Task 1

A metallic objects materialized in front of my face. Not a task now....**

We were all huddled together in a damp cave, our hearts thumping. Demetra had ignited her irises to provide illumination but I hated it because I could not look into her face.

"What now?" asked Deric, ever the impatient one.

"Let's take them by surprise," Freddie suggested, stretching one long foot right up my chest.

"Hey!"

"Sorry, Dylan-- not much space for my --ugg- feet!"

Catherine was rather quiet, and I turned to her.

"What do you think, Kate?"

"I don't know," she sighed, "one wrong move and we'll be pinned to the ground by those 'spears' of them--" she winced at the thought.

"Demetra?"

"Don't ask me,"

That left me with it. Again.

"Fine. We're here to get the orb, right? What about I magnetize it and we scamper?" I offered hopefully.

"Okay," they all agreed.

So I stretched the little tip of my finger just outside the protective hue Catherine had cast around us.

"Magneto!"

A wailing siren blared out. I drew my finger back into the hue and turned to my squad.

"Scamper!"

"Not so fast," sneered a voice.

We looked up into the discolored eyes of the most ugly Thori I'd ever seen, and, holler, I've seen ugly Thoris.

"Take them," he or she or it hissed.

"Not without a fight," Freddie said and at once there appeared round the Thori a circle of fire

"Nonsense," the Thori stamped it out with it's webbed feet. That was supposed to paralyze any human, but well, the Thori being a Thori, it had so effect at all.

"The less you fight, the less the torture," it said. My blood ran cold. Nothing petrifies me more than a torturing session from a Thori. Maybe because I was a chappie from Earth. My friends weren't as scared as I was.

"We'll see who does the torturing you ugly git!" Freddie yelled and tried to contort the thori.

Ghar, as we later learnt his name, took hold of Freddie and knocked him unconscious with one of his many hammer-like fists.

He then did something frightening. He reduced Freddie to a doll size and dropped him in the hanging loose folds of his skin, adapted for carrying young by the female thoris.

Turning away, he called over his shoulder.

"We're moving camp tonight, and you know we thoris never leave traces. Good luck finding your friend," and he and the two smaller thoris in his wake teleported out of the cave.

"We didn't get the orb, we lost Freddie! Zero marks!" wailed Catherine.

"Is this the time to worry about marks?" Deric growled, "listen, squad-- we're not returning to Cortaz until we get Freddie back-- oh, and the orb,"

And so began our tumultuous adventure.