Thalian knew he was close, and was only getting closer the more commotion he heard. He was praying as hard as he was running, pleading with the gods he would not be too late. When he reached the edge of the treeline that intersected the path on which Hollow was fleeing, he tore open his wings, bounded into the air, and landed like a bolt of lightning directly between Hollow and her pursuers.

His glimmering cloak and ponytail whipped about him as his soft gray boots dug deep into the snowy path into an unshakeable defensive stance. His wings splayed rigidly behind him, so tense their edges began to shine like starlight. His silvery eyes grew brighter, and his sword dripped dangerous burning light onto the complaining snow beneath it. Even his plain scabbard had turned into a dense black bar of shadow. He hissed and bore his pair of twin fangs at the encroaching pack, and the pendant around his neck shone brighter and swung wildly in response to the hard landing.

He turned his head to Hollow briefly.

"You stay behind me! Understand!" he yelled.

Kitara's eyes went so wide and she trembled a bit. "What are you saying?!" she mewled. "I don't think...no, how could I ever feel anything like that?!" She hung her head, looking a bit sad as well as confused. "I don't even remember my past life...so why would I get so worked up about it...?" she whispered quietly. The idea of hate consuming her sent her shivering. No, it was impossible...wasn't it?

Before Aideen could finish her own line of questions, a dull thud echoed in the distance, followed by a mysterious chuckle. She stiffened at the sounds, paling, her eyes shining furiously. "Valerie, what was that?" she cried, staring into the unfamiliar shadows of the hallway. "That’s not a normal sound, is it?"

Kara tried her best to explain.

"Calm down Kitara. It's never a guarantee. But, even if you don't feel hatred or regret now, there's a chance you might later. Without the assistance of memories to back them up, those feelings bury themselves deep within one's subconscious and usually don't reveal themselves until provoked much later..."

Kara was about to continue, until a small rustling sound near Kitara caught her attention.

It was Nelo. She had begun to stir and stretch. She was a bit tangled up in her wings and hair and pretty white dress and.... something else.

Nelo opened her eyes and was greeted by something very strange and fluffy--- It was Kitara's tail. Somehow during its absent-minded wanderings through all the conversations, it found itself draped over Nelo's head.

And to a disoriented half-sleeping and agitated spirit, it wouldn't look any different than an animal trying to eat their face.

"Eeeeeeeaaah!" Nelo shrieked at the furry curtain over her head. She panicked, and in the midst of trying to frantically untangle herself from her hair, dress, wings, and the evil fluffy thing, she tumbled out of the chair, gripping tight onto Kitara's tail; taking the tail, and Kitara, along for the fall.

Kitara was listening to Kara, her attention intent on only that when something grabbed her tail. Yowling in distress, she twisted around to be greeted by a wild-acting Nelo. The small gil was thrashing about and managed to smack Kitara at some point. Then Nelo fell down and with a yank and Kitara face planted into the floor as well. "Ow, ow ow....NELO!!!!!" she howled, un-digging her claws from the floor as she tried to save her poor tail from Nelo's clutches.

Valerie stood as rigid as Aideen. Her eyes had gone silver white, and her mouth was shaped into a silent snarl that showed both sets of her fangs. Her wings twitched... sensing the currents of the air. She stood absolutely still... and then she hissed, her fangs growing considerably more deadly looking.

A dark shadow crawled along the lines of the floorboard and began to pool in front of Aideen and Valerie. It tumbled and stacked on itself, until it began to take a living shape before their eyes. Valerie stuck her arm out and abruptly shoved Aideen back onto the stairs, and moved between the banisters to stand between her and the shadow. The edges of her white wings began to glow, the folds in her dress began to wave and rustle, although no wind was present. She had her fingers crooked and arched into a strange pose, clearly ready to cast a spell.

She continued to hiss at the creature when it began to speak.

"Valerie... it'sss been awhile." The shadow's voices sounded like crackling fire and angry snakes.

"I ssseee you've detained my prey for me. Ssso kind of you to be sso conssssiderate. She managed to esscape me earlier thisss evening. Ssso glad to sssee she is sssafe."

He cackled that crazy laughter again, sounding more deadly by the second. He had assembled himself to the size of a full-grown man, and a large one at that. His face began to take shape as two dark ember scarred pits appeared where his eyes should have been. When he smiled or laughed, he displayed several rows of sharp teeth. A tongue that looked like sweltering black pitch dripped acidic tar onto the floor that scorced the wood every time he opened his mouth.

"I'll jussst be taking the girl now, and I'll be on my way. I promisssse." He gave her a wicked cheeky smile, with the slight hint of a glare as well. All the while, he kept looking past Valerie to the newborn fire elemental on the stairwell with great interest.

Nelo heard Kitara's voice and froze instantly. She turned and stared at Kitara with her big blue eyes, looking slightly confused for a moment, before bursting into a radiant smile. She released Kitara's tail and tackled her outright, snuggling her further into the floor.

"Kitara!" Nelo cried out happily. "I'm so glad you're alright! Michael was so mean! I just couldn't stand the thought of..."

Nelo began rambling on and on again, all the while squeezing Kitara uncomfortably tight over and over again. Had Kitara been a squeaky toy, she would have been thoroughly out of breath and squeaks by now.

Anthony was trying so hard not to laugh. He buried his face in the couch cushions and nearly choked himself trying to chuckle into the sound-dampening pillows.

Kitara squealed, shocked beyond belief as the life was suddenly being squeezed out of her. "Ne...lo!" she gasped and got her hands up between them and attempted to pry the now overly happy girl from her. First her tail was abused and now she was being hugged to death?!

Somehow in the snuggling madness, Kitara's tail got squashed again and she shot straight up into the air and away from Nelo, landing in a perch on the back of the chair, tail straight out and puffed. Breathing hard, she glared down at Nelo.

"No. No, no, what are you!?" Aideen cried at the creature, stumbling against the stairs. She flared almost completely white, throwing off uncontrolled light and heat. Air seemed to flow like oil near her skin.

The elemental glared back at the creature, eyes bright and showing no hint of black, wings growing and shot through with white and blue. It would not take her, it would not. And she was back in the village, staring at a ruthless Norseman with hair like the sun and eyes like ice, and they were going to die, weren't they, but he was going to take her first, but she could not, would not let him take her that way because she was...

A strange creature in a stranger mansion, with one vampire between her and a monster and at that moment she was sure that this was Hell after all.

Before the creature could snarl out any more sugary remarks, Valerie let an arch of light explode from her fingertips. It slammed the creature square in the face as sparks and embers went everywhere. The creature yowled and clawed at its face, clearly taken aback by Valerie's defense of the newborn. The Valrae normally didn't bother themselves with the affairs of others...

At least they didn't several millenia ago when the creature had last seen them in person.

"You witch!" The strange shadowy figure hissed. "You will NOT treat me like thisssssss!"

The creature was about to rage on, but Valerie hit it with another bolt of light before it could even form a sentence. Her magic was growing more intense. The light she was casting from her fingers grew hotter, tinged with strange reflective sparks. Valerie was clearly outraged.

She began to draw a dark light into herself from the eclipse pendant she wore around her neck, another match to Rolgen's. The darker she became, the brighter her wings and eyes glowed.

Valerie blasted the creature again as a chandelier came crashing down from the ceiling between Aideen and Valerie, and the shadowy figure.

Aideen was in almost as much danger from Valerie as she was from the shadow being.

Nelo stopped, but still sat squat on the floor looking up at the yowling Kitara with glee.

"What is all this noise Nelo! And where have you been?!" A strange echoey voice interjected.

A very tall lady with bright white skin and white hair came floating around the corner of the main hall. She was dressed in an almost cloudy white robe that fell like rain and flowed like water at its ends. She looked at Nelo with stern aubern eyes, the only dark color on her. Her hair fell all the way to the floor, dancing on the white watery ends of her robe. She seemed to produce her own radiance, and it was difficult to look at her directly.

It was Nelo's mother... Leaowynne.

Kara and Anthony stood simultaneously and bowed deeply. Nelo looked at her with a pouting face, but dared not argue or speak out.

"Mother... you see... Kitara and I... and Michael was... it wasn't my fault!" She stuttered hopelessly.

Kitara fell from the top into the seat of the chair, plopping onto the cushions and ducking her head at this woman's radiance. Just when things were starting to get comfortable, someone new had to show up! Kitara was silent, able to sense how important and powerful this woman was. And there was the clue of how the others acted towards the woman. Kitara though had not been raised in a world of manners she was sure, and had no idea how to properly act.

"No," Aideen whimpered, backing away from the fallen chandelier and up a few of the stairs. Aideen's fear, if anything, had grown in intensity and the light with it, but the magic the Valrae conjured was fierce competition for it.

She watched the battle over Valerie's shoulders and brilliant wings from the stairs, her feet hovering an inch off the wood and shedding the burnt remains of moccasins. And she had no idea what to do. She couldn’t control her own body, how could she help?

Wait, maybe something in Valerie's chambers. Something mundane. Aideen turned and literally but unthinkingly flew up the stairwell toward the rooms.

Leaowynne looked at Kitara with surprise, and then broke out into a warm smile very much like Nelo's, only less... hyper.

"Oh! My apologies young lady." Her voice echoed, and was almost musical.

She paused for a moment, and no one said anything.

"So YOU are the Kitara Michael must have been raving about a moment ago. I must offer you congratulations for your birth into our humble lands. My sincerest apologies for my energetic daughter, Nelo." She gave Nelo a look, but smiled down on her none the less. "My daughter must have been eager to save you indeed to have haulted Michael in mid-charge. If Kara has welcomed you into our home, then I am certain the incident was more than worth it. I would humbly desire to welcome you as well! I hope you enjoy your time here." Leaowynne presented Kitara with a deep bow.

She helped Nelo onto her feet and began to gently tug her away by the hand , with much protest from the girl. She paused before continuing back down the long hall.

"And good luck with your training!" She wished warmly before disappearing around the corner.

Leaowynne had also not been told Kitara's name before she addressed her, and certainly had been told nothing about the training. And congratulations for her birth? One would usually think it were a bit odd to receive a congratulatory remark for being... "born". Leaowynne must have been of a very old custom indeed. On top of that, she had bowed to Kitara. The Realm and its inhabitants were quite strange indeed.

Kitara blinked many times, taken about by this woman. "Uh...um, thank you...!" she mumbled as the woman left with Nelo, leaving Kitara to think about her remarks about training. She was somewhat afraid of what training with people who were so powerful would be like.

Kitara turned to Kara. "Oh my...what just happened there?"

Valerie's focus was broken as she whirled around to see where Aideen had gone.

"Aideen NO! You musn't leave my side! You're not---"

She was interrupted by a hard stab from the creature. It had constructed its shadowy arm into a tangible substance of toxic tar and fire with a tip of sharp slate. As soon as Valerie turned her back, it had taken its chance, and ran its sharpened limp straight through Valerie's back and through her chest out the other side.

Valerie screamed in pain, and struggled to break off the sharpened end of the creature's forearm, but could not concentrate in order to do so. Before she could struggle any further, the creature retracted the arm suddenly, pulling it free from Valerie's back with terrible force. Valerie fell to the floor, unconscious with pain.

The creature studied her for a moment, and then extended his arm to a sharpened point again; this time impaling Valerie to the wooden floor through her chest and letting the arm break off, leaving her pinned there.

He reformed his severed limb with more burning tar and molten fire, and started up the stairs after Aideen.

Kara grinned at Kitara.

"I'll explain later." Kara's tone sounded much less like a hostess and more like friend.

"For now, we need to start getting you ready! First we'll find you some nice clothes to wear, and then I can show you around the castle and introduce you to the few that are here." Kara said decidedly, and began ushering the kitty lady towards one of the staircases that led to the castle's upper chambers.

Anthony was not far behind. A cat human? In a dress?! THIS he had to see.

Aideen flinched, hearing the scream. "Valerie!" she cried, just as she reached the doorway to the chambers. Sparks flew from her eyes. No, she had to get in the room, had to help. What was in there? The dinner trays?

The dinner trays. She rushed to them, picking one up, desperately shaking off the remains of the meal and breaking it into shards on the edge of the table. The largest one would do as makeshift dagger. Aideen grabbed it and, as an afterthought, a long poker from the hearth. She hadn’t noticed it before.

The poker was iron, and almost immediately turned red with heat when she grabbed it. It wouldn’t last long. She had to hurry back to Valerie.

Kitara squeaked as Kara started ushering her through the castle. "Wait, we're going to do what?! What clothes are you getting for me?!" Kitara yelped in a high-pitched voice. she glanced back in worry and saw Anthony's grinning face which worried her even more. She looked down at her rather simply clothing, wondering what was wrong with it.

The creature seemed to crawl up the stairs more than walk. He lazily oozed over the floor towards the door Aideen had left flung open before.

He felt more than confident that a newborn like Aideen wouldn't be hard to detain. If anything, he could just talk her into leaving with him voluntarily. She was one of them after all, albeit a little odd-looking. It wouldn't be hard to convince her just how nasty and manipulative these Valrae creatures could be. After all, how would she know? She couldn't have been around them for long since his attack on that dreadful Rolgen! For all she knows, Rolgen could have kidnapped her.

This evil being grinned at these thoughts. It would be so simple!

"Oh Aideen, my beautiful girl!" He whispered to her through the open door in a buttery voice.

"Come here child. You do not belong here. You belong with ussss! Why, we're practically like family already. Don't lisssten to these pathetic little Valrae vermin!" He spat the words, and more pitch dripped from his mouth and burned holes in the floor.

"They're trickier than faeries and more sneaky than goblins, thesse Valrae! Not to mention they have the combat capacccity of a limp moth. Come with me! I can train you. I can TEACH you. There'ssss no need to fight anymore. I am not going to harm you."

He oozed further into the room as he spoke, trying to make himself appear as warm as possible; (and it almost WASN'T possible considering his ghastly appearance). But his crackling voice and his words had a hypnotic tone. Just like watching a fire dance...

Hollow listened this time. She stood behind him as the creatures approached rapidly. She was weezing and out of breath. Again physical activity was not her thing. She got in a defensive stance behind Thalian. She guessed if anything went wrong she would have to fight to, but she was scared. She had got into a brawl one time, but it wasnt anything a little hitting on the head with a beer bottle couldnt do.

Hollow tried to keep her stance, but she was to out of breath. She heard another strange noise behind her. The horses! She couldnt decide what to do. Stay here or check on her horses. They werent that far away. She started to back up slowly. Perhaps she would be able to see them if she just... forget it. Hollow started to back into the shadows. It would only be for a second. She would be back if there was no one messing with her merchandise. She ran as fast as she could leaving the man with the creatures.

Hollow got back to her horses to only find that they were only scared of her and the noises in the woods. "Damn." Hollow cursed.

Thalian didn't mind if Hollow distanced herself. So long as he stood his ground between her and the assailants, it didn't matter where she wandered off to.

The wolves were looking more agitated by the second, and once the shock of his appearance had worn off, they began to creep towards him; angry he had interrupted their meal. It was nearly impossible to catch one of the rare mystical white stags that roamed these forests, and small woodland prey was never enough to stave their hunger. Hollow had been a lucky find. And now she had gotten away...

The leader of the pack roared and snarled in a way that almost made him sound insane. His pack followed suit.

Thalian didn't wait for them to make up their minds or form a plan. He drove his light-leaking sword deep into the earth. His whole body flashed, and then all went silent for a moment.

The wolves flinched, waiting for something to happen. When nothing did, they cackled almost like hyenas and looked at each other... then back at Thalian.

The leader took one step towards him, and then the entire path cracked and erupted into a deep crevice that split the ground over a hundred feet in front of where Thalian has gouged his sword into the earth.

The wolves looked like they would fall into the crevice, until a blinding white light burst from the crust; carrying the wolves upward and completely incinerating them along the way. The light burst through the tops of the trees in a wall that climbed to the star-sprayed sky. It could be seen for several miles in all directions. The ashes of the pack were scattered to the winds of The Realm, never to be a nuissance again.

The ground closed up as if it had never been sundered, and Thalian wrestled his sword out of the dirt. He stumbled as it came free and tripped over his cloak before crashing into the ground. He quickly stood up and pretended like nothing happened, looking around once to make sure no one had witnessed his foolishness. He slowly returned to his normal appearance, and sheathed his sword as he spun around to run after Hollow.


The light that erupted during the commotion had, indeed, be spotted...

Hollow was about to calm her horses down when she saw the bright light. "What happened now." Said the girl in the wolfs body. She heard footsteps comming towards her and she didnt exactly know whos they were.

Hollow wanted to grab her horses and run, but she could do nothing with the paws of a wolf and the wolf like appearance wasnt exactly calming to the horses. Hollow sniffed the air for any sign of blood. She was to far away to smell anything, but she could still hear the fastly approaching foot steps. She decided to turn into a raven and sit on a branch in one of the trees. There was no way the wolves or Thalian would be able to notice her right? Unless one of the trees ratted her out. Which it probably would.

Hollow stood on the branch above her horses waiting for something to happen. If it was the wolves they would eat her horses. The thought of losing all that money made her want to cry. She was getting nervous.

The creature loomed in the doorway, and its words washed over her. Soothing. She remained hovering an inch or so off the floor, just listening, vaguely hearing the clank and shatter of her makeshift weapons when they fell from her hands. So soothing. Could it... he... He, the creature... person be right about the Valrae? How much did she even know about them? She’d just followed them, unquestioning. Hadn’t she? A creature of light, following creatures who lived in a land without sun. Where was the sun? She missed the sun, so warm and bright and full and...

The fire in the hearth crackled. It was soothing, too. She turned her head, gazing at its own hypnotic dance. It was bright, like the sun. Light-giving. So was she. So much light in the room, and none of it was coming from the doorway. And who brought the light to the room? the fire in the hearth seemed to whisper.

The Valrae. The hearth fire was the light in the room. Aideen was the light in the room.

"No," she whispered.

"No!" she yelled, diving for the poker -- the porcelain dagger had shattered beyond recognition -- and then flying toward the creature in the doorway, the weapon stretched before her.

Kara shushed her.

"Oh relax Kitara! I think at times you act more like a cat than a cat does! Hahahaha!" she chuckle.

Anthony laughed too, and muttered something in agreement that couldn't be heard over Kitara's protests as she was being pushed up the stairs.

"There's nothing wrong with what you're wearing, but we have wardrobes here that might produce something more to your liking. What do you say? Would you like to pick out something pretty for the kitty?"

Kara and Anthony both were bursting with laughter now. The mood had definitely lightened considerably since Kitara first arrived. All dark thoughts from any previous gloomy conversation faded away for the time being.