The base was a buzz of activity even though only four presences were within its walls

The base was a buzz of activity even though only four beings resided within its walls. The tapping of keys rang loudly in the large open space that served as the operational center. A woman who appeared to be in her late 20’s was positioned at the main panels while her two children were down below, taking care of things in the central area. Irene wasn’t so much working as she was thinking. They were not fairing well over all. Something just kept eating away at their defenses. It was as if someone knew them well enough to effectively aid the Dark Shadow’s army against them. Towns were falling into the hands of an increasing amount of dark soldiers. Where they came from, she had yet to figure out, but they were fighting against thousands and there were only a few of them left now. Her blue eyes strained at the blinking lights before her, she was always tired now, it seemed like they had never stopped working. All that were left of the base’s inhabitants were her two children, Salia and Shawn, and her sister Stephanie. All four of them were constantly working the scanners or building the defenses. It had been quite some time since they’d planned an offensive move. Defense was now their only hope. Irene ran a systematic check over the base’s shields; so far it had remained untouched.

A second woman was standing off to the side; her appearance was several years younger, but just like the other woman they proved that looks could be deceiving. Stephanie looked over at her sister with a worried expression written on her gentle features. Things had never gotten this bad before. The evil forces were becoming larger and more destructive than ever. She feared for the others, if she were to loose them, she would have nothing left in this world. They were her family, and she loved them dearly.

Irene sighed, the shields were still good. The system scans came back positive; the shields were at their fullest potential. She took a step back from the panel and looked up to relieve her eyes from the stress.

“Everything okay?” Stephanie asked her sister.

Irene looked to her youngest sister, well half sister really, but also one of the best friends she could have ever had, “So far that I can see… the shields are still working.” I just wish our other defenses were holding up as well, she thought to herself, referring to the worldwide defense that was gradually shrinking with time.

Stephanie nodded, “Yes, I know, but that wasn’t what I was talking about.”

“If you meant me… I’m holding out as well as I can.” She looked over at the panels, pushing back a few strands of brown colored hair out of her face, “Just wished things were going at least a little better.”

“I understand how you feel. I feel something big is coming.” Both sisters occasional got the slight shiver of energy when something was about to happen. Usually this occurred right before a huge event, one that was more often than not bad, but sometimes it was for the good. These foresights were never descriptive either way.

“I’m afraid of that… I don’t know if we can handle something big right now.” Irene looked over at her sister, worry in her eyes. She knew the resources they had were limited to right there in base now. Four fighters and two of them were still children.

“You must be strong Irene. We will make it. I know we will.” Stephanie’s blue-gray eyes pleaded with her sister. If she lost her sister… no, she wouldn’t let those thoughts come into her mind.

Irene nodded; her sister was always one to be positive about even the darkest of situations. “I know we must be, and will be. But in reality, I’m pointing out that this could potentially not go well. I don’t know what else to do to prepare. It would help so much if we knew how they knew about us. Granted some know about us in fighting style and such, but to the extent they know?...”

Stephanie sighed as Irene’s eyes strayed back to the panel. Irene was one to be more realistic about situations. She was gradually losing her own optimistic outlook in favor for reality. Thus Stephanie had to keep up the optimism that her sister now lacked.

“I’m sorry Steph… it’s hard to keep positive now…”

“I know.”
Irene managed to give a bit of an encouraging smile but she then moved back over to the panel. Stephanie tried to smile softly too, but it probably wasn’t all that encouraging either; stress wears thin on people after awhile. Silence then fell between them for an hour or so.

In the mean time, two 15 year olds worked on the equipment below the main operation area. The girl, the smaller in figure of the two though at the time they were the same height, worked on the inner paneling while her brother kept an eye on the reader board. The siblings resembled their father in that they both had soft mocha colored hair which one kept nicely trimmed and short while the other kept hers long and just past her shoulders. Salia soon emerged from her work and gave a nod to her brother in which he replaced the cover over her workspace. The two then started the slow journey up the stairs to rejoin their aunt and mother. Shawn glanced over at his older sister; her expression was neutral, so strange to see on one who once was so bright and outgoing. They both had seen so much, more than anyone their age should have seen. Yet through all of it, Salia’s golden eyes portrayed wisdom beyond her years and through it there was a sliver of hope. Soon the almost inseparable pair reached the main room.

“Nothing seems to be wrong; all systems appear to be working well.” Shawn spoke up to his mother and aunt when their presence was seen.

Salia nodded, “Would you like to come check to see if we set up the internal shields right?” The two siblings were still learning about the systems of the base. The main controls and the power source resided downstairs beneath the main room and it had its own separate shields to protect it should the base be breached from above.

Stephanie smiled at her niece and nephew and it made her wonder about her own son. What is he doing now I wonder…? She hadn’t seen him in awhile. The family was known to split off for a time, though most of them tended to mention where they were headed. “I’ll take a look.” She told them and then followed them downstairs to analyze their work.

Irene watched them go silently. She could see her own determination to set things right in both of her children, though especially in her eldest. In many ways she was both proud of them, but also saddened that they had to go through this. Their willingness to stick through it and stubbornness to continue was a trait they gained on both sides, though Shawn had gained his father’s levelness and ability to match a person with what they were good at, even himself.

Salia and Shawn watched their aunt as she looked over their work. Both of them hoping desperately that they did it right. So much was riding on their aunt and mother’s shoulders that they wished they could help in any way that they could. If they indeed learned to work the base’s computer systems well enough, they could help lighten the workload.

Stephanie pushed a few buttons and then finally looked up at them. “You guys did fine, looks as if everything is up to par here.” The smaller woman smiled lightly at them. She knew they were trying their best to please them, especially their mother. The taller of the two sisters was the often the leader when it came to tactics in battle.

Back upstairs, Irene was resting, her back to the panels as if to keep her eyes from going crazy with all the lights and small print. A loud knock echoed from the hallway. She turned her head toward the noise, what could that be? Moving swiftly to the door she thought about this. Not many knew that there was indeed a door to the base. It was quite well hidden and would be nearly impossible to find on the white structure unless you knew where to look. For safety reasons she called out in thought speech before she’d dare open the door, < Who is there? >

< It’s me Aunt Irene, please let me in. > The voice was clear in her mind, one she’d not heard from in a time. It was her nephew, Elijah.

It took Irene a moment before she could open the door. She was surprised to hear from him, but would temporarily remove the shielding about the door so that he could enter.

As the door opened, Irene would see a tall young man, standing there, nearly fidgeting in his unease. Panic was painted on his dark, prominently Asian features. “Thank you.” He entered the base quickly.

“What’s wrong Elijah?” Irene saw his expression as she moved out of his way so that he could enter. “What happened?” She looked up at him slightly as he was a half a foot taller than her. The door closed behind him and the shield was raised once more to protect the family within.

“They’re coming…” Elijah said as he tried to catch his breath. “They are planning to attack the base.”

Irene frowned and then turned to hurry toward the main room. She needed to fire up the major defensive instruments, the ones that they kept down to save power, if this was true. There was always a defensive shield around base, but there were many others that they could initiate but didn’t during times of no activity due to the powerful energy drain they had on the system. Irene also turned up the scanners to look for ill intent in the area. Elijah had followed her into the main room, watching her go from panel to panel, flipping switches.

Elijah seemed to be relaxing now that he was safely within the walls of base, the panic of earlier had left his cocoa eyes. He leaned slightly against the nearest panel as he watched. “Anything you need me to do?” The tone of his voice was nearly emotionless.

“You know how to run the scanners right?” Irene glanced somewhat over in his direction as she moved more to keeping the defensive parts online; monitoring them to make sure they behaved. “If you could set them scanning for their location and send a message down below to alert everyone else of what is going on, that would be great.”

“Okay,” Elijah nodded and then turned to the panel and began to work.

Irene nodded and went back to her monitoring as Elijah continued his work at the panel, always keeping his aunt in the corner of his eye.

Stephanie suddenly stiffened and whispered to her niece and nephew, “Something’s not right.”

Shawn looked over at his aunt as Salia looked about them when Steph had said this. Sensing the air, she too could feel something, though she didn’t know what it was. Both of them moved closer to the other.

A shadow in the direction of the holding bay moved, “Something’s by the holding bay…” Salia whispered to them, her attention drawn toward that direction.

Stephanie turned to look, and then slowly she pulled her staff from its holder attached to her back. She was tentatively watching the area, waiting for the attack. Shawn then followed suit, pulling out his bow and quiver as Salia brought up her sword. Though their focus was on that direction, both children were on the eye out for anything elsewhere, though it was highly unlikely, but it couldn’t hurt to be cautious. Both were ready, muscles tensed. So far nothing else moved, but all three moved closer carefully, ready to strike if need be. Shawn pulled out an arrow and drew it slowly.

Irene continued to strengthen the external barriers while Elijah was monitoring the scanners. “Find anything?” She asked him after a bit. As she was working with the defensive on the outside, she had no idea that the defenses inside at the holding bay had been punched.

Elijah looked over at her out of the corner of his eye, unable to look at her directly, “They seem to be some distance away from the base.”

As she hadn’t really looked up from her panel when she spoke, she wouldn’t have noticed this, “Alright, then we have some time. The full defensive shields are nearly operational, and then I can join you with the scanners when they are up.”

“Okay,” He replied, seeming to indulge himself totally in the computer before him.

After another ten minutes of silent clacking of keys and clicking of switches, Irene spoke up, “Alright, they are up and good. Now…” She would then move over to a panel nearer to Elijah. This move was halted short when she felt a sword drawn to her neck. Her muscles tightened in surprise and a hidden cold fear flashed in her eyes as the blade gently rested against her lightly tanned skin. “What is this?” Her voice had gone flat with militaristic calmness, though cold realization was starting to show in her reactions, but she held still otherwise.

“What, you don’t recognize your own death?” Elijah’s voice was ice cold, very unlike him. His voice also held a distant quality to it. The blade pressed closer against her skin.

Irene then quickly drew forward her arms and in the same instant drove one back into his stomach to hit him away from her, and the other moved upward to shield any nick the blade may have into her skin. She rather it didn’t go into her neck with her attempt at escaping its cold grasp. Spoke only after he was knocked away, “I recognize that you have betrayed us, or given in to some dark spell.”

Elijah held his stomach in pain as he looked at her, “You know nothing about me, and you never will.” Then he charged at her, to finish why he had come.

Quickly, Irene called up her own sword, though it was not the Sword of Light as that was elsewhere. This was an old Nathadian blade, one used by the Warriors of Light back in the day. She brought it up to meet his, “Apparently I did not. I overestimated you Elijah.”

He paid no heed to her words; he wanted to get this done with as soon as he could. Everything seemed to move in a blur at this point and time as he swung the blade at her. His blade hit Irene’s as she’d brought it up to block his strike. Her weight was put behind it, pushing toward his as he pushed back to overpower her. Irene growled somewhat as she fought to keep her end of the physical struggle, having enough to balance out his own pushing. She stepped back some to brace herself, “Why did you do it Elijah?” She asked him, looking directly into his eyes as their swords were locked between them.

“You wouldn’t understand.” He looked at her fiercely.

“And what is it that I wouldn’t understand.” She refused to look away, sincerity and worry allowed to be written on her face, but her worry was not for herself but extended to one who seemed lost.

“Nothing.” He dropped down to sweep kick, knowing she’d be off balance.

Indeed she was off balance and the kick sent her to the ground, her sword held in front of her. She growled a bit as her back hit the ground and she’d try to scoot back away from him, but she was not fast enough as she found the sword point to her neck once again. This stopped her in her tracks, “You do not know what you are doing.” She still looked toward him, not breaking eye contact. This was not him; she could not believe she was seeing this. What happened to him? Her words were only met with silence as he pressed the sword closer against her chin. “Elijah, don’t do this...” She said softly as she closed her hand around the handle of her sword as if in preparation to try and knock his blade away from her.

“You know nothing about me.”

Sadness rose in her eyes as she looked at him, “Perhaps not… but I do know somewhere inside you that this is not your path…”

“That part of me is gone. It died a long time ago.”

“No, it’s only deeply hidden within your dark troubles…” She didn’t sound like she was actually arguing against his words, but sounded more like she was mourning that situation. It was not in aggression at all.

He stayed silent for a moment as she too fell silent watching him uncertainly. His eyes seemed almost as if he was no longer there, as if he no longer saw her there. Carefully, Irene pushed back away from him. When nothing happened, she moved such that she could stand back up. Elijah just stood there; it was as if his mind had moved to another zone, to another time, back when life was real.

“Elijah?” Irene asked tentatively once she was standing again. Was still nearby him; her sword in her right hand with its tip pointed at the ground resting against her leg.

Elijah shook his head, clearing his mind from his trance and looked over at her, “What?” His voice was soft and almost tentative.

“Are you alright?”
“I haven’t been alright for a long time.”

“Is there anything I can do to help you?”

“Only if you can change the past.”

“I’m afraid I cannot do that Elijah…”

He turned to her, his dark brown eyes flashed again, “See, you can’t bring them back, that which has died little by little. With Dad, with my sisters, and with so many other people!!”

“Death is as natural as life… one cannot stop the natural process…”

“NO! They should have never died.” He brought his sword up again with the restored vigor he had from his shaken mind.

“Elijah, it’s the way nature is, no one can change that… it is not your fault that this happened.”

He then began to advance toward her, hissing, “Then why is it that everyone I ever get close to dies?”

“I don’t know Elijah.” With the manner he approached her; it made her back away from him.

“That’s right, you don’t know…” Elijah sighed, “You never knew.”

“No one is all-knowing Elijah… myself most of all… I do not know everything.”

“Oh, I know. I learned that one at a very young age.” His words were as sharp as the blade he held.

“But I do want to understand what I can do to help… in other ways aside from that which you named… I will help in any possible way, as I would help any friend and family member.”

“You don’t understand. You can’t help me. No one can. The one person that could help me is gone. Gone forever and nobody… nobody can change that.”

“Elijah you need to move on with your life… you need to let go of old binds. Life can move on even if it doesn’t feel like it. There is more to life than mourning.”

“I told you I have no life left.”

“That is untrue… you just need to look for it.”

He was now just inches from her, “What if I don’t want to look for it, what if I want it to go away?” His brown eyes intently fixed on her blue ones.

Irene looked back at him, but the intensity that radiated from him made her look away briefly… this was not the Elijah she had known, how could she have missed this? What happened to him, what tortures ripped his mind to shreds to reduce him to this? She would look back at him, “Then I am sorry for you.”

Within a second or so Elijah had rapidly moved behind Irene, his sword in front of her and up against her neck. This was a move she herself had taught him when he was training. He hissed in her ear, “It’s too late for your pity now.”

Again she stiffened as the blade rested against her neck, far too close for her comfort. “What do you plan to do then?” She asked softly and evenly as she used the words to bide a bit of time to work her way out of this situation without hurting him.

“To carry out what I have been commanded to do.”

“And what is that?” But she did not give him time to respond as she quickly tried to back up against him to try and knock his balance off. One hand again moved upward to protect her neck in case of a backlash. However, her hand was hindered in its attempt to block this as Elijah had tried to grab hold of some balance; his flail knocked her own arm away from its goal. The blade cut deeply into her throat. She gave a soft cry as the sword bit into her flesh. Her knees buckled from under her in pain and thus drove the sword even deeper into its goal: a fatal angle. She made no other cries of pain but fell back against him.

Elijah gained his balance quickly in time to catch her from falling to the ground. A cry of surprise escaped his lips as he caught sight of the crimson-stained blade and the weakening energy in her body. “NOOO!”

Irene was still conscious, still aware, but her vocal cords were damaged. It was fatal yes, but she still had a decent amount of time before she would lose her hold in the living world. Her hand lost its grip on her sword and it fell from her hand with a clang.

For a short time Elijah just held her in his arms. “Aunt Irene, no… I didn’t… no… why?” Tears streamed down his face freely now, he hadn’t meant for this to happen, it wasn’t supposed to happen this way.

Irene could tell he was upset without looking at him, feeling the sobs as she was propped up against him. It was not purposeful, there was no hate in it… an accident, but… it had to be, Netrana told her this. She heard the words from her own cougar… that it was as it should have been. But why him? Why make him go through more tortures; to add more to his already troubled mind. Why did it have to be him, she lamented to her spirit animal but Netrana was silent. Consciousness was fading from her, but before she fell unconscious she managed a thought speech message to Elijah, < Stay strong… > It would not be for all that long really, but she just went limp.

Another scream of anguish came from Elijah as he felt her go limp. How could he? How could he? He killed his own aunt, his own flesh and blood. One of the very few people that had given him endless chances…

Irene heard his scream even though she was unconscious, its pain cutting through to her. But there was nothing she could do. She would have to get out of there as soon as she was conscious again. Hoped that he’d leave her there, it would make it all the easier to say goodbye to the rest of them, and then she’d head north where she would live out what was left of her life.

Elijah froze as he heard a voice call from below. It was getting closer.

“Irene, are you okay?”

Elijah recognized the voice as his mother’s. He gently set Irene’s body down and blindingly picked up his sword and hers before disappearing. He hoped that no one would find out what he had just done.

Irene was on the brink of waking as Stephanie made her way down the hallway toward the main room. Her wound was freely open, a pool of blood forming underneath her. She’d have to tend to that; otherwise she’d spend what she had left unconscious from lack of blood. It was often a handy thing to be a Morpheran as the blood she lost from the wound would be replaced in time.

Stephanie had known something was not right upstairs and was torn on whether to leave the two children down in the basement fighting against the soldiers that had poured in moments after they had sensed their presence. The pit that grew in her stomach and the ache in her heart told her that she would have to go upstairs, and thus she did. When she reached the main room she stopped suddenly with a gasp. Her gentle eyes fell on the limp form of her sister lying on the ground. What happened? What sent her into such a state? Worried she flew to her sister’s side and knelt down. Arms held onto her in a hug as she cried, her long brown hair acting almost like a shield that covered her and her sister’s head.

Irene opened her eyes as she felt Stephanie take gentle hold of her; < I’m sorry…> Her thought speech was soft as she could not longer use her voice.

Stephanie stopped crying when she heard her sister, “Irene? You’re alive!” She quickly grabbed the bottom of her shirt. She tore some of it off and pressed it against Irene’s neck, hoping to stop the flow of blood to save her sister.

Irene didn’t stop her, < For awhile anyway… my sister, it is a fatal wound… > As her particular species mix was set to live several days after such a wound before she’d fade. The pain would not last long and she’d be fine. Her passing would not be hard physically nor would it be painful, save for emotional.

“No… no… Irene, you can’t die? You can’t leave…” The tears came back though her hands still stayed at her neck, trying to stop the blood. She had to believe she could save her sister; couldn’t bear to just let her go like that.

< I’m not going to leave… though not to return quite to the extent you are now… I will still be around… I will still live on, but you need to watch over Shawn and Salia for me. >

Stephanie nodded, unable to talk now as she choked back tears. < Yes, of course I will. >

Irene hugged her sister to the best of her ability. < Flee the base; it’s no longer safe here… the computers are sabotaged… Elijah knows them too well. >

< Elijah, why would Elijah be a threat? >

< I’m sorry… >

Stephanie gasped as reality hit her, she backed away from her sister, sobbing openly now. The loss of her sister and now her son, it was all just too much now.

Irene had propped herself up to a sitting position, < Please, Stephanie, you will need to take my children and leave this base… find shelter elsewhere, keep the fight going. I will do what I can in whatever Sahren I manifest too… be strong. >

Stephanie looked at her sister, feeling herself come back to reality. She nodded, standing up. “You’re right, I will go.” She hugged her sister one last time before leaving.

< Good luck, tell them I love them. And you take care my sister. > She said to her, even with this, she did not believe in saying goodbye. She would close her eyes and would use her magic to transport herself northward. There were still things she had to do, others she wanted to wish farewell too. Also, she needed to get herself out of the line of fire as no doubt the army’s activity would increase.

Stephanie turned and then headed back down to Shawn and Salia.

The two siblings were still locked in battle, the soldiers still pressing in. More and more seemed to pour in, two to every one felled. Stephanie joined them, fighting by their side as she spoke in thought speech to the two of them, < We must leave, we have to go. They know too much about the base. We have to get out of here before it’s too late. >

< There is that extra corridor; we can take that to get out. > Shawn had made it a habit to study all the blueprints of the base, to know all of its secrets and pathways.

<What about Mom? > Salia asked.

< She asked me to get you guys out of here, I’ll explain later. First we must get out. I think the corridor is a good place also, and what I had in mind. > It pained her deeply to say the words, the thoughts of what she must do after they had escaped, but no, she must be strong for them: for Irene. She had made a promise and she would stand by it.

Salia set up an illusion that she then shoved toward the soldiers before them, < Let’s go now, while they are temporarily distracted… > The illusion made it appear that the soldiers were being attacked from all directions within their group. Images of fighters making moves to attack them darted in amongst the soldiers, moving so fast as to disorient them.

Stephanie nodded and moved down the hallway that led to the corridor, both siblings right behind her. Salia kept watch behind them as they went. The shadowed walls shielding their exit should one of the soldiers look past the illusion; walls that they would be leaving for good. The corridor would take them to the ‘apartment’ area of the base, just off of the main room.

< There is a small secluded cave in the near forest; I think that would be the best place to go for the time being. > Steph said as they came up into the hallway.

< Alright. > Salia replied.

< Should we teleport? I can make it secure. > Shawn offered.

Stephanie looked about them; confirming the empty hallway to be just that, empty.

Shawn nodded and a few seconds later, the three of them would find themselves inside a cave deep in the forest.

Stephanie leaned against a wall in the cave, exhausted. She still resolved to remain strong, so she took in a deep breath and refocused. She looked at the two siblings, watching them silently, uncertain how to begin. How do you go about telling two children that their only remaining parent was dead?

Salia was standing next to her, “Take your time.” She didn’t know what Steph had to say, but she could tell it troubled her greatly.

Stephanie looked at her niece sadly. She had no way of saying it, so she just had to let it go. There was no way to sugar-coat it. “Your mother was attacked from above, she received a fatal wound.”

Both of the siblings fell silent, neither could believe it, neither knew what to say. The anxious expressions were replaced by deep sadness. Salia looked like she was on the verge of tears. Shakily she spoke after a moment, “So… she’s gone?”

“Yes, she has moved on to her next passing. But she wanted me to tell you that she loves you both very much.” Steph laid a hand of comfort on Salia’s shoulder as Shawn moved closer to them. The three were the only ones remaining of the family now. Elijah had joined the darker part of the family, the ones who were not considered ‘family’ by the followers of light. Dark times were now ahead of them as they mourned in their first hiding spot of many in the following years.

Up North, in the Canadian Woods

Peaceful waters spilled over large gray rocks into the crystal clear waters below. A young woman appearing in her late teens sat upon one of the rocks at the water’s edge in silent meditation. Her youthful appearance was balanced by the wisdom of the ages in her light blue eyes, though at this time they were closed. A sense of calm was seen on her narrow face and her long brown hair was pulled up into a tight bun to keep it out of the way. She had been doing this for quite some time, most of the day in fact. It was a beautiful day, completely unhampered by the events far south from there; a good day for meditation and fasting.

Somewhere nearby, a tan light flickered into being; one who did in fact know of the darkness that spread from below. Dark times these have become, she breathed hard as she moved quickly through the area. These were familiar woods, ones she was barely seeing through bleared eye. How could this have happened… why? She tripped over an unseen root. Hitting the ground with a slight groan, Irene gently picked herself back up to see if she damaged anything. Luckily she was unscathed, at least from that one fall. The piece of cloth torn from her sister’s shirt was still wrapped about her neck like a bandana, one enchanted to hopefully stop the never-ceasing flow of blood. Her eyes then lifted to the woods about her. These old pines were not her usual woods, not the ones she roamed for so long. No, these woods were infrequently visited, though she looked forward to coming here. Few people knew her in this remote place, and she liked it that way; especially now.

Irene closed her eyes in pain; her throat wound was still too new that its sharp presence was not yet something she had grown accustomed too. Though, the physical pain was not the only one that resided in her mind. It was not too much longer before she was back up on her feet and moving again. She needed to get somewhere and she could tell this was not a good place to stop. Water: the smell of it reached her from up north of her current location. That would do well for a stopping point. She needed to wash her tear-stained face, and rejuvenate her parched and injured throat. She then continued her stumbling journey as her mind drifted back to the events of the day. Betrayal was a bitter sword, more so than the one that had bit her neck. One hand gently touched the soft cloth about her neck. How could he have done this… to us… she sighed. It runs in the family, that little voice said, the one that sat in the back of her mind and chided her often. Its not like betrayal was anything new; shunning the family code, or getting one when it lacks. Irene herself betrayed her family, being taken from the side of darkness when she was only a toddler. She grew up as a light warrior, gaining a code where her family lacked. But he was a good kid… why did he go to… that being… and when? How long was he under the dark oppressor? The Shadow we have been fighting for so long…

Shava continued unhindered in her meditations save for when a sound other than water or nature came into hearing. With Irene’s approach, Shava’s attentions returned to her surroundings and soon her eyes opened to find the source of the sounds.

Irene had no concept of what resided within the woods at this time. Currently her thought was only on water, the immediate needs rather than anything else. I never thought I’d be wanting water this bad, a slight hint of her usual sarcastic humor echoed in her mind, managing to break through everything else briefly. As Irene drew up to the water’s edge she dropped down to her knees.

The sight of Irene’s ragged condition brought a look of worry to Shava’s face. Irene? What is she doing here? What is wrong… what has happened to her? The thoughts contained her worry and her confusion.

Irene splashed cold water on her face with one free hand. It felt good against her warm skin; she’d been on the move for quite some time after the short battle. But that was not on her mind now, now was a time to clear her vision and decide what she was going to do. Her other hand was busy propping herself upright so that she would not tumble headlong into the pool.

Shava got up from the rock and silently moved over to Irene to help her. A water-skin full of water accompanied her as she only denied herself food, but not water. Gently she held out the open water-skin to the woman, worry still in her eyes.

It only took a few moments for Irene to realize someone was beside her. The initial shock jolted through her as she jumped away and to her feet; still on guard from her previous ordeal. This was quick to fade as she then recognized her, < Shava… sorry… did not know it was you there. > The cold water had helped clear her eyes, washing away the tears, but it did little to wash away the troubled nature.

“It’s okay.” Shava told her. The slightly taller woman’s reaction was of no surprise to her. A fighter’s caution was not unknown to her. She gave her the water-skin, “Here.”

< Thank you… but I don’t really need it now. > Irene managed to give a half smile, though it was quite forced, but only due to prior circumstances.

“What happened?” She tried to come closer to see if she could soothe her.

< Quite a lot really… > An understatement in many ways. Irene looked like she was about ready to collapse again, the rapid motion having caught up with her and causing her to sway slightly in her attempt to keep herself upright.

“Here.” Shava held out her arm to support her, “Let’s go rest and you can tell me all about it.”

Irene took the offer graciously, < I’m sorry I keep only coming up here for bad things… seems to be automatic. > A true half grin broke through her exhaustion and her tone lightened somewhat. Every time something major happened in her life, she always found herself up in these northern woods. It was like she was subconsciously seeking shelter here with a friend, someone who was not directly involved with the affairs her group faced.

Shava smiled, “It’s alright. Hopefully this time we’ll be left alone. Let’s get you back to my house, I’ll get my stuff later and you can rest on the couch, or in a bed. Taylem’s here, he will be up in about an hour or so.” She tried to lighten the mood. Why haven’t I been keeping a closer eye on her?

Good, she’d expected as much and had hoped so. While her thoughts were on the fact both of them were there, her answer was to the first thing her friend said,

Shava nodded to her as they walked back to the house. Once she’d led her through the front door and into the living room, she offered Irene a place to rest in, “Couch or bed?”

< Couch… its closer. > It was a long ordeal, very long, and hard. The physical and emotional strain finally slipped through her usual barrier. Whether she purposely lowered her mask or not she didn’t know, nor did she really care anymore. Her free hand went to her neck to reposition the ‘bandana’.

Shava helped to lay Irene down on the couch before inquiring about the thing about her neck, “What’s with this?” She pointed at the bandana, “And is something wrong with your voice?” as the woman had been speaking solely in thought speech.

Once she repositioned herself such that she lay on her side, Irene started, < It’s not good… > Her voice grew softer with the words and she looked away from her.

Shava sighed and pulled a chair close to the couch, knowing that this would be a long story. “Okay Irene, start from the beginning.”

< As you know… the Dark Shadow has been growing in strength of late… > She then went on to describe the increased army, the battles and so forth. How Dark Shadow was spreading his power over the lands and gradually gobbling up those that opposed him. < Then there was today… >

“What happened today?”
< There was an attack on base. They infiltrated it, caught us off guard. > Her words began to slow as the scene played in her mind. She did not see the soldiers that were pouring into the base from below, but once she’d come to realize that there was one up in the control room with her, she had felt the ones that were downstairs. < Salia and Shawn… they made it out… my sister made sure of that. The soldiers, they got in because of Elij… > She broke off in the middle of the name. A mixture of anger, sadness, confusion and fear was in her voice and written on her face.

“Shhh…” Shava had put things together to know the truth. She knew that Elijah was perhaps hearing the dark call more than the rest of his family, even dabbling in evil things, but outright helping Dark Shadow? “You’ll be fine here. The Shadow does not know of me here. What happened to your neck?”

Irene however had more story to tell before she got to that, < It’s gone… the base, it’s gone. The resistance… gone. So few of them left now, and shall be smaller yet as time passes. I fought Elijah… he has improved in his fighting skills… learned from two sides, myself, and from Darrin. I recognized a few similar styles. He used a move on me that I myself had taught him… and did what Darrin could not do that day long ago when he stole the dark sword… >

“How is the wound healing?” Shava asked her, but was met with silence. “Want me to look?”

< Best if you don’t. I enchanted this bandana to help, but it’s not helping in the way you’re thinking of. >

“Do I want to know how it will help?”

As the wound had yet to stop bleeding, though it was not as bad as it had first been when the blade met her throat.

“I see… and probably will keep Taylem from attacking you…”

< That too. > That hadn’t actually been a thought in her mind until she mentioned it. < There’s little I can do for it… just wait it out. >

“And what are you dropping?” What is she trying to say? She never could give a straight answer, but for once Irene, just say the truth; just tell me. Why can’t you tell me, why do you hide it from me…

Irene really didn’t want to say it; it seemed too solidifying to say it directly. It was too harsh for reality. She was silent until she finally took a deep breath. < …it’s not exactly how I imagined it to be like… a terrible thing; possibly a blessing in some aspect. Painful none-the-less, though it’s gone for now… > She was dancing around it like it was cold water. Just SAY IT, that little voice again. Irene looked over at her friend, she had a right to know… < .. it’s not that I entirely fear death… but… I’m not exactly leaving things as they should be for my children to handle. > There, I said it… though her words were not exactly clear; they did contain obvious clues to what she was alluding to.

“This wound is… fatal to you?”

< I’m afraid it is… >

Shava nodded, “I will do what I can to protect you, Irene, until this wound is healed. I know Taylem will do the same.”

How can she get her to see that there is no turning back now, that a fatal wound is just that: fatal.

“Don’t want me to even try?” There has to be a way to stop this. She can’t be dying, Shava’s mind tried to think of some way to remedy this. Could not grasp the concept that she should die, she couldn’t believe that it was time yet.

Irene closed her eyes, < Wait. It is all there can be done. > What else could there be left to do.

“Alright. While you’re here, do you want to do anything when you regain your strength?”

< Not really anything in particular… I have a few close friends and relatives left. I’ve already been with most of them before now… > This was her way of saying that she was here to spend the rest of her time with the good friends she had right here.

Shava gave a soft smile, “I see. I take it eating is out of the question?” She’d moved on to other things, going through the list of needs now.

Irene gave a bit of a grin, her throat was a mess, she doubted food would be easy to eat let alone effective in the long run. < Yeah, I believe so. >

“Then bed? Or do you wish to sleep here? Though, if you remain here, Taylem will wake you up.”

“Can you still morph?”

“Just checking, you can try when you want to. Let me get you some pillows and such,” Shava moved to stand up.

< No, that is alright, I’m fine like this. >

“Then sleep.” She ordered her as Irene seemed to need it now to recuperate more than anything else.

Irene gave a slight smile and closed her eyes fully this time. It would not take her all that long before she dropped off into sleep. The day had been long, and quite stressful for many reasons.

Shava got up and carefully moved the chair back to where she’d retrieved it from. The light is fading, her thoughts went back to all that she’d gained from Irene. Thankfully Salia and Shawn survived, but still… calm down Shava, she chided herself for her near frantic thoughts, remember, you are a neutral. If things were going wrong for the Universe, you would have been told. A soft sigh, I just wish there was something I could do for Irene. Even though I have experienced death many times, I still don’t know which I would want: quick, or slow. Yet, it seems that Irene still has some fight in her, for a few more days at least.

Shava was able to intercept Taylem from entering the living room where Irene was sound asleep. She informed him about what had happened at Irene’s base, and what had happened to her. He attempted to see if Shava could heal her, but the truth of the matter was that the woman was dying, though neither knew for how long. Shava then went to her room to leave Irene alone, as well as to have some time alone herself. I can tell he is worried, but I’m not sure how well he’ll handle it. I’m not sure I’ll handle this…

Taylem had silently exited the house to go hunt. Some news to wake up to… Irene dying, but not of old age, an attack. Never thought she would die. She seems immortal in her own right. Deeper into the woods now, he sought out the trail of a deer. I rarely think of death, not even as I seek my prey to feed, to live in the twisted manner that I live. It is a part of life, and sometimes I long for it, but I can’t leave Shava alone. We may not have a relationship, but she is still my friend. Death will find me one day, just going to have to wait for it. He would return later, full from the hunt, to find Irene awake. She had only been asleep for a few hours before waking up silently and had been staring at the wall prior to his entrance. Taylem stopped when he came into the living room, “Irene.” He said with a smile, glad to see the slightly smaller woman awake, though apparently lost in her own thoughts. While he may have teased her in the past, she still looked lovely as ever. Yet now he could see the years worn on her face, not the marks of age, though that was surely there, but that of great stress and worry. It had been many years since he last saw her, and while time may have tried to slowly take its grasp on her, he still recalled the young woman who he found stumbling through the forest unaware of what had happened to her, that first day he met her.

She looked away from the wall and sat up carefully, her back leaned somewhat against the arm rest. Her eyes turned to her friend, one who now appeared four or five years younger than she seemed. Returned the smile, < Hello Taylem. > He hadn’t changed much since the last time she’d seen him. The taller man was still built like a fighter, one who had practiced often, retaining all the old scars from past spars and training. Light humor and mischief still danced in his light blue eyes despite the air of a knight that continued with him throughout the centuries.

“How are you doing? Shava told me what happened.” He moved to sit near her.

She pulled her legs to her and moved so that there was room for him, < I’m doing alright I suppose. >

He sat down next to her, “I suppose? Guess I’ll have to wait a bit for that archery contest, won’t I?”

Irene laughed through the thought speech; she remembered that challenge,

“I’ll make sure to set up the area. You would probably have an advantage considering you can find an animal’s eyesight that’s better than a vampire’s night vision.”

“Well I don’t want to have sight advantage over you. And since I can’t go out in the daylight…”

< Then I will find something of similar eyesight. >

“Good. I’ve been practicing of course since you’ve left.”

< You’ll need it. > Irene grinned teasingly. She had of course not practiced the bow and arrow for a number of years if not longer. Who was to say she was going to be any good after so long away from what used to be her second best weapon.

“Why do you think I practiced? Maybe tomorrow night?”

< Sounds good. >

“Alright. I’ll hold you to it Irene, okay?” She better not die on me during the day, he thought to himself. There was the prospect of challenging her spirit if that indeed occurred. Like that would work. So much stuff that I want to do, so little time to do it in…

< Okay. > She gave the slightest nod in response; a move that her wound allowed at this time, cooperating for once by not hurting.

“How’s your neck?”

< It’s cooperating at least in that it doesn’t hurt, but it’s not sealing yet. > She could feel it through the bandana, though with the enchantment on it, the blood would be soaked up before it would vanish from the cloth.

“Yeah, but not covering up all the scent. Thankfully I’ve fed.”

It took Irene a moment or two to catch what he meant by that, < Sorry… the bandana was made in a hurry; I didn’t exactly plan everything out. > Such as covering the scent, even though she’d covered its sight.

“That’s okay. I can live with it as long as I’m not starving.”

Was starting to wonder if she really did replace all the blood fast enough to keep up with the speed she was losing it. It was one of those things that made being a mix of species a pain.

“We’ll see, plus I’m not one up for trying Morph blood.”

< Can’t really say I know. > Meaning that she’d never tried it nor had she heard of anyone else who had.

“I don’t want to try it right now, and I think you’d have too much for me to take in right away.”

Irene just gave a slight nod. This current topic was starting to become strained, floundering about for footing. Time for a new topic, < So how have you been doing lately? >

“Rather good. Still keeping low, though more around here than anywhere else. No women in my life, not for a while.”

< Well that’s good… > She paused as she reprocessed what he said in order to reword what she meant, < the first part at least. >

“Well… the women decided that they don’t want to hang around a vampire.”

< They don’t seem to be the kind one would want to be around by that statement. > Well that’s what I get for trying to pick a new topic…

“I know. Oh well. I’ll find someone that doesn’t care that I’m a vampire, right?”

< I’m sure you will. >

“So I’ll let you rest, Shava’s probably asleep by now.”

< You can go ahead and do what you wish. I’m not really tired. > Irene didn’t want to make him feel obligated that he had to stay with her if he didn’t want to, or if he had something else to tend to.

“If you want me to stay…”

< You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to. I’m fine with either choice… >

Taylem smiled, “You sure?”

A little bit of uncertainty crept onto her face, but it was in light spirits, < I’m not too sure anymore with that smile of yours. >

“What?!” He tried to feign innocence.

< Oh please, using that tactic never works. > She grinned and shook her head slightly at the obvious fake innocence.

He just laughed in response to that, “Oh come on, can’t give me one last chance? I heard that your mate is gone so…” He smiled with a bit of a shrug.

< Only one slight problem with what I think you are thinking about. >

“What?” He started to move closer to her, though his smile indicated he was playing.

< Well, provided it is what I think you are thinking of. It doesn’t work like you think it would with Morphs. > Irene was at this point starting to confuse herself with all her dancing around with words. She knew what he was referring to; it would be obvious after all these years of knowing him. Now whether he understood what she was saying in return, that could be another story.

He laughed, “Really? Care to give me a lesson?”

This seemed to throw her as she fell silent with a confused expression on her face.

A bit of a smile as he explained what he meant, “In how Morphs mate.”

< That wasn’t exactly what I meant… well.. I’m just going to say there is a reason why it doesn’t happen very often. And to say nice try. > Not something Morpherans tended to discuss, thus partly due to her dancing around the subject even when she knew it was all in joking.

“I wasn’t trying to,” he smiled, “just wanted to see how far this would go. Besides, you’re in no condition to do anything of the sort, and I wouldn’t be a gentleman if I didn’t think of your health first.”

A remark came to her mind for the last bit of his comment, but she bit her tongue. Although it was for a light and humorous purpose, with the situation of her short life, the comment may not have gone well. She ended up just with,

She’s in no condition to do much of anything anymore, he thought sadly. She was dying and it seemed as if nothing could be done about it. What can we do? “Shava won’t bother asking this and I’m sure you don’t want to think about it, but… when the time comes, are there any… burial rites you wish to have done?”

Irene was silent a moment, having looked away from him as she thought that over. < Simplicity was always the way with us… > The ‘fanciest’ thing ever done was probably that which occurred after the battle of the Sword of Darkness, when they lost most of the light army of that time. But even that wasn’t all that large of a ceremony; with only three people to take carry it through.

“Sakomtrium? I don’t know where that is.”

< The place where the Army of Light was laid to rest… after that fateful battle of the Sword of Darkness. >

“I’m sure Shava would know where that is and we can arrange that.”

Irene nodded, < Thank you… > What else was there left to say about it?

“So other than sitting here resting, what’s on your agenda for the evening?”

< Since when have I ever had a plan? >

“I have absolutely no idea.” He smiled.

“Anything I can do for you?”

She shook her head slightly, < I’m afraid not. >

“I meant in general? Anything you want or need?”

< Kind of summed up in that. >

“Well I don’t want to leave you alone and bored.”

She was starting to feel a bit of that tugging at her mind, but then again it may be attributed to the blood loss. She really didn’t know which. Need to find a way to stop that.

“True, you could, but do you want to?”

< Not really, but given maybe an hour or so I think I might not have a choice. >

“With the bleeding? Is there any way to stop it?”

< I’ve tried a lot of things, nothing’s been working. >

“You’ve seemed to survive so far with the blood loss. Do you really need any to survive?”

< It replaces itself before that would become a worry. > Though apparently it waits a bit before it replaces itself. She had survived an hour before without any blood in her once before without any major repercussions.

“Hmmm, well, as soon as it replaces itself completely it’ll start bleeding again. However by then…” He shrugged, “Perhaps there is a way so you don’t have to wear that bandana and we don’t have to worry about you bleeding all the time.”

< If it stopped long enough, it would make it easier to close the wound. >

Taylem nodded, “Okay, I’m full already, so how about tomorrow night we try? I am no fan of it, but anything to help.”

< What? > The topic had occurred so long ago in their jumping conversation that she’d forgotten about it and thus wasn’t sure about what he was referring to.

“I would try to drain you of your blood. I wouldn’t do it completely, and only with your permission.”

< You have my permission… but isn’t tomorrow when we were going to do that archery contest or was that planned? > She grinned.

“Dang it. Okay, after that.”

< Alright. >

He smiled, “Should I help the sleep along then?”

“I would drink enough so you would pass out.”

< Didn’t you say you were full? >

“It doesn’t sound like much; I can handle a bit of desert.”

< That just sounds odd. > This of course is coming from a girl who hunts down her dinner as a cat. It’s kind of a weird thought to begin with, though, if they were going to go through with the whole thing, she’d have to get used to that idea.

He looked at her, “So?”

To pass out now, or pass out later… hmmm, < Alright. >

Held out his hand with a smile and said, “Give me your wrist.”

There was a second-long pause before she gave him her right hand.

“Just relax, okay? If this was the neck I’d make it less… odd.” However, he lowered his head with his fangs extended. Waited a moment, then sank them into her wrist; his eyes locked on her face.

Irene had nodded slightly in response to what he had said. She trusted him, but there was just something about this whole thing that made her a little unnerved. Perhaps some hidden instinct in her that made her recoil unconsciously from this. There was an odd expression on her face to match her thoughts, but she said not a word, nor did she move. She did somewhat watch this though, despite her thoughts.

He made sure not to have any blood slip out of her wrist, and then waited until he felt her go limp before he stopped and healed the wound he made. No need for her to bleed in more places than her neck. He sighed and picked her up, carrying her into one of the spare rooms to lay her down. Then he went back out to the living room where he spent the remainder of the night, thinking over what he was told.

Day 2

A little before sunrise, Shava would come out, and speak with Taylem before he would slip off to his room to sleep. He had told her about Irene’s burial requests. She planned to hold off on them for now. Doing it so soon would only make it more real, more concrete. I can’t read… my mind keeps wandering, she thought to herself as she looked about her living room. Since meditation and fasting were out of the question, she needed something to do to preoccupy her mind. Other than practice, the only thing that helps is polishing… I guess I’ll do that. She would then set herself up at the table in order to begin to polish her collection of blades.

Irene would emerge from her room around noon and went over to where Shava was working. Was silent a moment watching her before she spoke up,

Shava looked up from the blades and smiled, “Yeah, it’s been a while. I haven’t thought of polishing in some time. Care to help me like before?” She offered a rag to her.

Irene took the rag, She smiled in return and sat down to help.

“That’s good. Have fun with Taylem last night?” She gave her some daggers to work on. A whetstone was out on the table as well to sharpen the blades that had dulled over time.

< Speaking of which… sometime before dark I need to practice a bit of archery. > Dust off some cobwebs, find my bow…

Shava nodded, “There is a place Taylem set aside. What? Did he challenge you?” She smirked, that would be fun to watch, but I’ll probably be pulled away into something else. Going to have to find out the result of it later. Taylem had been after that challenge for years and she was surprised that he never went down south to get it.

< Quite a while back we decided on it. So, I’m not sure if that really constitutes a challenge. >

“Ahh, and let me guess, you haven’t touched your bow and arrow in some time?”

Irene nodded slightly, < And even longer since I had decent practice with it. >

Shava smiled, “Then I wish you good luck. When do you want to practice?”

She then gave a shrug to the last part, < No real preference, it can wait at least till we’re done here. >

“I’m a good ways along here and with your help it’ll be done sooner.”

< I’m happy to help. > Irene looked down at the particular blade she was polishing, a few thoughts circling within her mind. She’s taking this well, at least Shava appeared to be, but as Irene knew herself, it didn’t mean a thing.

Shava polished in silence. Some of the blades that she was polishing were of Rojan design, others were from different parts of the world, different eras, as well as different parts of the Universe. Irene hadn’t spoken up to fill the silence either. Shava was uncertain what to talk about now, it was always hard for her to come to terms with a friend’s death. Thoughts of ‘why her,’ ‘why now,’ filled her mind. If things had gone the right way, if Elijah stayed where he was supposed to… none of this would be happening. She seems to be in good spirits, or at least as far as she could see.

Irene hadn’t any ideas either on what to talk about, therefore retained her silence, full concentration on the blade she was working on. She could tell her friends were upset about all this, who wouldn’t be. Although, Irene wasn’t sure what to make of it herself. She had to admit she was a little afraid; it would be stupid not to be. Of course, it wasn’t exactly the way she had thought she would go.

Shava finally spoke up, no longer able to bear the silence. “Any particular place in the Sakomtrium you wish to be buried? By anyone, if I can arrange it?”

There was a small pause before Irene answered, < By my friends… Jake is also buried there. He may not have been at the battle, but he was a part of the group… > The group she was referring to was Sami, Thom and Jesse, her friends from the Light Army.

“I’ll work on that.” Shava nodded, “And I’ll make sure Steph and your children know where you are buried. They might want something physical to visit.”

Irene nodded, though she knew Stephanie would be able to guess, and that Salia would just know as she often ‘just knew’ things due to being a far sensor, < Thanks. >

Shava nodded and then fell back into silence. What else could she do? She wasn’t going to get a coffin that people spent thousands on; a simple wooden one would do for the woman. It wouldn’t be right to just toss her into the grave without something. She would also try to find the material for the cross to put at her grave, like all the others.

It felt really odd for Irene to discuss things like this. To talk about the things that needed to be done to her body after she was gone. I suppose that comes with the fact my kind dies slowly. Her kind, not very many of her kind out there, but how does one deal with that kind of thing? How does one deal with discussing one’s own burial terms within a week of one’s time? It bothered her a little, but that was to be expected. She was using the same words she’d say to someone else who would be in her position, yet it was not for someone else, but for herself. The strangeness of this entire line of thought helped balance herself and she was able to keep her composure easy enough.

Shava figured she could get Taylem to help her carry out the burial plans, and with his advanced strength, hopefully they would get things done quickly. The next week would be hard on all of them, and Shava was not looking forward to it in the least, nor what would come after it.

Irene looked over at Shava out of the corner of her eye as she ran the cloth gently over the silver blade she was holding. Could see the other woman was deeply in thought like she was herself. Knew this was going to be hard on all of them; almost wished for a shorter time, almost.

“How are you doing over there?” Shava had looked up to see how far Irene had gotten.

She looked up at her, < Just about done with this one. > All it needed was a final brush or two with the cloth. When she finished with this, she started on another. Again they worked in silence until Irene finally broke it after a long time. < I’m going to miss doing things like this. >

“The simple things?”

< Yes. >

“It’s usually what most miss I understand. What do you think is beyond?”

< You mean other than a certain spirit animal insisting I become like her? >

“Netrana wants you to become a Spirit Animal?”

< That’s right. > An amused expression crossed her face,

Shava laughed, knowing that it was a pretty true statement, “They get better with age, and just think about how many times you actually listen to your Spirit Animal?”

< Okay, maybe age 3… >

She smiled, still laughing a bit, “Well depending on the species, they may not have the mind to listen, like humans at age 3.”

Irene grinned.

“It’s up to you Irene what you do. You can do that, help in some other way, or just go on and relax. Probably the first chance your soul got in this life.” She smiled.

Irene nodded, < The Sahren. I’ll probably end up doing one or the other, not sure I can handle this ‘relax’ you speak of. >

“Where you actually don’t have to do or worry about anything. It seems that anytime I try to relax, something always finds me and ruins it.” She gave a playful glare at Irene as she had been trying to relax when Irene showed up.

Irene had picked up on that, though she did appear apologetic through her joking grin.

“It’s okay; usually it turns out to be important. There have been annoying ones, though never you.”

“Very true, I just do it sometimes otherwise I’ll go mad with having to do things all the time. I try though; I can never seem to relax in the Universe, only in the Void. The Universe likes to mess with me too much I guess. >

< A bit of a difference then, my friend. I think I’d go mad if I tried to relax. >

Shava shrugged, “To each their own.”

Irene nodded as she finished up the blade she was working on. They would continue working in silence, only having about eight blades remaining. The talking had helped Irene out of her melancholy thoughts. Even though there were no other topics to talk about, at least the silence was no longer heavy.

Once they finished, Irene helped Shava put things away,

“I’ll lead you to where the archery area is, its not too far.” She would then lead Irene outside of the house and into the forest. It wasn’t too far away, just as she said, though it was out of sight of the house. It was a long clearing with a target attached to a tree and small poles to indicate paces.

Irene looked about the clearing, < Nice. >

“Thanks. Go ahead and practice. I have things to take care of.”

< Alright. Good luck with it. > Irene smiled at her.

“I’ll tell Taylem you are out here.” She returned the smile and then headed back.

Irene had her bow appear in her hands. It may have been a while, but it wasn’t something she’d easily forget. It always reminded her of practicing back with the others. Sami and Thom arguing… and Jesse always managing to actually hit the target square-on more times than the three of them combined. She just shook her head and proceeded to check the bow over to make sure it was still good to go before she would start practicing.

At sundown, Taylem was up and about. Shava told him that Irene was out at the archery range and had been out there since about four in the afternoon. He impatiently waited for the sun to finish setting before he would head out there himself.

Irene hadn’t used the entire afternoon to practice, though she did practice up until sunset. At this point she sat down not too far away and just watched the sky turn colors. Her bow lay on the ground in front of her.

When the sun was down, Taylem grabbed his bow and arrows and left the house, his quiver over one shoulder and the bow in hand. He smiled when he saw her. “Glad to see you up and about this evening.”

She looked over at him, < Hello, and it’s nice to be out. > It was a beautiful evening, not too cold, even if it was April. She got up from her spot on the ground and brushed herself off before picking up her bow.

He nodded, “Well, let’s see. 10 paces back to start off?”

< Sounds good. > She’d settled on feline eyes for this, something else she’d been doing while just resting.

“Ladies first then.” He was off to the side, a safe distance in case her aim was off.

Irene set her stance, bow raised. An arrow simply appeared in her hand. It was often nice not to need a quiver, nor did she ever run out of arrows as she simply created them as she needed them. She gauged her distance and then let go. The arrow struck the target with a thwack right in its center. Great… now I have to live up to that lucky hit.

Taylem smiled and waited for her to move, to see if she’d go and remove the arrow.

Irene just stepped aside as she had the arrow vanish. One other thing that she’d liked back on the practice field with the army was that after lessons, she didn’t have to go retrieve her arrows.

“Lucky.” Taylem muttered with a grin as he took aim. His own arrow would strike center. “Another round or further back?”

< Further back sounds good. I don’t think I could do a repeat. > Irene grinned, somewhat leaning on her bow that she had propped against the ground as she waited for him to return with his arrow.

Fifteen paces from the target yielded two arrows near the central circle, but one arrow was slightly closer than the other was. “Beat you with that one.” Taylem smiled. “Do I have to get it or you going to be nice?”

Irene grinned, < Hmmm, might have to think on that one. > But she waved her hand and his arrow vanished, reappearing in her hand. She then handed it to him.

“Thanks. Here again or further back?”

< Here might be good. > Irene said as she looked back at the target. As she was taking aim she spoke up again, < So what is the winner going to get? > She grinned teasingly, figuring that there was nothing. She let the arrow fly shortly after her words ended and hit the central circle.

“The winner gets something? Well, go ahead and choose something, though it has to be soon.”

Irene moved back out of the way as her arrow vanished.

“Oh, good. Still offering though if you want a prize if you win.” He took aim, but his arrow only struck the inner circle.

< Not much that I’d want anyway. > She retrieved his arrow for him using her magic.

“Thanks. Alright. As winner, you pick the place.”

< The what? >

“How many paces back we aim from. Winner picks.”

< Okay, but you won last time and I picked. >

“We’ll start that this time. Ties we do a rematch.”

<Alright. Probably time to back up a bit, already been here before. > Would then back up to 20 paces where they would take aim. Taylem’s arrow won that round.

“My pick.” He moved closer, to about 17 paces. “Here works.”

Irene moved up as well and achieved another close hit to the center.

Taylem frowned at this as he took aim. For someone on the verge of death, she seemed to be doing rather well. His arrow hit the third ring and he just shook his head.

As they continued their contest, Irene’s performance seemed to peak out not too long after that shot at 17 paces. From there, her aim headed down hill up to the point where she nearly missed the target entirely.

Taylem did pretty well the entire night, but noticed this steady decrease. Her endurance seemed to be fading, he observed sympathetically. When she almost missed the target he spoke up, “How about we call it a night?”

< Sounds good. > Irene was surprised just how much effort it took, at least at the concentration level, as it wasn’t exactly an extensive physical sport, though her arms might tell her otherwise. < It was fun though… can’t even begin to say when the last time I did something like this. >

He smiled, “Alright, let’s get back to the house so you can rest.”

She nodded and had her bow vanish back to the magical storage place she had for it. Would then follow him back to the house where she would sit down on the couch while he disappeared briefly to put his bow and quiver away.

“So how are you feeling?” He asked her when he came back out, sitting down beside her.

< Alright, glad to be outside for a time again… and for doing something by choice. >

“Too many necessary things?”

< Especially of late… things were getting harder. >

He nodded, “Of what Shava mentioned, they sounded like it. Now…” He shrugged, “But let’s not talk about that.”

Irene nodded, she didn’t really want to think about it either, but that was a bit late for her mind. Though she was grateful not to have to talk about it out loud.

“So you want to try what I suggested last night?”

< Might as well… seems to be the one with the most promise of working. > Not that there were any other choices on the table for that matter.

He nodded, “How about we get you to bed so I don’t have to carry you there?”

< Okay. > She stood up to head into the hallway to the room she had found herself in that morning, Taylem following behind her. Once she’d entered the room, she’d sit down at the edge of the bed.

He sat down beside her and held out his hand. “I’ll drink until you’re almost empty. Leave just a bit left, unless you have a preference on the amount.”

< Not really… > She gave him her hand.

He nodded, “Just relax.” He moved his mouth to her wrist, just like he did the night before.

Irene took a calming breath; she was more relaxed than she had been the first time through this. Now she knew what to expect.

He watched her, mainly to see when she would pass out. His fangs go in and he drinks. Not too quickly as to overwhelm her, but not too slowly to draw it out. Eventually she would go limp, passing out from this. When she did, he stopped temporarily to lay her down and then continued. He would stop when she had a couple pints left in her and would heal her wrist wound. Checked to make sure that she seemed alright. I wish she could stay around longer, there were things such as the archery practice that he would have liked to do more of. I probably should have moved down there if I wanted to get it. What we regret when we realize the time we had is lost. Once he was satisfied that she was breathing, he would head out of her room. I can’t stand seeing her in pain; I guess that’s why I suggested draining her blood. It’s not a lot, but it’s something. At least she will sleep well tonight. Feeling full, Taylem then headed to bed early.

Day 3

Shava checked in on Irene that morning to see how she was doing. Being that she was doing fine and sleeping soundly, Shava left her alone and made sure to remain quiet while Irene slept. Not that it was hard to remain quiet when one meditated. She didn’t understand why Irene was sleeping later than she usually did and Taylem had went to bed too early for her to ask him why.

Irene did not wake up until late in the day, though she just remained where she was. Tiredness still tugged at her despite her deep sleep, but on the upside, her wound was no longer bleeding. Gently she touched the bandana to confirm this. At least that worked…

Soon after Irene woke up, Shava came in, “You’re awake,” she smiled.

Irene looked over at her as she moved her hand back down from the bandana. She made no effort to sit up, < Yeah… don’t feel like I’ve slept any… but I’m awake. >

“How’s your wound?”

< Cooperating finally… >

“Really?” That was at least good news to hear.

< Yes. > She would have nodded but that seemed like a bad idea to try. It may have stopped bleeding, but she was still working on getting it so that it wouldn’t start up again. Her healing ability may not be able to fix the damage, but she could at least seal it.

“Think that you won’t need that bandana soon, or is it also hiding the wound from sight?’

< It won’t be a necessity… but it’s not exactly a nice looking wound… though it could have been much worse… > The blade could have gone deeper, could have affected her mobility as well as her life span.

“I’m sure. Can’t just morph it away I take it.”

Though that would have been a nice ability to have.

Shava nodded, “Understandable. I’ll let you rest, want something?”

< Thank you… but no, I’m fine. >

“Alright. You rest. I’ll be out here if you need anything.” She would then turn to leave the room so that Irene could rest.

Irene closed her eyes again but had a much harder time trying to get back asleep. Thus, while she waited for sleep to fall, she worked on sealing the wound and would have completed it by the time she finally drifted off into sleep.

Once out of Irene’s room, Shava sighed. The woman didn’t need rest; she needed a miracle to keep her alive longer. It was wrong for her to die like this, by the hand of her own blood. Her inner tiger pointed out the reality of things to Shava’s chagrin, but the tiger was right, it was the cougar’s time and she had to accept that. She didn’t want too, but she did try despite the difficulty of having Irene there, dying before her eyes.

After a few more hours Irene woke up again, feeling much better this time. Though, she remained laying down in silence before she would even think of getting up. The silence after waking was refreshing, always liking to have a bit of silence in both mind and surroundings. However, this particular silence wasn’t nearly as inviting as it once was to her, thus she got up out of the bed. Soon enough she would wander out into the living room.

Taylem had been up an hour or so before Irene woke up, sitting out in the living room reading a book. He was still full from the night prior. He looked up when he heard her approach, “Hey you, heard that you’ve been asleep pretty much all day. How’s your wound doing?’

< Yeah… though I managed to get it sealed… so it did work. >

“That’s good, though I take it while it will seal, it will not heal?”

< That’s right. > Irene sat down on the couch, not wishing to stand up for the entire evening.

“Oh well, as long as I get to torment you for a few more nights, I’ll be happy.”

< I’m glad to hear that… > She said with mock sarcasm and a slight grin.

“Good, now to find something for us to do tonight.”

< Yep. > Other than having the bandana still around her throat, Irene felt as good as she did prior to the wound. As if the whole ordeal hadn’t happened.

“Something for all three of us, with me bound inside during the day, it has to be at night. So, any ideas?”

Though she was also not too sure how long this good feeling will last, not long she suspected, but she should be fine for that night.

“You know that Irene and I aren’t ones for going out to do things, at least in towns and such.” Shava brought up, to which Irene nodded.

“Fine, we don’t have to go to a town or anything, just out of here, to do something.” After another unproductive moment of silence, he put forth an idea, “How about we all go out, find a big clearing, make a bonfire and dance naked around it?”

Irene said immediately after that suggestion.

Shava took a more direct response to that comment, “Taylem, you want me to toss you outside at sunrise?”

“It was at least a suggestion!” Those two have no sense of humor when it comes to suggestions. All it requires is removing a few choice items of clothing, but nooo.

“But going out and at least having a fire sounds nice.” Shava then added.

< As long as that’s the only part of the suggestion to occur, I’m for it. >

“And you can light the fire Irene.” Shava smiled and grabbed her staff before getting ready to head outside.

Hopefully, Irene felt a bit uneasy about that as she stood up to follow after her. She wasn’t sure if her magic worked as well as it once did, if at all.

Taylem followed after them, the lights turning out in the house as they left. Shava then led the way through the woods and eventually to a clearing.

“Who wants to gather wood?” Taylem asked upon their arrival.

He nodded, “Alright. I’ll help.”

< Okay. > Irene would then move out of the clearing to search for wood.

Though not too far out of the clearing, Taylem spoke up, having followed after her, “Think you have the energy to run?”

< Run? > Irene had switched her thought speech so that only Taylem would hear now that they had left Shava to tend to preparing the area to set up for the fire.

“Yep, I’ll give you to the count of five.”

Irene looked at him confused, < Run? Where? >

“One… you better start or I’m going to catch you… two…”

< Well yes… since running usually means a variety of things. > She still had no idea why he wanted her to run. Was there a point to this?

“You run. I chase… three…” Hasn’t she ever played tag before? She seemed to not understand what he was talking about; perhaps she was always too old for such a ‘childish’ game.

< Fine then. > Okay, he wants me to run, I’ll run. So she darted down the path, keeping to it for now. Set a fairly quick pace, but it was not the top speed that her current form could handle.

“Four… five…” Taylem would then dart after, not using his vampiric speed just yet, but he would follow her.

She chose to run along the path for a few reasons, one being that it was smoother and less jarring, though the obstacles that were there didn’t really hamper her progress much. Used her hearing to estimate how far away he was from her. Was starting to get the concept now… a sort of run and chase game.

When he found that he was losing her, he would pick up his speed. Didn’t bother staying quiet, thus she would definitely hear his gradual approach. With him slowly gaining on her, Irene would regulate her breathing in preparation for a jump in speed. She wasn’t much of a distance runner when she went full speed, thus had to prepare for that jump. When he was close enough, she would drive her feet into the ground and spring forward with new momentum. This transition into a much faster pace would be very feline-like. Taylem had to readjust his own speed, frowning when he started to lose ground once again. However at this near cougar-speed, he had a harder time gaining on her, just slightly closing the distance between them as they ran. After about two minutes at this quick pace, Irene began to lose speed, but she was not willing to give up so easily and thus turned into the trees. She did slow slightly when she turned off the path. It wouldn’t do to run up on something too fast. This alteration of path did not faze Taylem at all and he began to close in on her once again. Hearing him close in on her, Irene quickly darted to the left, hoping that the sudden change in direction would throw him off.

Indeed, this would cause him to overshoot and thus had to turn back with a bit of a growl, to go after her once again. Despite her constant darting and running, Irene began losing more ground than anything and soon enough Taylem was able to leap at her and tackle her to the ground. She gave an actual verbal sound as she lost her balance, moving her arms to brace the landing to the ground. Taylem held onto her, rolling to the ground, giving a victorious shout once he had a hold of her. Once all motion had stop, he smiled and snuck a kiss to her cheek before he let her go, “That was fun.”

Still slowing down her breathing, Irene stayed lying down, a smile on her face, < You’re fast. > That was something she hadn’t done in a long time, even longer since it had been in her human form. Playing a sort of tag through the forest with friends as felines; it felt like it had been so long ago. A wonderful reminder to how fun it had been.

“Thanks. One of the perks of being a vampire.” He too seemed a bit winded from the run. “So where’s the clearing?” He smiled at her.

Irene looked around at the trees, the first time she really took note of where they were. Had pretty much been running flat out with no particular direction in mind. < Good question? > Looked back at him as she sat up slowly, propping herself up with her palms on the ground.

“We’ll find it, or you can ask Shava for directions. We should at least come back with wood since that was what we said we’d come out to get.” He looked around for some wood while he slowly got up from the ground.

She shook her head slightly with a grin, though took a bit more time before she would get up herself. Slowly began catching her breath, < Wood from the opposite end of the forest it would seem. >

He laughed and they started to gather some wood, enough for a good-sized fire. He then would look around to get his bearings. “Think you can teleport us back? Or at least to her house?”

She shook her head, < I’m afraid not any more… it’d have to be by foot, hoof, paw, or wing. I can still morph… > at least… She didn’t like the prospect of not having her magic anymore. Wasn’t one of those who were fully reliant on it as if it where some kind of addictive drug, but it was a nice feeling to feel the full force of her inner fire. Something that was now not all that strong.

“Anything I can ride?”

< Name it and I can be it. >

“Hmmm” Taylem thought on this a moment, “Horse wouldn’t do it, have to hold onto you and the wood… Unless you can put the wood in that special place of yours.”

After checking to make sure she still had access to it, she would nod,

“Alright.” Once he picked up a few extra pieces of wood he would hold it out for her, “This should do it.”

As soon as Irene touched the wood, it would vanish into that little holding place of hers.

He smiled, “Think you can still manage a horse?”

< Provided horses are still four-legged, long-necked equine. >

“Yes.”

< Then I can handle it. > With a slight grin she would begin to morph. It was a much slower process than she usually went through, but it was still just under a minute in length. Though, this made the flowing liquid-like process a bit easier to see. She would morph a roan Fox Trotter; a breed of horse known for its skill in navigating through woods.

Taylem waited until she was fully horse before he would hop up. Once he was settled, he gave a pat to her neck. “Okay, we need to go about three miles south-southwest, or actually,” he pointed, “that way.”

Irene turned her head so that she could see where he was pointing out of the corner of her eye, < Alright. > And she would then move into that direction at a fast walk, but not quite a trot. She wouldn’t move any faster than that until she at least had smooth ground under her hooves. Her eyes were not good enough to pick out the details of the path in front of them to risk going any faster. Once they reached the path she would move into a trot, bordering on a lope so as to make the ride smoother for him.

Taylem had ridden horses in the past, though not recently, but he remembered what he needed to do to keep the ride smoother on his end.

Shava was waiting in the clearing still, having cleared an area not only for the fire, but for the three of them to relax. She had found some logs for them to sit on or lay against.

Irene moved back to a walk upon arrival and stopped once they got into the clearing.

Shava looked up as Taylem gave a little wave. “And where did you two disappear to? Not to gather wood it seems.”

“Just some fun, honest fun at that.” Taylem said as he dismounted.

< We got wood. > Irene would point out as it appeared on the ground near them.

“I see that.” Shava picked up the wood and started to set it up. Taylem moved over as Irene morphed back to join up with them. Taylem picked out a log to crash against and once Shava had the wood set up she looked over to Irene. “Care to light the fire?”

Irene looked over at the wood, and then only to Shava, < I’m afraid I can’t… >

< Your magic is escaping you as it comes closer? >

< It is… > Irene said a bit quieter. Admitting it out loud made it feel all the more real to her.

< Alright. Don’t worry about it. > Shava looked at the wood and after a moment it lit up into a roaring fire. Soon enough it settled down to burn contently, giving off warmth in the cool night air.

Irene sat down with her back against one of the logs. Worrying wasn’t quite what she was doing, though perhaps it may be considered as such. She just watched the fire in a silent mental reflection.

Taylem and Shava also sat in silence, watching the fire dance about the logs and leap up into the air. “This is nice.” Taylem finally said, “Now we need either some stories or a contemplative topic to talk about.”

Irene didn’t speak up, still watching the fire. Contemplative… already doing that within my own mind.

“How about silence?” Shava suggested.

“Okay.” Taylem would fall silent, looking at the fire once more. It was all he could do not to sigh, now utterly bored.

Shava just stared at the fire, thoughts of past events with Irene moved through her head. She thought about the trouble that had happened with them, wishing that things didn’t go so wrong in the past. However, she was glad for the quiet that seemed to be given to them for now. Something was bothering Irene, and she had a feeling it had to do with the fire. The woman was no longer able to use her magic, and seeing magic done around her seemed to make her feel worse. I shall have to refrain from doing any more magic around her…

I can’t take this anymore… her thoughts just spiraled downhill rapidly. Everything was weighing down at her at once and she could hardly hold onto it anymore, <… I’ll be right back… > She moved to get up. She needed to move away for a bit of time… needed to be in solitude.

“Alright, don’t take too long.” Shava said. The woman needed to come to things on her own terms; there was nothing they could do. They couldn’t force it on her. She hoped that Irene would soon get a handle on this for death will come sooner than she expected.

Irene just gave a slight nod and moved out of sight, further into the woods. Her arms were crossed in front of her once she was out of sight and she kept looking skyward. She moved such that her back was toward the clearing. Irene paced a bit, keeping an even expression even though no one was there to see it… it was as if glancing upward would help keep her composure since she kept doing it. She didn’t know why this decided to all crash down at her right now, wasn’t sure what set it off, but she found it extremely difficult to keep a hold of. Other thoughts began to present themselves to her… should I even be here? It’s hard on them too… The walking wasn’t helping her much.

Shava looked in the direction that Irene had disappeared off in, but didn’t get up. It was better to leave her alone right now. Taylem however seemed worried. “Shouldn’t we go after her?”

“No, she needs to be left alone. She needs to come to terms with this on her own. Most don’t have the chance, as death is so soon, but she has a few days to think it over.”

This wasn’t easy, she growled slightly to herself. Why couldn’t it have been just right there at the blade? Why this infernal wait? Was it just some fluke of the mixture of species that brought this? Or was there a reason somewhere along the way that she was forced to endure this…

“She should have someone to talk to.” Taylem insisted. What if she needs someone to be with her? Sometimes you don’t realize it when you need someone there.

“She does have us to talk to, but she wants to be alone. When she wants to be alone, we should leave her alone. When she wants to talk, she’ll talk. Simple enough.”

“Women. You love keeping your emotions hidden and not talking about anything.”

“Look who’s talking. Guys rarely talk about their feelings. She’ll talk if she wants to, it’s up to her. It’s her that’s dying, not you.”

“Very true.” He sighed and fell silent. He didn’t know what to do about Irene besides make her comfortable, and try to not have her worry about what was to come.

Irene kept pacing back and forth in her spot a distance from the clearing. Keep moving, maybe I’ll wear myself out… But even that didn’t seem to be the case. She could still feel the tiniest bit of her own fire within, but only felt it as it dwindled. She wasn’t sure if that or the idea of who drove the sword to her neck was worse. Neither idea fell lightly to her. After several more moments she stopped pacing and just looked skyward. She closed her eyes briefly; she knew the risks of her work. She was not afraid of dying by the sword… but now that she had time to think of it… well… she just wished that she didn’t have that time to think about it.

Shava didn’t know what else she could do to help Irene besides letting her be or help to keep her mind away from it when the woman seemed to be in a better mood. Both Taylem and Shava remained silent in the glow of the fire. Taylem tried to think of things to help keep Irene happy as Shava closed her eyes, her mind blank to any answers.

Irene then moved over to one of the trees and sat down at its base. She pulled her knees up to her chest and propped her elbows on them, using them as a crutch to cradle her head. Closing her eyes, Irene tilted her head downward. She was still able to keep her composure. After several thousand years she had the no-emotion down pat, but her mind betrayed her. Despite her neutral expressions, her mind always carried emotion, just as it did here. Soon enough, the crushing weight of reality was too much for her and for the first time in thousands of years with the exception of the passing of her mate, she wept in silence.

After a while Shava sighed and stood up. “I’m going to bed.” Then to Irene, < Irene, I’m going to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow. > At that she would turn to head back to the house.

< Sleep well friend. > Irene managed to send evenly despite her tears. She did try her best to cover it up so as to not worry her friend, but some sadness still tinged her words.

“Goodnight.” Taylem would say in return, though he would remain by the fire for another hour before he got up to put it out.

Irene stayed where she was, though now she was sitting cross-legged with her arms still propped; her hand on her forehead as she looked at the ground. The tears had stopped flowing, but their evidence remained. She exhaled in a sigh. Her mind was thankfully empty now; her tears seemed to wash them away momentarily. But the dark cloak of sadness weighed heavily on her.

After dousing the fire, Taylem searched for Irene, catching sight of her sitting beneath the tree. “Irene?”

She jumped slightly upon hearing his voice break the silence, < Oh… hello again. > She then sat up right, leaning her back against the tree. Gently she brushed her face with a hand to dry it.

“You okay?” He walked over to her to kneel in front of her.

< Not really, but I’ll be fine. >

“How about some sleep?”

< Not really all that tired… spent most of the day asleep. >

“Yeah, took most of your blood. So how about back to the house? The fire is out.”

She paused a moment, not answering right away. < Not yet… > She didn’t think she was ready to attempt standing again. The night air at least helped calm her back down some, but she still didn’t feel ready to leave it for the warmth of indoors.

“Want me to stay?”

Irene nodded slowly. Having someone there helped alleviate that heavy cloak, to lift it from her memory. Something that solitary silence would never be able to dissipate.

“Okay.” And he settled down beside her, staying close in case she needed to be held.

She just fell silent and looked at the ground once again. Taylem stayed silent as well, keeping an eye on her though he had his head turned toward the ground. Irene then moved so that her head was braced by her hands again, though her chin rested on them, hands folded over her nose. Her eyes were looking out in front of her and she gave a soft sigh. He put an arm over her shoulders, to indicate he was there for her. She leaned against him somewhat when he did this, but remained quiet a bit longer. Finally, once the dark feeling had passed and things started to get better, she spoke, <… thanks… >

“It’s okay. I’m here for you, until dawn of course.”

Irene nodded and said nothing further as he just sat with her. As more time passed, she continued to feel better until she once again thanked him.

“You’re welcome. Feeling better?”

She nodded a little, < Yes… >

“Stay here or the house?”

No longer did the night seem to swallow her up. She felt the gentle coolness of it now that the cloak had been removed.

“You can stay.” He looked up at the sky, “I have a few more hours until the sun rises.”

< Alright. > She laid her arms across her lap, still sitting cross-legged on the ground.

Taylem remained there next to her, though he no longer had his arm around her, but would be there in case she needed to be comforted. His mind continued to turn over ideas, things that he could do to help her, even if it was only to get her mind off of things.

She had her head tilted skyward, the clouds were vacant from the sky, offering a beautiful view of the night sky. < Always liked it up here at night better than any where else. > It had been silent long enough, she was ready to talk. The sky just seemed to be asking to be talked about. It was the truth too; she always preferred the northern sky to anywhere else on the planet. Perhaps it had to do with the lack of large cities to obstruct the sky.

He looked up as well, “Yes, it is nice, talking to the expert here. The stars are so clear.”

She managed to grin slightly,

“That I would. Sometimes I like the nightlife of a city, but in the end, I go back to how things were when I was turned, the country out in the middle of nowhere.”

< Though this place does have a rival on night sky. >

“It does? Where?”

< Morphera… > Irene had then looked back up at the sky, having looked down momentarily.

“Oh? How much more beautiful are they compared to Earth?” Stars… that’s it, I can take her up the mountain. There were not many people who could say no to a wonderful view of the stars.

< It’s hard to describe that… but if you can imagine better than this… more expansive it seems. >

“There is a place where trees aren’t in the way. I can take you tomorrow night. It’s not that far, if you think you’re up for a horse ride.”

< Maybe, if I can… > It was hard to say how she would be feeling the next night. So far this whole thing was up and down, and it was mostly emotional at this point. No telling when physicality would become an issue.

“Alright. A ride tomorrow then.”

Irene nodded, she really hoped it would work out,

“Good. So what shall we do until sunrise?”

She gave a slight shrug, < I’m open for ideas. > Then she added after remembering the bonfire one, < Most ideas. >

Taylem laughed, “Yeah, that one back at the house wasn’t that good of one, was it?” He rubbed the back of his neck.

< Just a tad. > She smiled slightly.

“How about we move about?” He suggested with a smile.

< Sounds good. My legs are starting to protest this non-motion. >

He laughed and got up, offering a hand to her. She took the offering and stood up, though the motion of standing up caused her to sway a bit as if her legs protested to the sudden movement and refused to work properly. “Careful.” He held onto her until she was balanced. After a moment or two she seemed to be able to stand under her own power and he would let her go at that point.

She was a bit frustrated by that, but she didn’t show it. Never had too much of a problem with her limbs not cooperating before.

“Legs must have fallen asleep on you.” He smiled, “Shall we?” He indicated a random direction that they could walk in.

< Yeah, they must have. And alright. > She was okay to walk now, her balance having been restored.

He walked along beside her. “So, describe the skies on Morphera.”

< Hard to find a spot to begin… but they are easier to see… brighter and clear. They have their own constellations of course… even painted on the ceiling of one of the castle’s rooms. >

“Castle rooms? Sounds almost like its medieval.”

< Comparing it with Earth history, yes. They have stayed in a similar frame that resembles medieval times. >

“So no technology then?”

< None at all. >

“So based off of magic then?”

< Not really. Morpherans are not a magical species. >

“Oh, never had an interest in technology? Do they even know about Earth and such?”

< They never did have that interest, and yes they do. First time I was on Morphera was with the Earth light army. >

“I see. So where else have your travels taken you?”

< So many places, I couldn’t even begin to name them… between the army and the wielders… >

He nodded, “I’m sure you’ve been busy, minus those 10,000 years that you were asleep.” A bit of a smirk crossed his face at that.

< Plenty busy, but yes… hard to say I did much in those 10,000 years. > She grinned.

“I remember when you woke up, thought you were only out for a day or so.”

< Can’t say I remember… but I suppose I would. > Her memories of many past events were sketchy, but in all, there was quite a lot of time her memories did indeed span. Many factors added against her remembering everything, though some were not of her own accord.

“I thought your memories would be sharper.”

< Under usual circumstances it would be… there are a lot of things I do remember… just not everything. Memory wipes don’t really help much in keeping old memories. >

“Memory wipes? What happened to you over the past 3000 years or so?”

“Well, yes, through Shava. I’ve only been told about what was going on in general, but nothing specific save for the boy Zach was a handful, and the feline was possibly worse.”

Irene would then tell him about the occurrences she had with both wielders; a sort of short synopsis as they were both quite long stories in of themselves. They both individually could fill the pages of quite a lengthy novel. Made sure she mentioned the instances were her memories had been messed with by both the cathern and Darrin himself in one case as well as instances with the Dark Shadow.

“I see… no wonder you can’t remember much. I wouldn’t either.”

< It’s kind of annoying… but I’m not complaining since it turned out well… then at least. > She added the last bit as if just remembering that it had not ended well… how Dark Shadow had wiped out her resistance. The smile she had on her face earlier had faded.

“It’s alright; you don’t have to talk about it. Shava can fill me in if I ask. I just never asked for details, only was seeing how you were doing and in general what you were up to.”

She gave a slight nod, < Though little I can change of it now… it’s up to Salia and Shawn to keep it alive. >

“That it is, and you can only hope they will do what they can. Do they know they have resources here?”

< I’ve told them of here. > She nodded.

“As a haven?”

Another nod, < But I do not know of what they plan to do… we did not part under the best of circumstances for chat… > Recalling her words to her sister to take her children and flee the base. Technically, Irene didn’t even say any words at all to her own children, letting her words go through their aunt. She had not wanted either one of them to see her wounded as she was… to see the vivid blade wound at her throat.

Taylem gave a nod, “Would explain why you seemed so out of it as Shava described you when you arrived. Your mind must have thought this was a safe place to go and just brought you here.”

< It seems to keep doing that… I think Netrana has something to do with it. >

He smiled, “Then she seems to trust Shava despite what’s happened in the past.”

< Things happen… often times not the way we mean to. Netrana saw it... and I do as well now. >

“I see. What do you mean you see things now?”

Irene just shook her head, < It’s too detailed and probably boring to line out. >

“Come on, entertain me, or does it have to deal with that whole hierarchy of Spirit Guides.”

< Just has to do with my own realization of events… of things I missed before, but finally see. > Now that the cloak of sadness had lifted, things started to seem better in their own way. Things that once didn’t make sense before started making sense now. She recalled a line her mentor always said, ‘everything happens for a reason’.

“Ahh, things coming together as things come to an end. Makes sense.”

< Would have been helpful earlier, but I suppose now is just as good. >

“Very true, but remember, some never realize how things come together even at death.”

< And most don’t get the time to dwell on it prior… > She may be starting to accept what was to come, but she still didn’t like how she had the time to think about it.

“The ever-present question, prefer to die slow or die quickly?”

< Yes… >

“You sound like a quick death is preferred.”

< It would have at least been over with… to have died at the blade. > She looked at the ground out in front of them as they walked.

He nodded, “Most fighters would want that. I know Shava prefers a quick death herself, as would I and any knight I knew, and to die honorably.”

“Your nephew?” He sounded surprised, “Elijah was your nephew?”

< You didn’t know? > She looked over at him with a surprised expression; had thought that her connection to Elijah was well known.

“Shava said Elijah hurt you… No wait.” He thought about this harder, “she did mention he was related to you, but I had forgotten how.”

< Yes… my sister’s only son… and only surviving child. >

He nodded, “I’m sure she’s as torn up about this as well. Something apparently went wrong somewhere along the way if he turned on you.”

She sounded saddened by this,

This conversation rate was not going all that well. That was evident in the gradual diminishing mood she was showing. And for Irene to actually show a change in mood at all was significant. “Okay, different topic. Your sword, what’s happened to it?”

< It’s not exactly my sword so much as I am its guardian… but it’s safe. >

“Alright, though how did you get it in the first place? Shava never went into that.”

“I see. Must have been odd when you found out what it was really meant for, questioning why you were given it and not someone else.”

< Actually, I hadn’t started questioning till I found out I had to actually teach the one who had to wield it. > A slight grin broke through her mood. Irene was quite well known for her dislike in teaching and had been through all kinds of friendly teasing about it as well.

“Then you got stuck with two wielders when you didn’t want any.”

< Yes… though I do have to admit... it’s not as bad as I thought it would have been. >

“You never know what life will throw at you. Like I expected to be turned into a vampire?”

< Would be boring if we knew what would happen. I don’t know how Salia stands it. >

“How so?”

< She is a far sensor. >

“Far sensor?” He paused a moment, “Oh, a Seer.” Irene nodded and he continued, “I wouldn’t know how to deal with that either. It just sounds… odd, but if she grew up with them, then she has to be used to them.”

Irene gave another silent nod as they walked further. The night was quickly coming to a close and the signs were starting to show that daybreak was coming soon.

“We probably should be heading back.”

< Alright, > she adjusted her own direction so that they would be heading back toward Shava’s house.

He continued to walk beside her, “If there’s time maybe Shava can take us to Morphera.”

< Maybe. > She didn’t want to give a positive answer to it as she had a feeling that there wouldn’t be time to do everything, but she didn’t want to give a negative answer either. It was too negative of a thought to end the night on.

“We’ll see.” He fell silent as they walked back to the house in silence. Once inside he turned to her, “I should get ready for bed. I’ll see you tomorrow night?”

< You will. Sleep well. >

“You as well.” He nodded and then disappeared to get ready for bed.

Irene turned and headed to the room she had been given for her stay. She would sit down on the bed for a moment or two of silent reflection. Whatever had convinced her to come here she needed to thank. Despite her emotional break down that day, she now felt she could keep going for the rest of her days due to the support her friends had for her. Would have to remember to thank them for all this… they did so much for her and she did not want them to go thankless. Soon enough she would get back up and wander back out into the main room. As she wasn’t tired, she didn’t want to waste time by forcing herself to sleep. Eventually she would find herself outside just before the sun rose, testing her morphing ability once again.

Day 4

Shava woke up just before sunrise as she always did. Her first item of priority was to check up on Irene, but frowned when she found her not inside. < Irene? >

< Yes? > Irene had been watching nature transition into the day in sort of a meditative state that she sounded a bit distracted but otherwise fine in her thought speech response.

< Was just wondering where you were. I’m going to go practice. >

< Alright. > Irene stood up from the branch she had perched on, letting her black talon-ed forepaws scratch into the soft wood. The silvery black gryphon then gently hopped down from the tree to walk around a bit before choosing another spot to tree. This was another of her favorite morphs, it combined a black hawk with a silver feline body, more akin to her cougar form.

Soon Shava finished getting dressed and headed out to her usual spot to practice. A bit of the silver caught her eye, but she assumed it was Irene in one of her forms and took no heed. Shava worked first with her staff and then her sword, always being watched by the feline-avian-cross. After two hours of work, she returned inside, though Irene remained outside in her tree. Eventually, Shava’s thought speech echoed in her mind, < You having fun out there? >

< It’s alright. >

< Enjoy watching me practice? >

< Always liked watching others practice. > It was a good way to learn things from another.

< Oh? >

< Just do… >

< Not… > However, Irene was cut short by a sharp pain that arched through her body, this caused her to stand up quickly as if she was poked by a sharp object in the stomach. What was that… Though as soon as she said it, she began to have her suspicions about what it was.

< What? > Shava said quickly.

Irene tucked her head up against her neck as a second wave moved through her. A bit of a screech made it past her beak… that… now? She had almost forgotten about its presence having adjusted to it over the years. Her talons dug into the bark.

Inside the house, Shava could hear the screech and she quickly got up, taking the staff with her, < Are you okay? >

There was an audible thud as the gryphon fell out of the tree, not all that feline-like, but she did manage to break her fall somewhat. The pain had stopped, but its remnants echoed throughout her being. Perhaps she should find a better place for it now…

Shava moved quickly toward her, “Irene… Are you okay?” She repeated since she had not received any indication from her.

After another moment of silence, she curled up slightly, now mostly laying on her stomach with her paws pulled in close and wings somewhat open, < yeah… I think I am now… >

“What happened?”

< Just an old complaint… > She wasn’t exactly sure she wanted to talk about that little aspect.

“The wound you had years ago?” As Irene had come to her house with a self inflicted sword wound in her side quite a long time ago.

Apparently it was not at all thrilled since it chose now to remind her of its presence. With her magic leaving her, it was gradually eating away at the shield she had placed around it, violently clashing up against her. She squeezed her eyes shut as again it confirmed her suspicion. The darker portions of her form almost seemed to glow slightly.

“Irene, what’s going on? This isn’t that wound from before…” She moved closer to her.

< Don’t touch me… > She strained the warning, if Shava were actually to touch her, the dark magic would give a shock, though not a painful one. She was waiting for the pain to die down before speaking again.

Shava followed the warning by not touching her, but did stay near her, “Irene, come on, what’s going on here?”

Finally the wave of pain slackened off again so that she could open her eyes. Turned her golden eyes to look at her friend, still not sure she wished to speak her troubles. This sort was quite different than the usual trouble.

“Irene, tell me.” Shava had a very serious tone to her voice.

Partly why she was reluctant to tell was that it was not known by anyone else and she liked it that way. It could be dangerous to tell anyone, especially close friends.

However, Shava was thinking along a different line of thought, attributing this to the known issue at hand, “Irene, if I can help you sooth your passing… I need to know what’s causing this pain.”

< It’s not that… not yet. > She was not yet on her last leg and wanted to make sure her friend understood that much of it.

“Alright, then what is it?”

Her feathered ears lay back against her head and she lowered her head onto her forepaws. Was still sticking to her silent resolve to not tell her, but knew enough that she was just as stubborn as she herself was. It came with having a feline as a Spirit Animal.

Shava sighed and sat down. “Fine, then don’t tell me.”

Now she felt guilty about not saying it, but still could justify in her mind why she should remain quiet, Gave a bit of a sigh herself.

“Alright.” She would just stay by her until she seemed to recover.

Irene held still for several minutes. Everything seemed to be going fine; perhaps she had finally calmed it down. However, shortly after that, with no prior warning the next pain wave sent her into flight with a shriek.

Shava fell back with this, “Irene!” She shouted after her, standing up. Spread her own wings and soon took off after her.

The flight would not take all that much longer before Irene’s wings just seemed to stop working and she dropped back to the ground. Luckily she had not reached that high of a flight level in the first place.

Gently landing and moving toward her, Shava spoke worriedly, “Irene…” A slight groan was all the response that she would get from the fallen gryphon. Very carefully Shava reached out to touch her, her own wings folding. A dark energy seemed to radiate from Irene, and Shava would receive a shock as soon as her hand came into contact with Irene’s feathers. With a surprised shout, she removed her hand quickly, “Irene, what’s going on with you?”

< No… > She was still determined to keep silent about this, but that was starting to get harder to do. On the bright side, she finally had a grip on this and the feeling began to fade. Shava just waited, watching her worriedly. Irene then fell silent as she worked to keep the pain away, the dark feeling gradually fading away with her success. Finally, she morphed back to her human form. She was in a somewhat seated position with her legs turned to the side rather than underneath her.

Shava had backed away about three feet after the shock, but once Irene had morphed back she came back over to her, “Are you okay?”

< Yeah, I am now. > Now that you are cooperating again… Her head was turned toward the ground still.

“Still don’t want to tell me what was going on? Why was I getting some dark energy from you?”

She sighed, < It’s better if I don’t say. >

“Of all the things I know of that has dark energy dealing with you, I can think of nothing else but the sword. Speaking of the sword, should I ask where it is?”

< It’s safe… >

“Irene… Cougar…”

Irene looked up at her, but said nothing at all.

“I am your friend, and I’ve been through my own troubles and adventures, you don’t have to worry about my safety.”

Irene didn’t say anything right away as if she was trying to keep her own resolve to keep quiet, but finally caved in, < It’s been with me… it’s a part of me… > It was the safest place she could think of to keep the Sword of Darkness, to make it a part of her.

“Oh no.” Shava realized what she was saying, “and with your magic lessening as the time comes, it’s breaking through isn’t it?” Leave it to darkness to cause more trouble for the woman.

Irene nodded slightly. That was exactly what was happening.

Shava sighed, “Why didn’t you tell me? I don’t know what I’m going to do with it in the end.”

< You don’t have to worry about it. >

“Oh?”

< The safest place yet will still be with me. It just takes a little effort to work this out. > She had gone to Netrana with this little issue and things were being worked out as they spoke still. It was a long process for the Spirit Animal to arrange the sword to be protected by a spirit.

“You want me to bury it with you?”

< You’ll never see it… >

“Still…”

< Still what? >

Shava sighed, “Need any help making sure it stays?”

< It’s staying… that’s not its problem. >

“What is its problem?”

<It’s strong willed of its own right. >

“Of course, what sword isn’t?”

As she didn’t exactly make it known about the Sword of Darkness’ tendencies, she decided that she shouldn’t really answer that question.

“So, just making sure you know its there?” Shava grinned a bit.

< No… > More like taking over. But having had this happen before to her, she knew how to handle it in order to keep it contained. That and a few thousand years of experience in keeping it in hiding helped too.

“Alright, probably doing things that evil things love to do.”

Irene just gave a slight nod. That would be an understatement.

“And I am expected to tell no one where this lovely sword is, right?”

< That is right. >

“Even your children?”

< No one but you knows where it is. >

“I mean, I’m not even allowed to tell your children, even when it’s absolutely necessary?”

< No one needs to know where it is. Should the one it’s destined to go to need it, they will find me. >

“Alright. I’ll just have something keep an eye on your grave.”

< The sword will be with me, not buried with my Earth form. >

“With your soul?”

< As you’d call it, yes. >

“I see, that’ll be interesting to track down.”

< Maybe. >

“Maybe?”

< To try and explain the Sahren now would take much longer than I have time to speak of it. >

“That I’ll leave up to Cayndra.”

< As she is one, yes, she’d be able to tell you of it. > Who better to ask about the Sahren than one’s own Spirit Animal as the Ninjetti took up one third of the Sahren.

“Should I head home?” Shava asked after a moment of silence.

< It’s your choice… I won’t stop you either way… >

“But do you want me to stay?”

< Actually… I think I’m going to head back in myself. >

“Alright.” Shava took her staff and waited until Irene was ready.

Slowly Irene got up from the ground and moved over to Shava and the two walked back to the house in silence. There was nothing at all uncomfortable about the silence. It comes with being close, as well as knowing the other’s circumstances, that one didn’t need to speak to be fine with another’s company. As they stepped up to the front of the house, Irene just lost her balance as if her legs just decided they no longer cared to support her anymore.
“Irene.” Shava said rather alarmed as she moved to catch her before she fell to the ground. Irene’s eyes had closed somewhat but she remained silent. She didn’t feel too limp in her hands, but she didn’t seem like she was able to regain any balance at all. Shava kept a hold of her, waiting to see if she would recover.

< … I think I’m fine… > Irene then tried to stand back up again, but just dropped back against her, unconscious this time.

Shava growled slightly and with the aid of a bit of magic, she got Irene into the house and onto her bed. Once she got her settled, she headed back out into the main room to let her sleep. Attributed the passing out to the struggle with the dark sword. Taylem had gotten up at his usual time and was disappointed to hear that Irene was asleep, having passed out earlier in the day. He did use a bit of the time to try and get the saddles ready for later on if she recovered.

Shava began to wonder if perhaps Taylem was pushing Irene too hard. It was understandable why he wanted to keep doing things with her, but perhaps it was getting too much, especially with this upcoming ride up the mountain. If Irene was well enough for the ride, she figured they would call her if they needed help.

Around 9:30 that night, shortly after the last light of day faded with the memory of the day’s sun, Irene began to wake. Taylem was waiting by the window in her room while Shava was out in the living room. Very carefully and without a lot of sound, Irene sat up.

He heard her and turned to look over, “Hey, you still have another night in you.” He smiled.

She gave a half smile to that, she did feel better than she did earlier that day with the struggle with the dark sword, but could still feel the tiredness in the back of her mind. < That I do. >

“Good. Not up for the ride up the mountain then?”

She moved to the edge of the bed.

“Alright. The sun just set so let’s get those horses ready.” He moved to help her up. They would then head out to the stables after saying ‘bye’ to Shava. Irene chose her mount and they tacked up the horses and soon led them outside. The weather was once again cooperative that night and the sky would be perfect for star gazing. “Ready?” Taylem looked over at Irene once the two of them mounted up.

He gave a nod and then started the horse into a walk at first and then moved into a trot. After a while at this pace he would ask, “How are you doing back there?”

< Doing alright. Feels nice to ride again. > It had been a long time since she’d ridden, but had not forgotten how.

“That’s good.” He smiled and fell silent again. Irene looked about their surroundings as they rode for a few more hours. Gradually they started to ascend and the trees began to thin.

< How far is it? > She asked once they began the ascent.

“Not too far. Shouldn’t take us more than a couple more hours.”

< Maybe I should have asked what your definition of ‘not far’ was the other night. > Irene grinned. When she heard ‘not far’ that tended to mean within a few hours rather than four or so.

He smiled, he was used to living in an area that the closest town was a full day’s ride away, therefore four hours was nothing in comparison. “Maybe. Unless you want to speed up?”

“Alright.” He kept the same speed. Soon enough the trees had entirely vanished and the night sky was no longer obstructed save for the mountains.

Once they had reached the clearing, Irene began looking upward as well as around during the ride. Again she didn’t mind the silent ride as it was to her at least a comfortable one.

In another hour or so he finally stopped his horse in an area that had a marvelous view of the night sky with the forest spread out below them in the darkness. The closest lights that weren’t stars were that of a distant town to the south.

She had stopped as well, < It is magnificent. > She dismounted while still looking about them.

He too dismounted and nodded, “Why I wanted to bring you here. How does this rival Morphera?”

< It does give it a run for its money. > She smiled as she kept looking skyward.

“That’s good.” I’ll have to get Shava to take me there some day… He leaned against the horse for a bit, but eventually moved to find a place to sit down. Once he’d found a spot, Irene would go over and join him. He remained silent, letting her enjoy the time. Every now and then they would see a shooting star streak across the sky. “Making a wish?” He would ask her after seeing one.

She smiled slightly, < Maybe. >

“I see you finally know some human ways, even after a few thousand years.” He smirked.

< Only a few. > Her smile turned into a grin.

“Oh well, too late to teach you the rest. Should have done it when I had the chance.”

She looked over at him, < And what would you have taught me that I have not picked up the last several thousand years? >

“How to have fun.”

A slight smile crossed her face, she knew full well that she was always busy with work and that she didn’t get much time to do anything else.

“Right, and I should have gone down there and when you weren’t busy, dragged you out to a club and gotten you drunk a few times. Then made sure you went home in the arms of a handsome young man.”

Irene just shook her head, With her tone, she didn’t sound like she was at all sorry she had.

He just laughed and fell silent. I should have moved down there, to show her how to have fun. By the sound of what she’s saying, it sounds like she worked all the time. I could have taught her how to relax. Maybe she would have enjoyed life a lot more. But she seems to be doing fine, and so long as she’s happy and not full of regret these last few days, I’ll be happy. During the silence, Irene had looked back up to the sky again as did Taylem. They would spend another hour or so like this before Taylem would stand up, “If we’re going to get back before sunrise, we should start heading back.”

< Alright. > Irene got up slowly, < Thank you for bringing me out here, it was lovely. >

“You’re very welcome.” He would then mount up onto his horse, waiting for her to do the same. She would mount up as well and would follow him down the mountain. The entire ride would be in an almost reflective silence, at least for Irene. There didn’t seem to be a need to talk, so why break the perfect quiet?

They rode into the stable area and dismounted. Taylem took his horse inside followed by Irene. Both would begin removing the tack and rubbing down their horses. Taylem did this quickly since day was about to break. Once finished he spoke up to Irene who was still working with her horse, having done this more slowly. “I have to get to bed. Have a good day Irene.” He went over to her and snuck a quick kiss to her cheek before heading into the house for the day.

She had said ‘sleep well’ to him before he had departed and continued to take care of her horse.

Day 5

As the sun began to rise, Irene was nearly finished rubbing down the horse and began to put the tack away.

Shava came out at this point, “Hey you.”

< Hello. >

“How was your ride?”

< It was good… a little long… but good. > She would be feeling that horse ride for a while.

“A little long?”

< It’s been awhile since I rode… any length of time on a horse is long for me. > She grinned slightly as she came back out from putting the tack away.

“I see. Thank you for taking care of my horse, hope he behaved.”

< Very well. >

“Good. I’m going to go practice.”

< Have fun. >

“See you when I get back.” Shava then headed outside, already having the weapons with her.

Irene headed inside the house to go sit down for a time. She spent the couple of hours sitting with her back against the couch and her eyes closed in a sort of mental relaxation.

After a few hours Shava returned back inside from her practice and silently slipped off to her room to shower and prepare for the day. Irene did not notice her entrance, just remained silent with her eyes closed. Once Shava finished up, she reemerged out into the living room where Irene was sitting, “How are you doing over there?” She then continued on over to the kitchen to fix herself breakfast.

Irene opened her eyes when she heard her words, < Alright… > Her mental relaxation had made her realize a few things now. There was more than one reason she had taken her time with the horse.

“Sure? Want or need anything?”

< No thanks… I’m fine. > She felt at ease actually, didn’t sound distressed or tired, nor did she look like she was any different from how she felt.

“Okay.” Shava finished up the small breakfast and sat down at the table to eat it. Neither said anything for a time though after she finished Shava spoke up, a bit of worry creeping back into her expression, “Is it behaving today?” Once everything was cleaned up from her meal she moved over to sit by Irene.

She looked over at her. Knew now what it was and it no longer bothered her.

“That’s good. Any other surprises you have for me?”

< Surprises? >

“Like the sword being a part of you, any other surprises like that?”

< Not that I’m aware of… little time left for them to surface. > She looked away from her. Even though she was fine with it now herself it was another matter to actually acknowledge it to a friend.

“How long do you think?” Shava asked solemnly, starting to catch the full meaning of Irene’s status.

She was guessing of course, she really didn’t know exactly when, but knew it was drawing near.

Shava nodded, “Want to be left alone or have one of us with you?”

There was something much more depressing about being alone than living out the last few minutes with someone there.

“Taylem will be here as long as he can.” Shava nodded and moved closer to her, taking her hand. “It’s okay, we’re here for you.”

Irene smiled, though the sadness stayed in her eyes, < Thank you. >

“Anything you want to do?”

Irene shook her head. There was little she had left that she did want to do. That and she didn’t think she could get up anymore either. Nothing hurt, but she could feel the small, gentle flame of her magic diminish along with the rest of her physicality.

Shava nodded, “Okay. Want me to do anything for you?”

Irene gave a slight smile, < Stop worrying about it Shava. You’ve done enough for me and I thank you my friend. >

Shava returned the smile, “I’m sorry, I worry. Just want you to be comfortable.”

She knew what it was to be a worrier, why she said what she did.

“Well this will be a fun day,” Shava said with some sarcasm, to try and lighten the mood.

Irene grinned, playing into it.

Shava gave a slight laugh, “That you do. Think you can move around?”

< Why? > The grin faded a little though.

“Just asking, if you wanted to get up and move around, get something… do something.”

< I’m fine. > She repeated, trying to get her friend to at least relax about this.

“Okay.” Shava got up and moved over to the bookshelves. After a moment she selected a book and brought it back with her. “How about a story? I think you might find this interesting.” Needed something to keep their minds off what was coming up more rapidly than she’d like.

Irene smiled a bit and just shook her head. She knew what she was trying to do, but was indeed curious as to what story this might be. < Alright? >

Shava sat down cross-legged in a chair in sight of Irene and opened the book to start reading. Across the front of the book was the title, ‘Time of Fate’.

Irene grinned as she caught sight of the title and the familiar words that Shava now read. It was part of her own story, her first wielder. She listened silently as Shava read, though would interject a few things here and there when she felt that something was missing or wasn’t quite correct. Shava would pause to hear the corrections and would then continue on with the story.

By around sunset the two were joined by Taylem as he emerged from his room, “Evening to two lovely ladies.” He would sit down by Irene.

Irene had not moved at all from where she had sat down earlier that day, she knew by this point that she would not be moving from that spot herself as she felt weaker physically. It would have been difficult to see this by her expression as she kept a light heart about it, listening to the sound of her friend’s voice as she read. She smiled at Taylem when he sat down, < Good evening. >

“Are you okay?” He looked worried, but when he looked over at Shava and received a look he knew that tonight was it. With the thought that Irene was going soon, he fell silent.

< I’m doing alright considering. > The smile never had left her face, though it had softened a bit by the knowledge that everyone knew what was coming.

He nodded, “Good.” Placing an arm around her, “What are you two up to?”

< Story. > She said and looked back at Shava.

“Story? What story?”

“Irene’s story, as it was written down elsewhere. However, she keeps interrupting me to correct it.” Shava smiled.

< Have to keep the facts straight you know. > Irene grinned in return.

“You want me to go take you to the writers and have you correct them?” Shava said teasingly.

Irene shook her head, < Writers are too defensive about their writings, I’ll let it be. >

“Alright.” And Shava continued reading as everyone fell silent to listen.

After the next interruption, Shava handed the book over to Taylem for him to read so that she could make dinner for herself. However, he would continue on with the reading as it helped him concentrate on something else. When he started reading, Taylem situated himself so that he was facing Irene, turned slightly with one leg bent on the couch while the other dangled off to the side. Later into the reading he would notice that Irene was having trouble, seeming to move every so often as if she had problems sitting. “You okay Irene?”

<…I think I need to lie down. > It was getting harder to keep herself upright now.

“Want to move into your room or stay out here?”

< Here is fine… > She didn’t want to burden them with trying to get all the way back to her room. Plus it was nicer out here, almost more friendly in her mind.

Taylem nodded and would set the book aside to help Irene lay down if she needed it.

< Thanks… > She would say after lying down. Taylem would sit down near by, waiting for her to settle before starting to read again. His voice was the only thing that would keep the heavy silence that threatened to consume them away. The story, it had seemed like so long ago to her. The Keeper of Hope; it was almost a fitting subject to be heard now. Hope is what kept people going. My friends, my family… that is what I have to give them… Hope, that one day all will turn out as my mentor had said. The thought of Zordon reminded her that she would soon be seeing him again, her teacher, her mentor, her father. It lightened her heart a bit more at the prospect.

Shava watched Irene throughout the reading, worry and sadness grew in her eyes as time passed.

Irene noticed this, seeing the sadness in her eyes. She didn’t want her to be pained over this,

< I’m not leaving your side Irene. I’ll be here for you until the last. >

Irene smiled, though it was slightly tinged with sadness,

< You are my friend, and I do not give up easily on my friends. >

< Thank you. >

Taylem noticed the two of them looking toward each other as if they were speaking mentally, and stopped reading. He wasn’t sure what was going on.

Shava got up to kneel beside her, taking her hand. “Just relax, everything will be fine. Want him to keep reading?”

< Take your own words to heart, friend. > Irene said only to Shava, and then in open thought speech, < Only if you wish to. > She had looked at Taylem when she said this,

“I’m fine.” And Taylem began reading once again.

< I’ll try, I’ll really try. > Shava replied back. Irene just squeezed her hand in comfort but said nothing in return. She just watched Irene, giving her a half smile and trying not to cry as they listened to Taylem read.

Gradually Irene began to feel a pleasant tiredness spread through her, her thoughts slowed to a near stand still. Her entire being was concentrated on her friends now though this began to get harder as she could hardly concentrate at all. This did not frustrate her any longer, she now welcomed it. Her very being wished to embrace it and let it wash over her, and therefore spoke again before she could no longer do that; wishing to give Shava comfort, < It’s not so bad. >

< We’re going to miss you. > It was the only thing Shava could say as the tears slowly slid down her face.

Irene gave a faint smile.

< True… but none-the-less it’s not a farewell… > She never did believe in saying goodbye. It was never the truth, even now; she’d see everyone again in one form or another. As her wise sister once told her, she’d always be there in the hearts and memories of her friends.

< You’ll come and visit when you have the chance right? Tell me if Netrana is getting her way? >

Another smile lit her eyes, Her thought speech voice was gradually getting softer.

Shava gave a nod, “Okay…” She squeezed her hand as Taylem again stopped reading.

This time she opened the thought speech to both of them, wanting to include Taylem in this as well, < Thank you… a world of difference friendships make… > She closed her eyes part way through her words. < Take care of each other. > And her grip on Shava’s hand released though a hint of a smile remained on her face despite the fact her eyes would open no more. Irene let the warmth enclose her, my existence in this world is not gone entirely, but greatly changed… “Come my kitten…” Netrana’s voice filled her being and she followed her home.

As the pressure on her hand slackened, tears flowed freely down Shava’s face. “Good-bye Irene.” She continued to kneel by Irene’s side, crying for quite some time. Taylem sat in the chair, the book still open in his lap. After a moment, he flipped to the last page and quietly read the words to himself. He reflected on them for a few moments, and then got up to put the book away. He slowly moved back over to Shava, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“You should get some sleep. It’s been a long day. We can start working tomorrow.” Shava lifted her head and nodded. She slowly got up and went to her room where she cried herself to sleep.

Taylem just watched her go, and when the door closed, he looked back down at Irene. He put both of her hands to rest on her chest and rested one of his on top. “May you have many new adventures and may they bring you great honor and glory. Travel safely my dear Lady Irene.” He gave a soft, but sad smile as he spoke. Standing there with a pause, he then went out to the stables and started digging. It took most of the night, but he found what he was looking for. Taking out wood cutting and wood carving tools, he set them aside near the front of the stables and then headed to bed as the sun started to rise.

Shava didn’t emerge from her room until late in the morning. She looked like she didn’t sleep well at all, and wasn’t ready to witness the sight that was to greet her in the living room. But it was there, Irene’s body laying there on the couch. With a deep sigh, she went over and made sure that the preservation spells were still working. I can’t have her stay here until Taylem gets everything ready for her. She wouldn’t want to remain inside all the time. The practice clearing, that should do. She would like that.

Shava gave a soft smile, and after a wave of her hand, Irene began to float off of the couch. Shava reached out her hand and her staff lazily floated over to her. She went over to the door, Irene’s body following. It was a simple walk through the forest, about 10 minutes until she came to the clearing. Moving to the center, she let Irene’s body settle down onto the soft grass. She knelt beside the woman, tears starting to form in her eyes. Looking down at her, Shava flicked her wrist and a dagger appeared in her right hand. Using her left hand, she let her hair down from the bun she had put it in. Holding parts of her hair in her left hand, she began to cut it, up to her shoulders.

As she cut, she spoke in an ancient language, but in common, turns out to be the following. “My dear friend and sister in battle, the Universe has taken you from us by the aid of a sword. This day, a mighty warrior of the Universe, one who struggled for Light in a world being surrounded by Darkness, has fallen. May your Light shine on in your children and in your friends. May your soul find its way to Paridar (closest translation is afterlife) and be content. Seek out those close to you, that you have lost, and be with them for eternity. Rest well Irene Lynn Stevens, you have done your part in the Universe, you deserve your rest.”

By the time she was done speaking, her hair was messily cut, but she didn’t really care. Having the dagger disappear, she got up and set up a few more spells to make sure that nothing would bother the body, except Taylem or herself. With the spells set, she gave a bow to Irene, and then left the clearing, going home. Shava remained around the house in a melancholy mood, just going through the daily motions in a slow manner.

Taylem emerged as the sun started to set, and noticed something wrong. “Where is Irene?” he asked Shava when he didn’t see the body.

“I put her in the practice clearing. I thought she would like being out there more than being stuck inside. I was also thinking about putting a sun shield up so you could work during the day.” Shava answered while she was going through her books. It was more than that; she was completely reorganizing by the looks of it, with books on the dining table and such, not in the bookshelves.

“Alright, I found the tools I need last night, so I can start right away.”

Shava nodded, “I’ll get the shield up tonight.”

Taylem then settled down to wait out the sun, though he safely emerged even when there was some light, though fading. He immediately grabbed an axe and saw then headed out into the forest to find the right trees to use.

Giving Taylem a couple of hours, Shava then grabbed her staff to go outside. She didn’t go far before she stopped. With her staff upright, the crystal at the top glowed. Closing her eyes, she concentrated, focusing on the type of shield she was making to help Taylem with his project. Nothing would look out of the ordinary in the sky, at least for now. When she was done, she simply went back inside, back to her project. Thank goodness I’m not at my castle. I would drive my staff insane by doing this, she thought to herself as she went back to work.

Taylem had found some trees that would be ideal for the coffin and started to cut down a couple trees just to start with, not wanting to cut down too many. Once he had the trees down, he started working on them to get the right sized pieces for the coffin. He obviously didn’t need many. It took him the rest of the evening just to get two of the longer pieces done.

When he did finish the two, he looked up to see the sky getting brighter and the stars fading. However, it looked different than it normally did, darker almost, as if there were clouds in the way, but there wasn’t. It took him a moment or two, and then he smiled: the shield. With that assurance, he was safe from the deadly sunlight. He then went back to work. Taylem seemed determined not to stop until he was done with this stage. He needed to feed, but right now this was more important.

As muted sunlight streamed through the trees and reached the ground, Taylem did pause. He slowly moved his hand through the beams of light, and then looked up into the sky. “My work is more important than your attempts to kill me. When this is done, I shall resume my banishment.” Satisfied, he sufficiently told the sun to go bugger off, and he went back to his work.

Close to noon, he laid down the last of the pieces, though quickly arranged them in their box to make sure they all fit. Satisfied with his work thus far, he quietly went out into the forest to hunt, only returning when he had his fill. It was a few hours before he returned, in which he looked at all the pieces. The rest of what he needed was at the house, so clean-up began. Taking as much as he could each trip, everything but the remnants of the trees went back to the house, being put over by the stables. Those tools he didn’t need went into the back, though he didn’t grab the wood carving tools just yet.

Going inside, Taylem didn’t find Shava there. Figuring she had gone off to do something else, he found some blank paper and a pencil. Heading back outside, he settled down on the ground and started sketching. There he worked the rest of the day and partially into the night on them, striving to get them close to perfect.

Shava had barely slept that night, not finishing her project until late into the evening. Come morning, she made sure the shield was working properly, but then set herself to a new task. Taylem is working on the coffin, but we still need the icetrium crystals for the grave marker. It would be too much to ask him to do that as well. She soon was ready to go, not leaving a note for Taylem as he knew better, and then headed out, but not through the front door.

She traveled far and wide in search for the crystal, and some that was the right size, after checking at the Sakomtrium. It was a difficult material to find. How the last of the army found so much after that devastating battle, she wasn’t sure. But she followed her leads, seeking the crystal. With the help of teleporting, the search went faster, only taking her the entire day.

When she returned, she placed the crystal outside, over by the stables, close to where Taylem had been working on the coffin.

“I see you brought something back,” Taylem gave a soft smile, looking up from his carving.

“Needed to get the grave marker. I’ll start working on it in the morning. You just keep working on the coffin.” Shava finally looked to see what he was working on. “What are you doing?”

“Carving images that relates to Irene. I wanted to put in a more personal touch.”

“I see. Well, I’m going inside. I’ll see you in the morning.” She then went inside while Taylem continued to work.

In the morning, Shava came back out, looking like she had more sleep. She found the tools she needed for the icetrium already out for her. She gave a smile to Taylem as he obviously got them for her, but she soon found a place nearby and started working.

The two silently worked, leaving only for rest or necessity, for two days. As Shava was carving the words into the grave marker, Taylem was nailing the coffin together, minus the lid. The coffin was covered in carvings. At the headboard was an image of a cougar laying on a rock beside a lake, sunning herself. On the footboard was a depiction of a sparring scene, primarily Irene and Shava in the heat of the fight. What would be Irene’s left while lying own was a hunting scene, showing the different stages of a cougar hunting down a deer. The right panel was a scene of the past, thousands of years. This showed the now destroyed base in the height of its power. It was placed on its hill and on the plain below was the army in its hay-day, busy practicing. However, towards one side there seemed to be an enlarged image of Irene and her friends back in the army, practicing their archery. All of them done in great detail.

Once it was finally put together, he ventured off to get Irene. Finding she had been untouched, he carefully carried her back to the house and placed her inside the coffin. When she was arranged as he wished, he carefully placed the lid on top and nailed it shut. The lid itself had Irene’s full name carved into it towards her head, but above it was another cougar, walking on top of the words, facing outwards. Below the words was an image of Irene, sitting down with her knees up, her hands laying on top of her knees and her head on her hands, also facing out.

With the lid secure, Taylem stepped back then looked back at Shava who was dusting off the now crystal cross. “Irene ‘Cougar’ Lynn Stevens, teacher to the Wielders of Hope and Chaos”. Shava placed the cross on top of the coffin while Taylem went into the stables and managed to find a shovel while Shava quickly cleaned up the area outside.

As the sun was just setting, they waited a little bit before teleporting to the Sakomtrium. It did not take long to find where Irene wanted to be buried, though they quickly cleared the area before Taylem started to dig. Not knowing how long this would take, Shava quickly set up another sun shield, though only around their immediate area. It took Taylem up until around noon the next day to dig the grave. Once he was done and climbed out, Shava used a bit of magic to place the coffin into the ground, which then Taylem started to cover it back up.

This took much less time, but once finished; they placed the cross at the top by her head. Smoothing out the ground, they stood there and looked at the final resting place of their friend. Shava then placed some flowers on the grave and gave a soft smile just as the sun was setting and the stars started to come out. Taylem looked up and smiled at them. I will see the skies of Morphera and see if your claim was true, he thought to himself. Standing there for a few more minutes in silence, the two them returned to the Canadian forest.

A day passed by in order to give themselves some rest, but soon Taylem mentioned the trip to Morphera to Shava. She thought about it for a moment or two, but nodded, agreeing to take him. After a few minutes of looking, she found a mountain with a clear view of the sky. With that, she took him there.

They appeared on top of a mountain, the sun having been down for about an hour or so. While it was the same number of stars, they just seemed more spectacular, brighter. It’s almost as if I could reach out and touch them, Taylem thought to himself. He just stood there, enthralled by the sky. Shava found herself a place to be comfortable, though did enjoy the sky as well.

They stayed there the rest of the evening, only going home as the sun started to rise. Taylem went to bed in a reflective mood, the images of the Morpheran sky still dancing in his mind’s eye. Lying in bed, feeling the draw of the death-like sleep his kind is known for, he stared at the ceiling. Just before he drifted off to sleep for the day, he thought to himself, Irene, you were right.