The nightmares resurfaced all too easily. Elaina stood on the edge of a cliff overlooking the destruction that was underway. Their enemy was attacking an innocent town that had refused to join the war. She’d been one of the first on scene, scouting the area and had been shocked to find the immense devastation. Hearing a whisper of a sound behind her she turned, then was struck in the head. Her vision swam as someone laughed ruthlessly, “You’ll be the perfect cover for my operation.” That voice, it was familiar…but who could it be? Staggering backwards Elaina fell off the cliff into the abysmal depths.

The scene changes and she’s shackled in front of the Elders, the elite of all other angels. Those entrusted with the powers for goodness to prosper in the world and hold down evil that was too great to destroy. They look upon her in judgment, she’s accused of treason, conspiracy, espionage, and for killing her commander. The sentence for her betrayal is death, she is to be executed the following morning. She lay on the floor with the shackles holding her hostage, she’d been framed, none of this was her fault and none of what they said was true. She’d argued this to them, but she’d been punished every time for her outbursts. Lightning had erupted throughout her body anytime she’d utter she was innocent, had screamed her innocence through the pain…they didn’t care! So she lay there listening to her sentence, death…it was too easy. They didn’t see the blue flames in her eyes as she felt something surge within her. Her power had returned and without hesitation she released the bonds, all too easily. Then erecting her barrier she flew from the angel’s holiest of places, away from her home and everything she knew. But someone followed her, the one who betrayed her, the one who helped her escape, someone that wanted her to betray her people all along.

Nikk had tucked Bia into a bed and was walking away when he saw Elaina shiver in her sleep. He saw her power line start to waver. She was having a nightmare and not just anyone. Nikk felt sorry for her. There was always something horrible in everyones past. He walked away from Elaina hoping that she wouldnt notice that he was there. He would probably get a mouthful about being some kind of pervert that he wasnt.

(Sorry this is really long!)

Elaina had always been rough around the edges, so it was understandable that she was misunderstood. The things she held in highest regard though, were first loyalty. Even after her own betrayed her, she never killed another angel even if they deserved it. The second thing was her training, she took it seriously, too seriously at times. This is what has allowed her to live for such a long time outside of her own kind, and survived attacks from those who would capture her to finish the sentence of death that loomed over her. She’d had many nightmares of her recapture and inevitable death, but in time she’d learned to live and not take things too seriously. She worked freelance jobs, and while there were still angels who tried to attack her they were fewer now. To this day she didn’t take her guard down, that’s why it frustrated her to no end that Nikk had so easily cut her from her powers. She wished she could train to keep others from doing the same, but no one would help a rogue angel. Elaina tightened her barrier around herself and tried to relax, Bia was sleeping peacefully and she didn’t want to deal with the centaur or the fairy when they decided to get some sleep. Elaina concentrated on her breathing and for the first time in a long time she hummed an old angel lullaby that mothers sang to their little ones.

She fell into another nightmare, she saw his perfect face. Everything about him attested to his angel heritage; blond hair, blue eyes, fair skin, a muscular physique, and he was tall. What astonished Elaina most was how beautiful he was, she never thought it was possible for a man to be beautiful. They were friends from the first time they spared, no two were more equally matched. He liked her spirit, her fighting style, and that she didn’t play games when it came to a fight. Too many others let him win, but not her. Some said she was a demon for fighting him so ferociously, but he argued better a demon on their side then an angel on the enemies. Oh the irony of his words stung her deeply, as she’d fallen from those cliffs she heard his evil laughter above. In her dreams she was falling and his beautiful face laughing in a wicked smile. He was the perfect cover, the looks and character of an angel, but he had the twisted cruel heart of a demon. He was sneaky and very conniving. She’d vowed to never marry, so when he’d asked her on dates or to spend time outside of the fighting ring alone she’d refused. This made his advances more insistent and the angel women to become jealous, though it didn’t stop him from seeing them. Yes she’d fallen for him, so when she found out the truth about him it tore her heart asunder.

Akino was trying out the slingshot like Eli demonstrated, but she broke out in a yawn just as she shot and it went wild. Pouting slightly, akino looked around to see that pretty much everyone had gone to sleep by now. she lowered the slingshot and rubbed her eyes and yawned again. "Wow, I got suddenly very tired!" she exclaimed. "Must be all this attempt at training...!"

Teva had switched back to practicing the blowgun, and was contemplating some archery work, when Akino yawned. Everyone did seem to be tired. The centaur hadn't thought about it too deeply, but she didn't seem to need much sleep at all. Short naps on her feet here and there, mostly, and a few longer periods of rest laying down. She'd just had one of those the other day, before meeting up with the others. And maybe she was due for another soon, but not just yet.

"It's been a long day," she tried to sympathize, annoyed at just how horselike she was turning out to be. It would make it that much harder to connect with the team. "I think the others have turned in. Would you like me to walk you back? I should probably take a break before figuring out what the fairies did to my bow."

"I think Nikk wants to leave in the morning." Said Eli. "It would be best if we got atleast some rest before we left." Eli put his weapons back and transfomed back into a fairy. "I heard you guys were going after Farlow. She's a nasty one that uses lightning magic. It makes her fast and powerful." Said Eli. "If you can't run or fight from her you better be good at defending yourself from lightning." Eli was deep in thought thinking about Farlow and all the evil she had brought upon their fairy hill. "Farlow is an evil person. She attacked a group of fairies that were out collecting fruit for one of our festvals." Eli clenched his fist. "We first met Nikk and Bia when they were trying to save the fairies from her. I lost one of my best friends and my mother that day." Eli looked at Akino. "Please be careful around her."

Nikk was around the corner leaning against a wall listening in on their conversation. He shook his head.

Akino fluttered over to Teva. "Yes, I think I'll turn in now, its been quite a day," she said lightly. then she turned to look at Eli. "Yeah, Farlow kinda popped up and I don't really know how I got dragged into this, but I don't like evil people like her." Akino yawned again, briefly wondering about defense. she seemed to be the weakest member of their little team and the only one that had no real weapon of her own. it was really starting to suck now.

Teva nodded. "And we have a long journey ahead of us. I should… probably try to sleep, too." The talk of Farlow made her nervous on behalf of Akino, though she suspected the fairy was less delicate than anyone thought, especially given the incident with Elaina earlier that day. "You know," she added, studying the fairies. "Evil people like Farlow are the sort that underestimate and overlook people. Akino might be the key to stopping her, especially if she's used to defeating the fae."

Akino blinked at Teva, somewhat taken aback by what she said. "Me, the key??" she asked incredulously. "I think that's a wee bit too optimistic. I can't fight or use magic so I really have no idea where you're getting that from." She stated this pretty much as a fact, but there was a hint of upsetness in her voice as well.

Eli flew over to Akino and talked to her. "If we play our cards right we probably wount even have to fight." Eli tried to make her feel more comfortable. "I know Nikk has a plan. He's really smart, but right now we have to sleep so we can be ready tomorrow." Said the dark Farie. "There are guest rooms just beyond the arena." Eli pointed to a way that they could follow and it would take them to a place to sleep. "Please if you need anything you can ask me."

"Elaina." The soft whisper of his voice stirred her in her sleep. His voice so sweet and lyrical, "Come to me, Elaina." She was dreaming, she floated out of the window and followed his voice, his gentle voice. "You're safe here, Elaina." Safe, she wanted to be safe. Too long had she been trying to survive on her own, then she saw him floating there. His beautiful smile, golden locks, and blue eyes. "I'll protect you" He said, then he leaned down to kiss her.
Elaina slapped him across the face and pushed away from him, her barrier was up before his minion's attacks hit. He laughed and held up his fist to order them to stop, "I see you haven't lost your fire Elaina!"
"William!" She practically hissed at him. Looking around she saw that she was surrounded by his minions. They weren't what she was worried about, she could handle them all easily enough. It was her old rival she was most worried about facing. "I told you last time to leave me alone!"
"I was just hoping you'd changed your mind, come now Elaina you're too old for these silly games." He approached her barrier and placed his hand on it, "You know that if you join me..."
"NEVER!" She was so sick of this, "Leave now, or this will be our last meeting." She had nothing to lose. Or that's what she thought anyway.
"You should be more careful who's cause you take on. That rag tag team of novices may end up getting you killed." Then he did something none had ever done before. He was inside the barrier with her! He grabbed her from behind and put his cheek to hers, "Hmmm seems you're losing your touch love. Tell me something, do you really think that they'll trust you when they find out that you betrayed the angels?" Elaina's unleashed her fury on him and lashed out, but he'd transported out of the barrier. "Just wait Elaina, they'll turn on you like our kind did. I'm the only one who can protect you." She wanted to ask him what he meant, but he and his minions had already disappeared into the night air. Only Williams blue eyes lingered for a second before fading into the night.

Teva snorted at Akino. "I can barely fight anymore, and I can't use magic. I'm a big walking target right now. But you. You can fly, you're small enough to hide, and you're stronger than you look. You recovered from Elaina's blow very quickly, don't forget. Don't underestimate yourself. Let Farlow do that for you."

She swished her tail, and offered a shoulder to both of them. "Would you like a ride?" The guest rooms didn't seem to be far away, and the fairies could probably get there quickly on their own. But Teva wasn't sure just how slowly she could walk. There were limits.

Akino sighed and settled onto Teva's shoulder, folding her wings back. "It seems we have opposite problems except the fact that neither of us can use magic. It's true I can hide, but I also can't hardly hurt a fly!" Of course, flies were her size but still. "We both need to train a lot more huh?" she muttered, her gaze flicking over the training arena

"Once you get the hang of the slingshot, you'll be able to disintegrate a fly." Teva smiled, thinking about Eli's spell. "And we do need to train. We'll have plenty of time on the road, I think." She hoped, at least. Time for making camp, target practice, swordplay, breaking camp, travel... Would there be time for all of that?

The journey would pass quickly, now that she thought about it.

Elaina could still feel his hands on her arms from where he’d grabbed her. His touch was cold and like steel, unfeeling as his heart. He’d never wanted her, not really. What he enjoyed most was the chase, but she’d never give in to him. She couldn’t believe that he’d found her again, and so soon. AAAH he was so frustrating! How dare he threaten her about the bounty on her head. It was all William’s doing that had led to the angel’s thinking she’d betrayed them, and now he was starting to use his powers on her. Damn it! She thought she’d gotten past all this and now it seemed like he was gaining more power.
As she flew back to the room she thought about his veiled threat. He knew about her mission and the group she was with, but how? She knew she couldn’t leave now, though with Eli they might not need her. Then she remembered the last time she’d left a group to protect them from William, they’d turned up dead a week later. It reeked of his dirty work, if she could help it she’d never let it happen again. He wouldn’t get to her this time, she couldn’t…no wouldn’t allow him the satisfaction. As she climbed into the bedroom window she checked on Bia who was still asleep. Then checking the room to make sure it was empty of any and all of William’s minions or fatal charms Elaina spread her barrier around Bia. Teva and Akino were no where to be found, so leaving the barrier around Bia, Elaina went in search of the two stragglers. “Damn horse will get me killed.” She thought to herself as she walked towards the arena.

Nikk had fallen asleep leaning against a wall. He was in a dark narrow hallway. There was a spell book on top of his face. He did this often.

Bia moved around a little in her sleep. At one point she clenched to her blanket tightly. She kept having memories of her past life. It wasnt that they were particularly bad, but they were a shock to her little system. It made her spirt line flicker. Sometimes it would be bad enough to make Nikk scared for her. It never got to a fatal point, but if he didnt help her get back to her original form by returning the essence that Farlow had stolen then the problem would only get worse. He really did hate to worry.

Eli found his little compartment in the fairy wall where all the homes were built. He fell asleep quickly.

Elaina found both Akino and Teva easily enough, “Boy you guys are attached at the hip aren’t you?” She tried to stay light-hearted as she led them to their room. They all had to share the same room, so once they were all inside Elaina expanded the barrier around the whole room. She wanted to talk to Nikk, she’d really need to work on her magic to prevent William, or anyone else, from ever breaching through her defenses again. “Hey I’ve gotta talk to Nikk so I’ll be back in like an hour or so.” Quickly closing them in she found Nikk not too far away, “Nikk, can you help me with something?”

Teva entered the room, Akino still on her shoulder, and looked around. It seemed so small. She stared longingly at the beds and resisted the urge to pace. "An hour?" she protested. "Are you locking us in?" Not that she didn't want to get the fairy settled in and such, but she did want the freedom to go back to the range. Otherwise, she would be pacing most of the night, and that would help nobody.

She knew it in her gut: Centaurs were not meant to be indoors.

“Yes an hour!” She yelled behind her then turned back to Nikk who had a book over his face. “Nikk, I need to to help me get stronger, with my magic. It’s not strong enough…please.” She couldn’t stand the thought of losing another group of people at his hands. They had nothing to do with this, but William, he would end them if she didn’t try to help them defend themselves.

Akino looked back towards the door Elaina had exited from. "wow....okay." she was at a lose for what else to say for a few seconds. She just kept trying to figure out what had just happened. finally she sighed and fluttered to a small fairy sized bed set in a niche in the wall and sat down. "thank you for the ride, teva. do you have a clue what just happened?"

Teva shook her head, and resisted the urge to kick at the door. If they were prisoners, that would be the right course of action, but the centaur suspected they were guests, in spite of the idiot angel. Property damage would not be a good idea in that case.

"I have no idea. But it seems we're stuck here for a time. You may as well get some sleep. I'll keep watch until Elaina returns, if you like."

Akino frowned. "why don't you try to sleep some as well?" she asked, pulling off her little shows and putting them beside the bed and curling up, her wings tucked neatly at her back. "Its better than standing there looking agitated."

"I'm really not tired," Teva replied, trying and failing not to look agitated. She wanted to be tired. She wanted a normal sleep schedule again. Even a patrol schedule would do. "Maybe in an hour or two." By then maybe they'd know what was going on, and she'd feel like lying down and actually dreaming.

Akino sighed. "have fun with that then....wake me if elaina comes back and does something crazy or interesting. " she closed her eyes and rested her head on the pillow. within seconds she was asleep.

"Right," Teva muttered. "Sleep well, then." The centaur resumed watching the door once she was sure the fairy was settled in. She was alone then, with her thoughts, and hoped she hadn't offended the fairy. Akino seemed like her only real friend in this place.