Cries, gunshots, and the general sounds of battle filled my ears.

A burst of static cut through the chatter, briefly interrupting Charles' account of the furball. I squinted to the sky, watching as the moon began to obscure the sun.

Another day, another fight to save the world, another jungle, another temple. This one, though, wasn't a keeper. If we survived.

I listened to Charles' account for another moment, "Draco has the attentions of three dragons...the Monkey King and his son have two more..." Another burst of static. I opened the channel, "Delivery team...update on the package."

Scanning the now-empty courtyard that surrounded the temple, I listened as our two ex-Special Forces members commented on the progress of their work. Almost done. Good.

Inside the temple, the battle continued unabated. I stood near the entrance with Jeff, guns out, ready to assist whoever needed assisting.

The day began to darken slightly, taking on that strange tint as the moon blotted out more of the sun.

McBain's gravelly voice came over the comm. "Packages armed and set."

"Roger that," I replied. "Hang tight and keep an eye on them. It would just be like one of those damn sorcerers to rear their ugly heads about now."

Suddenly, Douglas' voice cut across the channel again, "Two more dragons down...finishing a third..." A cry of pain and a gurgle followed. Jien Li took up the commentary, "Man down! Man down!"

That was enough for me.

I turned to Jeff, "We're going in." He nodded.

Touching the comm link, I broadcasted, "The reserves are coming in."

There was a protest from Mira. "Shouldn't more of us go in?"

"No! Our first priority is to make sure that this temple gets blown to kingdom come. It's McBain's and your responsibility to make sure that happens, so guard those explosives!"

I ducked inside, Jeff on my heels, and passed through the outer chambers. Nothing disturbed our passing. Seemed that all the action was taking place inside. Jien had picked up where Douglas left off, commenting on the battle, which, from the sounds, still raged. Then we were at the entrance to the inner chamber. I cocked the hammers of my guns and gave Jeff one last look, then threw myself inside, ready for anything.

Anything except complete silence, anyway.

That was what greeted me upon my entrance. Several sets of eyes turned toward me as I came out of my roll and searched for targets. All I found were a few cowering priests in one corner. With a smirk, I lowered my guns. Draco wiped the blood from his blade, standing near Douglas' fallen form. Several hacked corpses were lying about the floor in pieces. Other than Douglas, it looked as if we hadn't suffered any casualties. Blue Phoenix and the others from the team responsible for stealing back the chi artifacts stood grouped together, several bulging bags in hand. Jien Li, Jean, and the rest of the fighters stood about, checking to make sure that our enemies were dead. Okay, then.

"Fire in the hole! Everybody out!" I shouted.

The Monkey King and Sha King took a bounce that carried them up and out through the hole in the ceiling. Impressive. I really should ask them sometime how they do that. Draco slipped back into the shadows and disappeared. Everybody else headed for the exit. I holstered my weapons and knelt next to Douglas, feeling for life signs. Weak, but there. He had some pretty nasty looking wounds, and looked like he had lost a lot of blood. Carefully, I lifted him into a fireman's carry and grabbed his sword, then turned and made my way out as fast as I could.

The darkness was oppressive. I passed through the outer chambers, and then out of the temple. The darkness wasn’t much better outside. The eerie glow of the sun’s corona cast the only light across the land. I jogged across the courtyard, getting away from the temple as fast as I could. Suddenly, the hairs on my neck rose, and I distinctly thought I heard a feminine "Ooops" echo over the tac headset. I heard, then felt, a huge explosion behind me. Sprawling forward, I did my best to keep myself between the force of the blast and Charles’ body. Squinting, I glanced back and watched as the temple was reduced to rubble, cleansed by the fire of the holy plastique.

A grim smile creased my lips. Take that, you bastards.

I just hoped we hadn’t left anybody behind.