Contains mild fantasy violence and scary scenes

Chapter One

It was late at night in the National Museum of Natural History, Washington D.C.

A guardsman gave the pottery wing one last check before switching the lights off. He nearly called out "Goodnight!" out of instinct, but realised that would be facetious. There was clearly nobody in the museum other than the guards, and if there was, he'd soon know about it. He exited the darkened wing, glad this particular room had no mannequins peering at him with their shiny glass eyes, threatening to tear down his maturity with suggestions of slight movement. He moved onto the jewellery section, not giving the room a second glance.

Once he was gone, the wing fell eerily silent.

However, if you had been listening attentively, you might have been lucky enough to hear the almost inaudible "click" as a grate was carefully removed from the wall. Two legs slid into the gloom, alongside the rest of the intruder's body - not that anyone would have known had they been watching. The burglar had been very careful to perform an invisibility spell before he had begun his mission. Now he was inside the museum, he crawled furtively along the floor, keeping an eye out for any guardsman. Granted, they couldn't possibly see he was there, but the charm didn't nullify the fact that they would tumble head over heels if they accidentally walked straight into him.

Someone was patrolling the jewellery section. If he wanted any chance at grabbing the Hope Diamond, he would have to wait for them to move on. The criminal crouched behind a large case, upon which was a ming vase, worth millions, but not nearly as much as the Hope Diamond was going to bring him.

The guard finished scanning the jewellery area, and walked back toward the pottery zone. The thief held his breath as the security man paced toward his hiding place, gun in arms, always on the lookout for the slightest hint of trouble...

Phew! The guardsman had missed him. Whilst he made his way past the pottery cabinets, the burglar knew he had to act fast. He crept silently toward the jewellery cases, keeping an eye out for one piece in particular. It didn't take him long to find it. The museum staff had made a show of putting the blue diamond in a small, solitary cabinet without ostentation. There was no need for it - the diamond was stunning enough on its own.

It also happened to be surrounded by several security laser beams.

The thief contemplated how he was going to surpass those. He had two spells left, and now was the time to use one of them.

"Mae raek dah," he hissed, snapping his fingers quietly.

A soft, orange glow briefly enveloped his body - or at least where it would have been had you been able to see him. He quickly checked over his shoulder, just in case someone had noticed, before getting down to business. He reached his arm straight through one of the laser beams. Nothing happened. All was working so far.

The invisible man stepped through the security system without so much as a buzz sounding. He delved inside his backpack, pulling out a whistle. This was no ordinary whistle either - it had been delicately pitched to make a sound so high that no human could hear it, and it was perfect for shattering glass. Not only that, but it was a magical whistle that could crack the glass and make it tumble to the ground without a single noise.

He glanced at the camera positioned a few metres away from his head. Once he had his hands on the jewel, he'd have to act fast before the guards spotted what he'd done. He held up his bag, ready to snatch the gem the moment he was in. The whistle was pressed to his mouth. It wouldn't be long before the legendary Hope Diamond was his for the taking. He hesitated, trying to calculate just when to make his move. It wasn't everyday that he attempted to snatch a priceless jewel from right under the noses of the country's top security men...

"Surrender, wizard!" barked a gruff voice suddenly.

The intruder involuntarily piped his whistle, and the glass smashed dramatically. He swivelled round to find himself face to face with none other than King Regent Varg, who was pointing a deadly-looking weapon in his direction, with Lady Lyzera at his side.

The whistle clattered to the floor.

"How in tarnation did you find me?" cried the startled wizard, holding up his arms.

"Surely you did not suppose a powerful protection spell could go unnoticed by our superior Nekross technology," taunted Lyzera.

Shoot! thought the thief. Breaking into a museum was all about taking risks, and it seemed he'd now taken one risk too many. Why hadn't he used a softer enchantment to penetrate the laser beams?

"Do not think that your wizard trickery makes you invisible to our scanners," said Varg, before the intruder could make a getaway, "There is no escaping the might of Nekron."

"OK!" confessed the burglar, "I messed up! My bad! Shoot me! Extract my magic! Do whatever you want with me!"

"Husband," whispered Lyzera, "I would prefer it if I could behold my prey. That way I will see his terrified face as the magic is sucked from his very bones."

"Certainly, my Lady."

Varg held up a scanning device and pressed a knob. Instantly, a man in his mid-twenties with short mahogany hair and dark eyes materialised before him.

"Whoa!" The thief noticed his spell had been overridden.

"An invisibility spell is no match for the Nekross," explained Varg with a chuckle, "Prepare to meet your doom, wizard!"

"I should have known this was coming..."

Lyzera's tentacles had started writhing in a peculiar manner. "Varg?" she hissed, "Do you sense that intoxicating magic?"

The king regent paused. His feelers began squirming in a similar fashion. "I do indeed feel it, my Lady."

Lyzera strolled toward the Hope Diamond's case and peered behind the captive wizard.

"I do not believe it!" she exclaimed, "A gemstone of mighty power!"

Just like my necklace, she thought. It looked as though she might well have come across one of Earth's finest opportunities for sorcery.

"Careful!" yelped the wizard just before she was about to step right into the path of the security beams, "If you hit one of those things the police will come swarming!"

As a matter of fact, it was a miracle they hadn't already noticed the rather unusual visitors that had spontaneously materialised in the middle of the jewellery wing.

"I hope you are not deceiving us, wizard," said Lyzera.

"Look, do you want to find out the hard way?"

"You will deliver the gemstone into the Lady's hands, or be instantly obliterated," threatened Varg.

The thief didn't need telling! He took hold of the silver chain from which the famous stone dangled and strolled back through the beams toward Lyzera.

"You have tricked us!" she cried, "These lights are harmless!"

She thrust her hand right through them.

"Don't do that!" shrieked the burglar, but it was too late.

Alarms rang from every corner of the building. Doors burst open, and in sprang the cops, guns at the ready.

"Put your hands in the air and don't move!"

Varg, Lyzera and the crook dropped everything they were carrying and held up their arms.

...

Meanwhile in another part of the establishment, the museum's security chief marched into the surveillance room, accompanied by two armed henchmen.

"What is it that you called me in here for?" enquired the chief as he approached a member of staff, who was monitoring a screen.

"You're never going to believe this, sir," replied the colleague, wiping his glasses, "I've seen burglars in all sorts of outfits - balaclavas, stocking masks, ninja outfits, but never before in fancy dress!"

"What?" The chief had caught sight of the intruders on one of the observation televisions.

"And that's not all. When we first spotted them...well..."

"Well what, Morecambe?"

"It was weird..." disclosed Morecambe, "It was almost as if they appeared out of thin air...the pair in costume first, then the man in black. I thought it might be a trick so I didn't contact you until the alarms went off."

"This can't be right..." mused the bewildered chief. His walkie talkie went off abruptly.

"This is lieutenant Rogers speaking," said the officer on the line, "We've located the intuders. They're flesh and blood all right. Boy oh boy...this is going to go down in police history..."

...

Two dozen guards had surrounded the trespassers with Lt. Rogers at the front.

"State your names and intention," he ordered.

"I am the Lady Lyzera, Queen Regent of all Nekron," responded the Lady brashly.

"What game are you playing at, kid?" jeered Rogers, "This is the Natural History Museum, not a comic con!"

"Do not insult my wife!" thundered Varg.

"Oh, so this is a family affair, right? Who's the other one - your cousin?"

I do not believe this, thought the burglar.

"Jeremy Wren, actually," he confessed, "I might as well admit it now as nobody's gonna leave me alone if I don't!" There was no use lying. He'd been caught by security now, and it looked as though there was no escape. "Gee, I never thought it would end like this. I've been exposed by a pair of snake-headed aliens!"

He almost laughed at the absurdity of the situation. He'd known for ages that the Nekross were a threat to wizards everywhere, but never did he guess they'd ruin his life of crime!

"Who is it under those masks, anyway?" wondered Rogers, approaching Lyzera. He moved his hand toward her face.

"Do not touch my wife!" bellowed Varg.

"Look, I'm not going to hurt her!" He gently rubbed the Lady's chin. "That's some neat prosthetics you've got there, kid. Anyone would think they were attached to your skin!" He touched one of her antennae. Suddenly, he gave a horrible squeak and recoiled, dropping his gun. "That thing...it's..."

The queen regent hissed menacingly.

"...alive," finished Rogers.

Some of the guards began to look worried. If these really were aliens, they were well and truly out of their depth. Worse still, Lyzera's husband had cast what looked like a blaster on the floor. Not only were they dealing with aliens, but armed and dangerous aliens!

Gradually, the pair began to laugh.

"I can see why your sister finds humans so amusing," said the Lady to her husband.

Varg whipped out a spare gun, which he pointed at Rogers. "You will obey my orders, or be instantly obliterated."

"Drop your weapon!" commanded a gunman, "Drop your weapon!"

Varg and Lyzera laughed again.

"You will all surrender," demanded the king regent, "Or your leader's atoms will be turned to dust, alongside every one of you human cattle."

"What did he just call us?" whispered a guard to to his comrade.

"SILENCE!" erupted Varg.

One by one, the security force's firearms clattered to the floor.

"Now, you shall prostrate yourselves before the might of Nekron."

The soldiers kneeled promptly. Jeremy had figured he was no longer their target and had only just relaxed his arms before Varg roughly grabbed him, still holding Rogers at gunpoint.

"You will explicate the power behind this extraordinary gemstone or you also will be instantly obliterated."

"Uh...sure thing...um...Tharg, was it?"

"KING REGENT VARG!"

"Oh, yeah...anyway, the Hope Diamond is supposed to be some 'legendary gem' stolen from a statue in an Indian temple...um...yeah...bad luck is said to have followed all its owners...and, er..." There was a long pause.

"SPEAK, WIZARD!"

"...and in wizard lore it's supposed to be some sort of threshold of enchantment...heck, I guess I didn't do enough research before I went on this mission."

Varg gripped him tighter.

"I trust you are not deceiving us, wizard."

Jeremy tried to reply but he was too scared to make a sound.

Lyzera stooped and picked up an item beside him. She rose upward, her eyes fixed upon it in utter fascination.

"This very stone is the portal to a dimension from which the Nekross may feast for eternity," she mused, "At last, husband, we have no interferences from that infuriating wizard half-form Tom Clarke - the universe may well be at our fingertips."

"The universe, my Lady?"

"With such power, there is nothing we cannot achieve."

She could smell the tantalising magic emanating from the enchanted necklace. If she could get Varg out of the way, her skills in sorcery would soon unlock the secrets this extraordinary jewel contained.

Whilst both Nekross were busy admiring the diamond, Jeremy made a very quick decision. He was a wizard with a shady background, but there was still no way he was going to let his worst enemies try and seize control of the universe right in front of him.

If the Nekross were going to feast on a wealth of magic with no obstruction from Tom Clarke, well then - they could feast on this!

"Patach-dyshaa-dah," he chanted under his breath. Snap!