Talis pressed himself against Callista, his bare chest against her back. He was shivering, but he tried hard to not do so. The heat rising from the horse as it ran helped a little, but not by much. Talis steered the horse in the only direction he could think of. He steered it towards where Lily and Nereus' camp was. "I wish I wasn't." Talis felt bad for Callista, to have to be put through that kind of emotional pain. At least Talis had no real feelings for Violet, though he was sure his feelings for Lily and Callista were real, even if it wasn't much. Just feelings of friendship and a desire to want to protect the little fox. He just seemed so delicate. Talis kicked the horse, trying to make it run faster.

Mumbling soft words, Nereus placed a gentle kiss on the fox's shoulder. "We need to get dressed, love, we have to be ready to leave at any moment." The sudden use of the endearment surprised Nereus, though not too much. They had been stuck together in a cave for days, and had been running away together since. Of course they would get to know each other, and for Nereus it had been much more then that. He'd found a reason to smile again.

This time when she closed her eyes Callista fell into sleep. It was as if she was trying to escape her own mind and the memories that kept running trough it. Violet finally kissing her! It was only part of what she wanted from him, the only part she would ever have. A shuddering breath left her sleeping form as she relaxed completely.

Lily mumbled something incoherent and blinked owlishly, looking at Nereus. He yawned, he was comfortable and not really ready to get dressed. Reluctantly he did so anyway. He knew Nereus was right, his ears twitching a bit and he placed a soft kiss on Nereus lips before he moved to pull his clothing back on. Nereus had called him 'love' and that had made Lily smile, it was a much better to be called that than the things Violet usually said. Once he was dressed though, he laid down and curled up, ready to go back to sleep. At least for a few more hours, if Nereus would let him.

Talis pushed the horse harder. The beast was foaming at the corners of it's mouth and it's eyes looked wild. Still they wouldn't arrive at Nereus and Lily's camp until a while after the two had gotten dressed. Even so, the horse nearly ran past the makeshift shelter that Nereus had made, Talis tugged back on the handful of mane he had, causing the horse to turn and stop suddenly. To sudden. The creature reared back, pawing at the air. Talis felt himself falling, not having anything more substantial to hold on to than the horses mane, he let go and wrapped his arms around Callista. Falling backwards off the horse, he landed in the snow with an 'oof' and Callista safely on top of him. The horse whinnied loudly and galloped off in a random direction once it was free of it's riders. Talis lay there shivering in the snow, his arms still around Callista, his eyes on the sky. He just didn't feel like getting up yet.

Dressing at the same time as Lily, Nereus then watched quietly as the fox curled up again. He moved to place a hand on the fox's head and began massaging it slowly. Nereus was worried about Lily not getting enough sleep, though he wasn't worrying about himself at all. That's what usually happened when he fell for someone, especially a person like Lily who seemed to lighten his mood and make him forget about his past without even trying. Absorbed in his thoughts, he barely heard the sound of a horse running trough the snow, and something thumping to the ground. Moving quickly, grabbing his sword, the young man ran out and sighed in relief when he saw Talis and Castilla, though he was worried just a bit by the fact that the dragon still wore his collar.

Even in sleep the young woman curled into the dragon's warmth. Seeking comfort from him seemed so natural at the moment. She stirred as they fell, gripping Talis's waist and opening her eyes. "You keep breaking my fall." In one way or another anyway. The mumbling was nearly incoherent. It was a horrible time for Callista to be awake, when she needed to recover from such a large expenditure of energy.

Lily made soft noises of contentment when Nereus massaged his head lightly. Murring softly at the gentle contact, his ears twitched at the sounds outside, the sound of the horse, the sound of something falling but Lily was already fast asleep and the noises didn't wake him. He was rather tired.

Talis grunted lightly, his arms tight around Callista for a moment. "Don't get used to it." He turned his head as Nereus came into view. "Good. You guys are still here." Carefully, Talis got to his feet with Callista still in his arms, he held her close, shivering almost violently. His lips already had a hint of blue to them, but the dragon didn't seem to concerned with himself. He didn't even wait for Nereus to say anything, he strode forward to the shelter and deposited Callista inside gently. Next to Lily. Moments later he stepped out of the shelter, his arms going around himself as he looked to Nereus. He was sure the man would want to have words with him.

Smiling a little, Callista felt herself falling asleep once more now that she had been reassured in a way. They were with the others, and nothing would happen to them for the moment. Though there was no telling what would happen the next day, or the one after that ... Sleeping as she was now, those thoughts slipped away. As she was placed beside Lily, the young woman moved unconsciously to cuddle against the young man in a silent search for warmth.

He watched Talis slip into the shelter and lay Callista down. When the dragon returned, Nereus raised an eyebrow and shook his head. Before saying anything, the white haired man went to gather up a set of extra clothing and boots for the other man. Despite their size difference, he knew anything would be better then the scanty clothing Talis wore. "Tell me if you'll try to take Lily again." A dangerous note entered Nereus's voice as he asked the question.

Lily wriggled a little bit as Callista cuddled against him. His fluffy tail moving to lay across her some. The fox didn't wake though, only found a new level of comfortableness as he slept.

Talis snatched those extra clothes rather quickly, didn't even wait for Nereus to hand them to him or tell him they were for him. Talis assumed, and really didn't care. He was freezing. Hurriedly he pulled on the shirt, and the pants, though he left his skirt on over them. Then the boots. He was still cold but still, clothing made a big difference. When Nereus spoke, Talis shrugged. "You'll need to discuss that with Callista, but if you try to wake her now, I'll stop you. She's exhausted." Talis was tired to. He was tired of all this running, and being owned. "I'm going to sleep." Talis knew it was a bad idea, but he turned and entered the shelter. He knew Nereus would probably just get angry and jealous again, but really. It would be fun to see what the man did. Talis laid down on the other side of Lily, so the fox was between him and Callista. Laying on his side and facing the fox, he laid his arm across Lily's body his hand resting lightly on Callista's body. Golden eyes slipped closed and a mischievous smirk on his lips.

He watched in silence as the dragon clothed himself, but frowned as the other man spoke. Callista? What did the mage have to do with capturing Lily? It made no sense at all to him. Setting the confusion aside, Nereus shrugged a little and moved to follow the others into the shelter. The young man was a little too tired to care about anyone finding them, and he wanted to find Lily and hold the other man in his arms. But it didn't seem like that would be possible, since everyone was surrounding the fox. Letting out an annoyed sound he paced around slightly before finding a small smile forming on his lips. Moving to lay down beside Talis, he pressed himself against the other man to pass an arm around Lily.

Callista smiled slightly in her sleep and moved a hand to place it over the dragon's as if knowing instinctively that it was him. She felt safe, even if her dreams were filled with what had happened earlier that day.

Lily wriggled and shifted slightly, but he was very comfortable, sandwiched between Callista and Talis. The dragon had shifted a bit when Nereus laid down next to him, moving just a tiny bit closer to the human. The dragon had fallen asleep rather quickly too. When morning finally came and the others would wake, they would find Talis no longer in the shelter, and Lily had shifted about to snuggle close to Nereus in the dragon's absence. Though the scent of roasted rabbit would probably wake them before the risen sun's rays could. Talis had gotten up early, and caught some rabbits. The dragon had been hungry and he was sure the others would appreciate a nice meal. He had dug a fire pit and started a fire, cooking the skinned and gutted rabbits skewered on some sticks. The dragon was already munching on a fully cooked rabbit while others cooked.

Callista mumbled softly to herself and shifted around to get more comfortable. Packed down snow managed to find it's way into the collar of her dress, making the mage bolt upright. Looking around memories of what had happened in the past few days flooded back, making her groan slightly. The welcome scent of something cooking helped her to shove the memories aside. Scrambling up the silver haired woman stumbled out of the shelter and smiled upon seeing Talis. Moving to his side, she placed the fang upon her knees and poked at it's spells lightly. She was too tired to do anything else. "Do "you know what kind of magic was used to bind you? I'm too tired to figure it out in the way I usually would at the moment. In fact, she was still terribly groggy, and her stomach was screaming to be fed.

Nereus woke when Callista scampered off, but remained where he was. Instead of moving, the man tightened his hold on the fox and nuzzled the other man gently. They really needed to find more clothing for Lily. If they didn't, Nereus feared that the blue eyed man might end up with frostbite, or worse. He regretted giving his extra clothing to Talis now, despite the fact that he knew Lily woudl have approved. He saw the dragon as his brother after all. Because of that, the white haired man had to at least try to help that other one out despite the fact that he disliked him.

When Callista came up beside him, he offered her the rabbit he had been munching on. It was already fully cooked and he was sure she was hungry and didn't want to wait for the others to finish cooking. When she set his fang on her knee, his fingers twitched, he almost reached out to take it. So close, it called to him, but he knew he couldn't touch it. He shook his head, his eyes watching the rabbits cook. "I don't know. Take your time though, I'm not in a hurry. You should relax and recover your strength." Well, it being in Callista's hands was better than it being in Violet's.

Lily's nose wrinkled slightly at the scent of food and he shifted about, clinging tightly to Nereus. He was hungry, but he didn't want to get up quite yet. He was too comfortable. His fluffy tail came around to wrap around Nereus' waist, as if to help hold that man close to Lily's body.

Eagerly accepting the rabbit the dragon offered her, the young woman bit into the warm meat happily. She wasn't nearly as fussy as she had once been, and was extremely glad for the food. Finishing her first mouthful, Callista glanced down at the white tooth sitting upon her knee. Taking off a leather tie from one of her boots, she wrapped it around to fang and fashioned a necklace of sort for it so she could hang it around her neck. "Thank for the food Talis. And I know, it's just I really want to help you and waiting is such a hard thing to do." Especially when she was sure people would be searching for them everywhere. Once able to turn into his dragon form, Talis wouldn't need to worry about that.

Smiling to himself, the knight passed a hand over the fox's tail. "You know, you surprised me yesterday sweet Lily." Shifting to lean against his hand in such a way that he was looking down at the fox, Nereus grinned. Wrapping his free arm around Lily, he let out a soft sigh of contentment. There had to be someplace where the fox and his friends could be safe and out of Violet's reach. Lands far away from this place abounded of course, but it couldn't be just anywhere. "What kind of place would you like to live in?" That information would be invaluable.

Talis rotated the rabbits to let the other side of them cook some. He ran a hand through his hair and glanced at her when she put the fang around her neck. It did look nice there, but still, Talis wanted to reach for it. Wanted to snatch it away, again he had to take his eyes off of it before he did reach for it. "You're already helping me, so don't let waiting bother you so much. Just take it easy. Relax." He flashed her a quick smile and then poked at the rabbits a bit.

Lily mumbled something incoherently, his eyes opening as he wriggled to lay against Nereus with his head somewhat under the man's chin. "Was it the good kind of surprising?" He asked almost cautiously, keeping his face against Nereus' chest as he wriggled and pressed himself against the man. It was just so comfortable being so close to him. "I want to live in the kind of place that Nereus lives in, no matter where it might be. I hope such a place is full of nice people though."

Smiling, Nereus pressed a kiss against Lily's forehead. "Of course, definitely." Remembering what had happened the day before had the usually composed white haired man blushing. It only deepened when he heard what else the fox had to say. Tilting his head, he captured Lily's lips for a firm kiss before pulling back. "I don't have a home yet. We can find one together though." Someplace with lots of space, and plenty of kind neighbors. Nereus had dreamed of beginning to breed horses for a while now, but to do that there was so much that had to be done first!

Taking a few more bites of her rabbit, Callista felt her shoulders slump for a moment. Violet's face had surfaced in her mind, making her want to burst into tears and blow things up all at the same time. "It's hard to relax when I can't get him out of my mind." Lifting confused blue eyes to Talis, she smiled halfheartedly in response to his own expression. Absentmindedly, the young woman fiddled with the dragon's fang. She didn't realize she was doing so though.

"Talis and Callista could live there too?" Talis asked a bit hopefully after that kiss, looking up into Nereus eyes. Though before the man could even respond to his words, Lily wriggled away from him, got to his feet and rushed out of the shelter. He was hungry, and he couldn't ignore the alluring scent of the cooking rabbits any longer. He ran up behind Talis and threw his arms around the dragon's neck from behind. Leaning against him and resting his chin on the top of Talis' head as he peered at the fire and the cooking rabbits. "May I have one?"

Talis watched Callista out the corner of his eye. "I'll kill him for you. If you tell me to, I won't hesitate. I could rid this world of him and his cruelty once and for all." Talis was serious, but he spoke the words in a low tone. So the others might not over hear him. Then Lily was hugging him from behind, the dragon blinked and chuckled softly. Reaching out to grab the end of a stick that held a rabbit. He handed it up to Lily. "Careful, it's really hot." Lily hesitated a moment, took the stick and then sat down beside Talis, so the dragon was between him and Callista.

The white haired man had been to about to answer when the fox bolted out of his arms. Shaking his head, Nereus sat up and stretched before reaching for his sword and walking out. Finding everyone sitting by the pit Talis had created, the knight moved to sit beside Talis. Reaching out, he grabbed one of the spits and began to eat a rabbit. He thought about the fox's words and sighed. To make him happy, he could tolerate anyone even Talis. Leaning over he tugged at Lily's ear lightly. "Yes, to answer your question from earlier." Hopefully Lily wouldn't blurt it out, what he'd asked.

Shaking her head vehemently, the young woman clutched the fang tightly in her fist. Looking rather sad, she didn't even cheer up when the fox burst out of the shelter. Instead of saying anything, she ate the rest of the rabbit quietly. Moving slowly, she shifted to press herself against the dragon in order to seek what comfort she could from him. Callista was terrified of what Lily would say if he found out how she felt about Violet... Which was why he was the one she leaned against right now. "Don't hurt him," whispered the young woman into the dragon's ear.

Lily stared at his rabbit, as if trying to will to cool down with his mind. When it still remained to hot to eat, he thrust the whole thing into the snow. When Nereus came out he smiled brightly at the man, and when he tugged one of his ears, that ear twitched and Lily giggled softly. Nodding a bit at the man's words as he pulled the rabbit out of the snow and poked the meat with a finger. Well it had helped, he pulled some meat off and began eating happily.

Talis had glanced at Nereus, and shrugged slightly at Callista's words. Reaching out to take the last rabbit for himself. He didn't even wait for it to cool some, he bit into the meat immediately. If he had burned his lips or his tongue he didn't show it, in fact, Talis welcomed the extreme heat that flowed off the meat. It warmed his body inside and out, Talis really didn't like the cold very much. He was a cold blooded reptile, being in human form did help some, and devouring this straight out of the fire rabbit helped a lot.

After finishing his rabbit, Nereus stood and glanced down at everyone else. "We need to head out now. There's no telling when Violet sends someone out after us. The more ground we can cover today, the better." They could stick in the woods until they found a well traveled road or a village. Once there, they needed to stock up on supplies and some way of disguising themselves. Especially Lily, the fox was easily recognizable with his ears and tail.

Sighing a little, Callista moved away from Talis and poked slightly at the magics around the fang again. There had to be some thread of spell hanging out, untied and unbound. He was her friend, and there had to be a way to free him. Besides, she was curious about the way he would look once the spells were gone. "What do you look like in your real form?" The question was asked rather softly as Callista bit her lower lip a little. It just wasn't working well, this trying to distract herself.

Lily had eaten nearly all of his rabbit. The animal was small, but still Lily hadn't been able to finish it. That was alright though. He licked his lips and handed the unfinished remnants to Talis. He stood and stretched when Nereus stood. "Mmm." His fluffy tail wagged a bit, and his ears twitched. Nereus was right though, they should get moving. He looked at Talis and Callista expectantly.

Talis devoured his rabbit rather quickly, and when Lily handed him the rest, he quickly devoured the fox's last bit of breakfast as well. He stood, and kicked snow over the fire to put it out quickly. When Callista asked that question, he grinned at her and spread his arms out wide. "Big. Black and sleek with an impressive wingspan." Oh how good it would feel to fly again. "But describing isn't the same as seeing. You would be very impressed. I'm small for my kind, but still very big considering your kind, and once you've released the spells that bind me," He had pointed at the fang when he said that, "the first thing I'll do is fly to Violet's estate and destroy him." For a moment a feral glint had entered his golden eyes, he had lowered his hands to his sides, one hand clenched into a tight fist then unclenched.

She smiled a little upon hearing his description. Callista really wanted to see what he looked like! Though her enthusiasm dropped into silent horror when Talis spoke the last few words. A terrified and heartbroken expression crossed her face for a brief moment. "No, you can't! Please Talis I'm begging you ..." Reaching out without caring what the other two thought, she clung to Talis's shirt and looked up into his eyes pleadingly. "Please don't kill him after I free you. I ... I love Violet."

Nereus sighed a little when he saw how much time the others seemed to be taking. He would have said something to hurry them along, but once he heard the conversation the two were having ... The young man couldn't help but listen in with fascination and quite a hint of shock. Glancing at Lily, he wondered what in the world had happened for the woman to fall for such a cruel man.

When Callista grabbed his shirt, Talis blinked and stared at her for a few moments. Shaking his head. "I'm sorry, you are my friend but once I'm free I am my own master and my proud heart seeks vengeance." He lifted a hand to pat her lightly on the top of the head. "You shouldn't love that man. You should loathe him with every fiber of your being, he is a cruel creature. A creature that doesn't deserve to live." Slowly he pulled away from her. "Nothing you say can change my mind, Callista. I'm sorry."

Lily had been bouncing on his toes a bit, his ears twitched lightly. He really hadn't been paying much attention to Talis and Callista's conversation, but his attention was completely grabbed at Calli's confession of love. The fox gasped softly and reached out to grab Nereus' arm tightly. Wide eyes turned to Callista. Lily didn't love Violet, but the fox didn't hate the man either the way Talis seemed to. Of course he disliked Violet, and he hated being punished for things, but he didn't hate Violet. Still he couldn't understand how anyone could love a man who treated people the way he did. His brow furrowed a bit as he tried hard to understand how and why Callista could love Violet.

Someone had found the fallen Violet, a loyal servant, and had carried him up to his room. Assuming that he had exhausted himself from having to deal with disobedient slaves. That notion was further implanted in the servants mind when he saw that Callista's room no longer had a door attached to its frame. The servant had tucked Violet in and the man had slept throughout the rest of the night. Now though, he gasped, bolting up to a sitting position in his bed. His heart pounded. Violet hadn't had a bad dream, so he didn't really understand why he felt terrified. Terrified, worried, upset and confused over something. He was very confused, not just because he felt the confusion Callista felt, but because he was confused about feeling all those things. Really the man wasn't sure what was going on with him. Slowly though he began to remember yesterday's events and he dropped back down on his bed with a groan, a hand rubbing at his temple as he tried to force those unwanted feelings away. Guessing that Callista had put some sort of spell on him.

Nereus shifted around uncomfortably, and was rather pleasantly surprised when Callista moved to walk out of the camp. There was no way they could truly hide their presence there, so they did indeed need to move fast. Reaching out, he gripped Lily's hand gently and tugged a little at the fox so they could set off. He didn't understand how Callista could feel what she did for someone like Violet, but she was a nice person.

A small involuntary whimpering sound left the woman at the thought of Violet's death. As Talis stepped away, Callista shook her head and turned away from the others. She didn't want them to see that she was actually crying. She loved him, damn it! Even now she could feel the emotion swelling in her heart as she remembered every gentle gesture or kind thing Violet had done for her, but it was tempered with the knowledge that the moment Talis was free ... She was going to be signing his death warrant. "Alright, well let's go now." Wiping the tears away, she moved from the camp and towards the trees.

Lily just blinked and stared as Callista started walking off. When Nereus tugged him a bit, he started moving as well. He was so confused though, trying hard to figure out how Callista could love Violet. It really didn't make any sense at all to him. At least he could understand Talis' hate and desire for vengeance, even though Lily himself didn't really have a thirst for vengeance. Callista he just couldn't figure out.

Talis frowned as Callista walked away. He shook his head a bit, lingering behind for a while as the others walked off. His words had upset Callista, and honestly he hadn't meant to upset her, but really she wouldn't have been upset if she wasn't in love with Violet. Just like Lily, Talis couldn't understand how such a thing was possible. He just couldn't wrap his mind around it. With a sigh, he started after them, it really didn't take him long to catch up to them. The dragon was silent as they walked.

Violet was trying so very hard to ignore the things he was feeling. He didn't even really understand most of what he felt so that made it a little easier to somewhat ignore it. Quickly he slipped out of bed and dressed, leaving his room in a hurry. Violet didn't waste any time in ordering his men to begin searching for his runaways. Once that was done, he went to the dinning room for his breakfast. His guards and servants were a bit more quiet around him than usual, it was the confused look in his eyes and angry set of his lips that kept them even more in line that usual. Violet had never seemed confused about anything before and he certainly seemed very very angry.

Silence enveloped the little group as they walked trough the forest. From time to time, Nereus would offer to carry Lily on his back when he thought the fox was getting tired. They didn't stop very much, or rather Nereus didn't let them. He was determined to see everyone safe and sound in the next village by night fall. Crushed snow and broken branches signaled their passage to the world. Though by mid-afternoon it didn't seem to matter. Even then, the knight didn't let them stop.

All the while, Callista's thoughts kept circling the same things. Why had Violet captured her heart? There had been so many other men in that manor, but it had to be him! The annoying, cruel , man who did nothing but harm everyone. She kept trying to convince herself that he'd only saved her because she was his pet, his toy, his ... A stab of hurt went trough her heart as she remembered what he'd called her. The young woman's lower lip trembled from time to time, and if the others tried to speak with her, she simply ignored their words.

Soon enough though, even Nereus realized that a rest was needed. So, during the afternoon he allowed everyone to take a break at a little shelter on the side of the road. It was rudimentary, but with a nice fire crackling happily it offered more shelter from the wind then they'd had all day. "Lily, Talis ... Would you mind telling me what ... How could Callista fall for Violet?" His words were spoken softly as he glanced at the woman sitting alone in a corner on the other side of the small hut-like place.

Lily and Talis had trudged along. Though Lily wouldn't hesitate to be carried whenever Nereus offered. Still he and Talis were both relieved when they finally stopped. The dragon was shivering, had been for the last few miles they'd walked. Cold climate really wasn't for him at all, Lily wasn't shivering, moving around and being close to Nereus when the man carried him was enough to keep the arctic fox comfortable. When Nereus spoke, Lily shrugged. He really had no idea at all, he looked towards Callista, where she sat all alone. The fox bounded over to her and sat down beside her. She was upset and he wasn't sure how to make her feel better. He hugged her tightly.

Talis watched the fox dart over to Callista's side to try and comfort her the best way he knew how. The dragon shook his head, running a hand through his hair before hugging himself a bit and standing dangerously close to the fire. "I don't know why you think we would know. He treated her no better than the rest of us, she's got an idea that Violet can't be all bad. She's probably more in love with the man she wants him to be than she is with the man he really is." Talis shrugged. "It doesn't matter though, I'll see that man dead once Calli's removed the spells that bind me." He was watching her, she wore his fang, and he was almost certain she didn't realize how much power she really had over him.

Violet was very upset, he sent a hunting party out to find his runaways and so far he hadn't heard back from them. They hadn't sent a message with a runner or with a bird at all and it was getting late. Were his men so incompetent that they couldn't function without him constantly yelling orders at them? Violet couldn't do that though, he was too busy trying to sort himself out. These feelings that he felt, he knew they weren't his own. His heart seemed to ache and he really did not like that feeling at all, nor did he even understand it very well. He paced back and forth in his study.