Donatello gingerly took the book from here, glad that it didn't seem as fragile as the others. Riana took another with her, and together they sat down on the wooden table in the center of the room. After a little while, though, Riana abandoned her book and looked over his shoulder.

"I think I've found something," he said, examining the script. "Look, here's a diagram of the castle with three concentric circles around it. I think he must have erased something here, but that doesn't look too important. It's just a couple of straight lines, he probably just used those to make the circles."

Riana nodded, then pointed at one of them. "It looks like the inner one was made the strongest, it's drawn the darkest."

Donatello traced his finger down the side of the page, skimming the writing. "You're right, whoever designed this place made sure that the most crucial one would be the last to go. In fact, it looks like protecting this castle was a generation thing."

"Whut d'ye mean?"

"Just that if someone inherited it, then they had to recast the spells until the next person got it. But, if they never expected a girl to get it..." He looked at her slowly, and she nodded.

"Aye, they never would've told a female descendent how to cast the spells. If there was no male heir, it was tae go tae muh husband. But I never married, and muh father died before telling me..."

"But why couldn't you just look them up?" Don asked. "I think everything we need is written right here."

Riana looked away and mumbled something under her breath.

"What?"

She sighed, then shook her head. "These books are useless to me."

Don's eyes widened as he realized what she meant. "You can't read," he whispered. "But...you write books..."

"Nay, Ah dictate them. Muh agent has someone who types them for me. "

"But why didn't you ever learn? I mean, you have a whole library here..."

"Muh father was the type who thought girls were ta be pretty and nae smart. Ah never even went ta school."

"Wow." He looked back at the book, then back at her. "Then how did you learn so much about the monsters running around out here, and who taught you how to use Tarot cards?"

Riana smiled. "No one lives here long without learning all aboot our local goblins. There's truth in every tale mothers tell ta frighten their children, y'know. And the cards, well, muh grandmother taught me that before she died. Muh mother taught me how ta use herbs and home spells, the woman's magick that dinnae require reading." She glanced at the book and pointed at one of the lines. "What're all these numbers for?"

Donatello glanced down. "I think...I think that's one of the spells. Y'know, it kind of looks like...hang on!" He grabbed the laptop next to him and flipped it on, clicking quickly to one of the programs. "It looks like a formula...for a picture..."

"A picture? But it's just numbers," she protested.

"Yes, numbers telling us how to draw the shape. I bet--wait, let me plug this formula in...have to take up for some differences in the keys, and...yes! There!" He turned the screen towards her so she could see.

"It looks like a spiral," she noted.

He nodded somewhat smugly. It was heaven when things fit into nice patterns. "It's actually part of the Fibonacci sequence. It figures. The most natural formula in the world would probably be the most magickal. And Pythagoras was looking for it in triangles..." he laughed to himself.

"What's the Fibo...Fibonatchi?"

"Fibonacci sequence. It's a formula that predicts natural occurrences, like the seeds in a sunflower or the placement of the spines in a pine cone, and it's one of the foundations of the argument that everything in nature can be explained through mathematics."

"But what is it?" she pressed, holding in an irritated sigh.

"It's a numerical sequence that builds up on itself by adding the previous number to itself. It starts with the number one, then repeats number one to make two, which makes three, which makes five..." his voice trailed as he realized his explanation was rather unclear. "Look," he started to type on the screen. "It's just like this...one, one, two, three, five, eight, thirteen, twenty-one, thirty-four, fifty-five--"

"Oh, Ah get it!" she smiled. "That's simple, why do they make explaining it so hard?"

"Usually because mathematicians never talk with anyone except other math geeks," April laughed from the door.

"I resent that," Don said. "I talk with my siblings, don't I?"

"Talk with or talk at?" April said, walking inside. She held Shadow's hand and guided her inside toward the table.

"Let me guess, 'fearless leader' sent you to research the castle?" Don laughed.

"Well, his specific words were--"

"Let me guess. He probably said to see if this place is built over an old Indian burial ground or something like that, am I right?"

April just smiled.

"Ah think the books ye'll want are in that section," Riana said, motioning to the far right wall. "There's nothing about how this castle was built, that's too long ago, but there are some geography books, and some scraps about this place's history."

"Thanks. Are you guys gonna be here awhile?"

Riana nodded. "Donatello has to put all the spells together, Ah think."

Don sighed and started typing. "Yeah, and that could take hours to format. Why?"

"Oh, I just don't want to be alone in here, that's all. These books, right?" April took one of them down and returned to the small group, opening it up to the first page. Donatello kept typing away while Riana kept Shadow amused by answering her questions through the Tarot.

*

"I'm bored."

Raph groaned and glared at his brother. "Mike, that's the fifth time you've said that! What do you want me to do, toss you down the stairs for some fun?"

"That might liven things up," Casey said. "I can't believe I dressed in full combat gear for this. Not one troll or goblin!"

"You did scare the hell out of that little mouse on the stairs, though," Mike said.

"I don't want to talk about that," Casey growled.

"It's a good thing you screamed at it, or else it might've attacked us," Mike continued.

"I've never seen a mouse leap from the top of a staircase before," Raph said. "It must've been scared of your mask."

"Or maybe it saw under it," Mike added.

Casey waved his hockey stick at them. "Look, next one to mention the mouse gets an NHL enema, got it?"

The two turtles slowly stopped their chuckling and eased up on him.

"Well, that about finishes off this floor," Mike said, stretching. "Can you believe all the old stuff she's got in this place? She should make it a museum."

"Yeah," Casey said. "Come to Riana's Ireland Extravaganza, where the attractions eat the tourists!"

They stopped in front of the next flight of stairs, and they all peered up into the darkness. The steps just vanished into the shadows, as if there was nothing up there. Of course there were no electrical lights.

"Can't she have this place wired?" Casey sighed. "It's darker than hell up there."

"Wonderful choice of words," Mike said. "Look, do we really have to check that floor? I'm sure it's clear."

"Wimp," Raph said. "Don't tell me you're still afraid of the dark?"

"I notice you aren't running up there," Mike growled. "There's gotta be a lamp or something around here."

"I think I saw one in the last room," Casey said. "The one with the closets full of dresses."

"All right, we'll wait here. Mike, go get the lamp, willya?"

Michelangelo nodded, eager to head back to the windows and the sunlight. He wasn't sure why, but that dark space made him nervous. He ducked inside the room and searched around for awhile, but all he found were a few candles, a book of matches and one lantern. With a small groan, he struck the first candle he found and put it into the lantern, carrying it back over.

"Is that all you found?" Casey gasped. "That tiny little thing?"

"Hey, I could've just brought over the candles." Mike handed the lantern to Casey. "Dude with the light goes in first."

"Smart ass," Casey grumbled, but he took the lantern anyway. He raised up at the staircase, but they only saw more stairs. "Well, let's go up."

The two turtles followed behind for a few steps, but they all stopped when they found the door. Casey lifted the latch and put his hand on the knob, then hesitated.

"Come on, let's go!" Raph said.

"Look, this place has a reputation with doors. If they're closed, you're not supposed to open them!"

"Riana only mentioned the monster downstairs, she never said anything was up here," Raph argued.

Mike shook his head. "No, she only told us that later on. Maybe she forgot about anything up here."

"How do you forget about a monster in your attic?" Raph asked.

"Apparently around here, it's status quo," Casey said. He sighed, then opened the door. It creaked ominously, and a burst of cold air swirled around them. "You know, Don really gets all the easy jobs."

"You mean the boring jobs," Raph said, following him in.

"They're not boring for him, he loves boring math numbers," Mike whispered.

The firelight barely cut through the darkness, but it did allow enough light to show them a large, shadowy room filled with odd objects. Casey stalked around the sides, searching for anything breathing, and they all sighed in relief when they were sure they were alone. The dim illumination fell on a large set of shelves filled with jars upon jars and a table right in the center. Casey set his hockey stick down and held the lamp up to the shelves.

"Are those things labeled?" Raph asked, coming closer.

"Yeah, look," Casey pointed at the top row. "Man, she's got a lot of weird shit up here. There's one with dry sand, one with poisoned oak...gah!"

The ninjas pulled their weapons out again as Casey stumbled back. "What, what is it?"

Casey took a deep breath and shook his head. "Damnit, she's got freakin' eyes in there!"

Mike stared at the jar in question. "Kobold Eyes," he read. "What's a kobold?"

"Something we can ask her later," Raph said. "What else is in there?" He bent down and stared at the bottom row. "Dragon Scales? Faerie Wings?" He picked one up and studied the writing. "Dragon foam? Black Elf Blood? Where the hell did she get this stuff?"

"Hey, check this out!" Mike called from the other side of the room. "Bring the lantern over here!"

Casey placed the lantern on the table, leaving Raph with the shelves. "What is it?"

"It looks like a book of spells," Mike said, showing it to him. "See, the words are really weird."

Casey glanced at the pages and smiled. "No, Mike, that's Welsh. Whoever wrote this wrote it in Welsh."

"Welsh?" Mike looked at the words. "I guess that explains why they look funny. I wonder what it says."

"Probably says what to do with all the weird things in these jars," Raph called back. "C'mon, let's get out of here. This place is clear."

Mike set the book on the table and reached for the lantern. His fingers closed around the handle when the candle suddenly flickered out. There was another rush of cold air, and the door slammed shut. They could hear the latch fall into place, locking them in.

"Wonderful," Raph groaned. "Just wonderful."

A moment later, a soft blue glow started up in the corner of the room. None of them noticed it at first, but after a few seconds it grew stronger until they could see each other.

"Think this counts as a weak spot?" Casey asked.

Neither of them answered. They watched as the point of light expanded on either side to form a crescent first, then kept going around to form a circle. Another, smaller circle formed inside of the first, and a batch of symbols appeared inside the space between the two lines. Then the original point of light zipped along in straight lines at the center, leaving a trail of light to form an inverted star. The light flickered for a moment, and then there was a brilliant flash that blinded them.

"Shit, what the hell was that!" Casey yelled, grabbing his hockey stick.

"I don't know, I couldn't see it," Mike said, taking a step back.

Raphael backed away from the light as fast as he could, whipping his sais out. Slowly the glare was fading and he could see again. He looked up and saw the circle still glowing, but there was something standing in front of it. Something as large as him.

"Damn it, if I'm gonna fight it, I wanna see it," he whispered.

On the table, the candle in the lantern obligingly flared up bright, melting a hole through the metal top and shooting flames and sparks. In the sudden light, they heard the intruder's scream of pain before their eyes adjusted. The blue diagram on the floor disappeared in the natural light. Finally they could see it.

The creature was humanoid in shape, with greenish skin that looked like it was rotting. On its head it wore a red cap, but the coloring was odd. The red was too bright, with a brownish top, and it shined as if it was moist. What surprised them, though, was that this thing had arms and hands which were gripping long swords.

It noticed the book on the table and took a step forward, but when it caught sight of the other three people in the room, it hissed and raised its swords. Mike darted forward, ignoring his brother's warning cry, and grabbed the book. The monster screamed in anger and brought its sword down as fast as it could. Mike leaned back out of reach, the sword narrowly missing his face, and he kicked the table forward on top of it. One of the blades went through the wood and became stuck when the creature threw it back.

"Damn, that thing's strong," Casey muttered, raising his stick like a baseball bat. He swung at his enemy and caught it under the jaw, but it only faltered a little.

"Mike, don't let that thing get the book!" Raph yelled. "Get outta here!"

"I can't just leave you here!" Mike protested.

"Quit bitchin' and get moving!"

Even though he hated to do it, Mike clutched the book closer and ran for the door, which opened up by itself for him. The moment he stepped through, it locked up again. The torches lining the walls sprung to life, showing him which way to run. Not stopping to question any of it, Mike followed the path.

Meanwhile, Raph and Casey held their position in front of the door. With only one sword, the intruder had to be cautious. As Casey went around the table to come up behind it, Raphael slowly stepped forward, inching his way to get in range. The monster growled low in its throat as it watched them come closer. Just when they were about to slam it at once, it grabbed a jar from the shelf and threw it at Raphael, who dropped to the side. Taking advantage of the distraction, the creature leaped over him and ran straight for the door. It sliced down the wooden center and threw its shoulder against the weak spot. The door shuddered, then splintered away, allowing an escape. As it disappeared down the stairs, Raph and Casey ran after it, barely keeping it in sight.

"I hope Mike keeps ahead of it," Casey said as they ran.

"Just pray that thing doesn't get to the library," Raph replied.

*

"So what'll I be when I grow up?"

Riana smiled at the question and shuffled her deck again. "Well, that depends. How far in the future do ye want tae look?"

"Um...twenty years!"

"All right. Let's see." She flipped one card down, then another and another in rapid succession into an odd pattern. "There's a man in yuir future, someone ye'll love. The Empress, that means you'll have a child...and the Wheel of Fortune! That's a rather good future, Ah'd say."

"I thought the Wheel of Fortune was a game show?" Shadow asked.

"And you've been watching too much t.v. again," April said from the other end of the table.

"You can never watch enough cartoons," Shadow said.

April sighed and shook her head. "I don't know how you can stand to watch some of those things. I mean, the Batman and Superman ones are okay, and so's Sailor Moon, but how you can stand the Powerpuff Girls is beyond me."

"The Powerpuff girls are cool!"

"They're drawn so poorly, it makes me ill to watch them." April flipped another page. Despite her small talk, she had most of her attention on what she was reading. There was a lot of information here, and it was difficult to sort through all of it to find the important things.

Suddenly the door burst open and Mike ran in, out of breath. Donatello looked up from his laptop in surprise.

"Mike? What--?"

"No time to talk," Mike interrupted him. "Here, hang on to this!" He tossed the book to his brother, then turned around. He seemed to be watching for something. "Lock this door and barricade it!"

"Whut's out there?" Riana asked, standing up.

"I dunno, but it's got swords and a red hat." He closed the doors as he left.

"A red cap!" she gasped. "Good Lord...how on earth did that get in? April, take Shadow up to the second level of shelves, quick!"

April left her book and took Shadow's hand, leading her over the one of the ladders and sending her up before following right behind her. There was a thick slab of wood next to the door, which Donatello slid between the handles of the door, locking it up before helping Riana push the table up against it. Then Riana climbed up after April.

"Pull the ladder up with you," Don said.

"But what about you?" Shadow yelled. "I don't whatever's after us getting you, too!"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, kid," Don said. "I'll be fine, I just don't want to have to worry about you if I'm fighting."

He watched them haul the ladders up one by one, then turned as he heard a loud commotion on the other side of the doors. Suddenly he realized the book was still down here. He ran over and grabbed the book, tossing it up to April, who caught it and hid it on a shelf. Riana stood at the very edge of the walkway, hands on the wooden rail.

Outside the library, Michelangelo was slowly backing up, step by step, as the red capped creature slowly came towards him, one sword at the ready.

Did it kill Casey and Raph, he wondered, or did it just get by them? Man, we could really use Leo right about now. Always nicer to stay behind his swords than be the one getting sliced up.

The red cap lunged, forcing him back several paces. He spared a second to stare over his shoulder and groaned. He'd hoped for another door or at least a longer hallway, but there was only a circular window a few feet away. He took another step back. There was just no space to use his nunchucks here.

The red cap started to pass by the library doors, but it halted abruptly, glancing between them and the turtle in front of it. It turned slightly toward the doors.

"Hey, I thought you were after me!" Mike yelled at it, looking around wildly. There was a chair beside him, so he picked it up and heaved it at the monster. Its arm lashed out, deflecting it, but it didn't advance on Mike again. It turned fully toward the door and sliced the top half apart, ignoring the barricades on the bottom. Before Mike could move, it had leaped over the table and landed in the center of the room.

Donatello prepared to swing his staff at the creature, but just as he moved to strike, there was a spectacular burst of light and the sound of thunder rumbling through the library. When the light faded, the red cap's cap was smoking and Riana's eyes were still faintly glowing.

"Wow, Riana," Shadow said, "where'd you learn that?"

"My mother taught me many things before she died," Riana smiled.

Before the red cap could recover from her attack, Donatello planted his staff firmly down and vaulted towards it, kicking it back out through the doors where it stumbled out of sight. Mike's head popped into view, though.

"Don, toss me your staff!"

Without wasting time to ask why, Donatello threw his bo to his brother, who caught it and disappeared again. There was another growl, Mike yelled "Fore!" and then they saw the red cap flying through the air like a baseball. Glass shattered out of sight, and when Don ran out, he saw his brother smiling and staring at the hole in the window.

They both looked outside and saw a large rock shaped vaguely like a human surrounded by shards of glass. Donatello glanced back at his brother.

"Okay, how'd you do that?" he asked.

Mike's smile was quickly turning into a proud grin. "Oh, technique, skill, follow through...and a great nine iron!"

"My bo is not a golf club," Don tried to scold, but he was smiling, too.

Raphael and Casey suddenly came around the corner, gasping for breath. "Where is it?"

Mike and Don both pointed outside.

Raph nodded and put his sais away. "Good. Where's the book?"

"Oh, I forgot!" Mike said, looking at his brother.

"April's got it," Don said. "Help me move the table, will ya?"

Casey climbed over the door and pulled the table away, as Mike slid the wooden plank from its slot. Raphael had to help steady the ladder as the girls came down, and Donatello went right back to his laptop as if nothing had happened.

"Good work, Mike," Michelangelo whined, "well done. Nice job, getting rid of that thing. Oh, no problem, I love doing things without any recognition."

Raphael rolled his eyes as he helped April down. April stepped over to Mike and gave him a little kiss.

"I thought you did very good, Mike," she smiled.

"So, what's so important about this book?" Shadow asked, bringing it down with her.

Raphael took it from her and lay it on the table. "I don't know. We found it upstairs in the attic, and then suddenly that thing appeared out from a bluish pentagram. It went for the book, but Mike grabbed it and took off, and that's when it went after him."

"That thing was a red cap," Riana said, sitting down on the edge of the table. "It's really a Scottish boggle, though. I dinnae ken what it was doing down here. And why would it want this? They don't care about books." She opened it up and started to looking through it. "Did the circle disappear?"

"Yeah, when the candle flared up like a flame thrower," Raph nodded. "Do the candles always do that here?"

"Ye must have asked it to shine for ye," she said. "This is muh father's, no doubt aboot it."

"How can you tell?" Casey asked, looking over her shoulder.

"By his handwriting. And I recognize these drawings, they're his sketches. Ye say this was in the attic?"

Raph nodded. "With a bunch of jars full of eyes and blood."

"Ugh, that was his private workshop, I bet. I have to clean that place oot sooner. I dinnae like having that nasty stuff in there." She closed the book and leaned back. "Why would that thing want the book? Better question, how did it get in here?"

"We know the how," Raph said. "It came in through that pentagram. Can those things cast that kind of spell?"

Riana shook her head. "Nae, they're only good at fighting and killing. Someone had to cast the spell for it, and send it through to get the book."

"Which means someone's out there strong enough to command this thing," Mike added.

"But not that strong," Casey said. "The spell didn't last very long. Even if that thing had gotten the book, he couldn't have gotten away with it. It's still daylight."

"Not unless he killed everyone inside and waited for nightfall," Riana said calmly. "That spell would be handy to get this sorcerer's private army in here, except that it takes a lot of strength. No, that spell was specifically aimed at getting this book."

"I wish I knew Welsh," Don sighed. "But at least both of us can go through it and check the drawings out."

"Later," she said. "First we need to repair that window, and then we need to find out what spells we need to fix the wards around the castle. Then we can see what we need to do about this book."

"Leo's gonna want to know what happened," Mike sighed. "Venus, too."

"Speaking of those two, shouldn't they be back by now?" Don asked, looking up. "It's gonna get dark out soon."

For a moment, all of them were silent.

"I'm gonna go look for 'em," Raph said. "Casey, how good are you on a horse?"

"Better'n you, but then that's not saying much," Casey said.

"But daddy," Shadow argued, "you said you'd fall off a rocking horse if it went too fast."

Raph chuckled as his friend turned red under his mask, then nodded at Mike. "Okay, bro', you're coming with me. Casey, you'd better stay here and make sure nothing else pops up. And call us if Leo gets back, right?"

He took off to the stables with his youngest brother in tow. They managed to saddle their horses up, and after that it was just a matter of balancing as they rode off.

"How do we know which way to go?" Mike asked.

"We're going up to that hill," Raph pointed a few miles off. "From there we can get a good look of the surrounding area. Just keep a look out for those damn rats."

*

Venus woke up with a throbbing pain in her head, and for a moment she didn't try to get up, instead waiting for the pain to subside. She opened her eyes, and for a moment she wondered if she had gone blind. Everything was dark.

Where am I? she wondered. She could still feel the dirt under her hands, but there were no stars above her. What happened? The last thing she remembered was riding as fast as she could next to Leonardo, and then...falling?

"Mieh?" came a voice in the darkness, soft as if it was afraid to be heard. "Are you awake?"

"Unfortunately," she answered, forcing herself to sit up. "Where are we?"

"Underground, I think," Leo said. "I've been looking for a way out, but there aren't any openings. It's like we're in a bubble inside the ground."

She reached out and somehow found his hand, turning so she could face where his voice was coming from. "Well, at least we're alone."

"Yeah, no monsters," he said.

"That's not exactly what I meant," she mumbled to herself. "Well, if we're underground, then can't we dig our way out?"

"It's our only choice, and we'd better do it before our air runs out. Do you feel up to it?"

"I'll be all right."

Leo helped her up and gripped her hand. "I just wish we had some light in here."

"Just a moment."

A few seconds later, a soft, blue glow lit up the small chamber, hovering over her hand. She smiled and tossed it up into the air, where it stayed put.

"You know I get worried when you do that," he whispered. "You use your life force for it, it's so dangerous..."

"You get worried if someone opens a door," she said.

"You never know what's behind a door," he said.

She just shook her head. "Look, it's only a bit of light, it doesn't hurt me."

His eyes told her he didn't believe that, but he let the subject drop, and they both started to clear the dirt away, moving up at a steep incline.

*

"Okay, I'm stumped," Mike said, gazing around the surrounding countryside. "Where'd they go?"

Raph was confused. "That's a damn good question. How could two horses and two turtles just...vanish?"

"Well, we are ninjas," Mike said. "Maybe they're blending into the background."

"What background?" Raph cried. "This place is so flat it's painful."

"Or maybe they went exploring the forest on the other side of the castle," Mike suggested. “They did mention something like that, didn’t they?”

“Yeah,” Raph nodded, looking around the hill. They could both see for miles, the castle in the distance, the treeline of the forest not so far off. “All right, let’s take a look. They’re obviously not here.” He tugged his horse’s reins, and his mount slowly turned her head around to look at him. After a few seconds, she lazily started in that direction, making sure he knew it was her idea.

Michaelangelo was not so lucky. His horse trotted off after Raphael’s horse, then decided he wanted to outrun her. The horse picked up speed until he was hanging on for dear life as he bounced up and down.

“Mike, slow down!”

“I can’t!”

Raph made a sound that was halfway between an exasperated sigh and snarl, and prodded his horse on. A moment later, there were two turtles hanging on for dear life as they galloped to the forest.

The sound of their hooves faded away, and for several minutes, the hill was completely silent. The breeze wafted over the grass, bringing the dark clouds overhead even closer.

Abruptly a hand came up out of the ground, pushing the rocks and grass away. Leonardo dragged himself up and out of the hole, then turned and helped Venus up. Ignoring everything else, they lay back on the ground, breathing hard from the exertion. Both of them were covered in layers of dirt, and their masks were stained nearly black.

“The stupid horses took off, didn’t they?” Venus sighed.

“Don’t you remember?” Leo asked, looking over at her.

“Remember what?”

Leo glanced back at the clouds. “Good question. I can remember...the landscape looked like it disappeared, and then we were falling...and the horses were gone.”

“You mean they disappeared?”

“No, not like that...they just weren’t there anymore. Does that make any sense?” he glanced over at her.

Venus smiled. “If we were anywhere else, I would say no. But here, it sounds fairly reasonable. Should I turn the light off?” she asked, watching her blue ball float around in front of them.

Leo looked up at the sky and shook his head with a sigh. “No, I think we're gonna need it for awhile," he said, pointing upward.

Venus followed his stare and groaned at the black storm clouds. "I don’t want to get up yet,” she argued. “I’m too tired.”

“You wanna wait for those little monsters to come out and play?”

“You would bring that up, wouldn’t you?”

“Just a thought.”

There was a low rumble of thunder in the sky, and a bright flash of lightning. On that cue, both of them groaned and got up, starting towards the castle.

"I just wish our horses hadn't run off," Leo said, spotting the castle in the distance.

"I wish it wasn't so dark yet," she replied. "Do you really think those trolls and monsters could come out now? It's not really night yet."

"Maybe. Maybe not. Hopefully we won't meet another of those big ones out here."

There was another bolt of lightning, and then the rain started to come down, freezing cold and coloring the land gray.

"It just gets better and better," Leo grumbled.

"You sound just like Raphael," Venus said.

He didn't answer.

"At least it'll wash the dirt off," she offered.

"Yeah," he admitted reluctantly. "At least we're the only ones out here. Everyone else is safe inside."

*

Part 4