Back in a dark alleyway, there were shouts and laughs of several thugs, all of which were circling some winged creature crouched on the ground. Pah. He's not worth our time boss, one of them said, tossing the rock he held in his hand at the figure. A musical voice spoke, clearly the creature's. "Please. I have done no wrong to you or yours. Do not attack me so."

The boss, the biggest and burliest of the thugs, was holding a shining longsword. You are in my turf without my permission, elf, he spat, brandishing the broadsword. AND EVEN WORSE! You've brought a weapon into my turf. I think I'll keep this, along with your head, as a trophy, of your transgressions, he growled, raising the blade over his head, preparing to bring it down.

Aether Draka had always liked the City of Lanterns. No one ever seemed to bug her and the guards let her go about on her own without questioning her all the time. It was always night there too, so the shadows were always close. She had just dropped down from a near by roof top when a bout of noise reached her ears. She looked around the corner and saw the back of a group she had seen about this area a few times. They didn't bother her, but they normally didn't see her. But it seemed they were bothering someone else. At first, it seemed that they were going to leave... but things quickly changed.

AD shadow jumped so she was closer, and would be in full view when she moved. Then she started walking right toward them, casting the spell fear and letting the shadows cling to her as she moved. AD never opened her mouth, but let the shadows speak for her.

"Mortals..." A disembodied voice hissed, "Lend me your blood..." She had a blade in each hand then, both glinting bright silver against the black background of shadows. She rose her left blade slightly, flipping the blade over easily so it lay across the length of her arm.

At the entrance of the new person, the thug leader, as well as the entire group, turned. But that was a mistake that they should never have made. "By the Lord of the Air, you SHALL NOT KEEP MY BLADE!" There was a ringing sound, and the blade wrenched from the leader's hand, leaping back to the hand of the now erect avariel. A small grin graced his face. "You know, you might be wise to check your opponent before taking them on," he said, bringing the blade down with a swish as the leader turned.

The leader froze for a moment, then a thin line of blood trickled down from the top of his head down to his groin, before he split in two, the two halves flopping to the ground. There was a faint guttering light glowing around the male, and he smiled. "By the Lord of Air, justice has been done upon your leader. Anyone else?"

The thugs looked at each other with nervousness, and then back at the female on the other side. Apparently deciding the male was the lesser of two evils, all eight of them jumped on him, two of them flying back, missing an arm or a head. Another fell when they piled in on him, but they were slowly dragging him down, two of them having grabbed his wings from behind.

AD frowned and let the shadows stretch forward, hissing along the ground as she moved in. She walked right into the mass, ducking low and cutting along the backs of people's ankles, severing the Achilles tendons and making it imposable to them to ever walk again. Two fell and she rose to step over them, parrying a blade not really aimed at her and kicking one of the fallen men's blade away from him.

She then had to duck to avoid being sliced in half by Aurikos' blade. The man who's blade she had parried noticed her then and this time aimed at her. She jumped back and looked at the battle. "Turin. Get your friend and get out here." She snapped and took another step back. She wiped her blade off on one half of their leader’s shirt before sheathing her blades. Then the tiny fly dragon zipped out of AD's bag and into the air, where almost immediately Magic Missiles fell upon those attacking Aurikos. Moments later a small black flying ball of black fluff followed and it cast inflict minor wounds on a man who was raising his blade high and aiming for one of Aurikos' wings. As they did so, AD withdrew her wand and waited a moment to see if it would be needed.

Aurikos was kneeling, his blade forgotten beside him, and there was blue blood dripping from his wing and several other gashes on his sides. He grimaced, and shook his head. "That didn't go at all well," he murmured, flexing his wing and cringing. "Ow. That bastard caught one of my flight tendons."

He grimaced, and stood slowly, his right leg running blood from a sizable gash above the knee. He looked over at her for a moment, before bowing slightly and fluttering his uninjured wing. "Thank you. If you hadn't come along when you did, I might be dead now, instead of them." He grimaced at all the blood dripping off of him, and then looked at her again. "It would seem I owe you a life debt. If you will have me, I would like to make it up to you. May I accompany you as your guardian?"

It wasn't long before she saw that her wand would not help any and slipped it back away. The man, she saw, was no normal man. He looked like an elf, but he had wings… He was more elven then she was, that was for sure, but was he part celestial? She wasn’t sure and she didn’t know if he was demonic or not. AD decided that it would be better to be safe then sorry, and as long as they were in this place of eternal shadow she would be able to leave when ever she wished. There was no threat to her. She didn't move at all for a moment as he rose to his feet and bowed to her. Turin circled once and lighted on her shoulder. She stayed silent for some time, simply looking at him, studying him. Then, after a moment, she had made up her mind about something and frowned.

"Turin, heal him please. It would be a shame for such lovely wings to be rendered useless." AD loved to fly, true flight, but she had no wings of her own in which to fly. She knew others who flew though, and she loved the feeling of it, the strength and power of flight. In her mind, the worst thing that could happen to anyone was to have wings and not be able to fly… so, in a blink of an eye, the tiny fly dragon had zipped over and started to heal the wing injury with his magic. AD reached up her hand and the little black ball of fluff landed in her palm. She brought the little Chipicana down close to her and pet it with the index finger of her other hand. Only after Turin had finished with the injured wing and moved to heal his leg did she draw her attention back to him and what he had said.

"I think I am capable of taking care of myself, thank you. You can hang around if you want to, but if I vanish, you are not going to be able to find me." AD finally said. She didn't quite know what he was talking about, but she didn't like telling people what to do. And if he wanted to pay her back some how she didn't mind. She was sure she could think of something after all. As for what that would be? She hadn't a clue.

When the fly dragon was done, he flexed his wing, and then muttered a thank you, before reaching back, and plucking a single feather from his wing with a cringe. Turning, he held it out to her. "I can tell that you are a summoner. Here. If you ever have need of me, this should allow you to summon me." He smiled, and then picked up the sword which he had dropped. It was an elegant blade, well made, but not as well as if a master craftsman had made it. Slipping it back into the scabbard at his waist. Bowing slightly, he smiled. "Again, I thank you. I am Aurikos. And before you ask, I am an Avariel. Well, a FALLEN Avariel, anyway." He sighed, and then shook his head. "Thank you, again."

((OOC: a bit shorter then I would like... -_- ))

AD signaled to Turin by lifting up her right hand, palm up, and curling her fingers slightly so they only partly hid the thin white scar across her palm. The fly dragon zipped into the air and caught hold of the feather he offered. Both the feather and Turin lighted in her offered hand. She brought both down to in front of her. She took the feather from Turin, who then zipped back into the air and landed on her shoulder. She looked at the feather, spinning slightly. She then shrugged and looked up at him. "I don't know how you would know if I can summon or not, but I wouldn't be able to summon you anyways. I'll see you around perhaps then."

AD turned and started to walk back to the main street, absently stepping over a few dead members. She couldn't stay here. Bodies left laying around like that rotted quickly and she despised the smell of rotting meat. It made her stomach turn... She was looking at the feather, spinning it very slowly between her fingers. Would she be able to summon him? She would have to look it up. So she needed somewhere to sit for a bit. Roofs were good for that... She thought to herself, still looking at the feather as she strolled slowly toward the alley's entrance.

Something ripped at him, and he called out. "WAIT!" He started down the alley after her, his wings fluttering slightly, and then he took to the air, flying being quicker than walking. "I don't suppose you like to fly, do you?" he asked as he floated along beside her, his wings flapping gently. His eyes, despite being jet black, sparkled slightly once they left the alleyway, and now that they were slightly out of the shadows, a hand carved wooden holy symbol could be seen hanging around his neck, one that identified him as a follower of the Lord of Air, Ahren.

He smiled. "By the way, was that a fly dragon I saw? Very rare. You don't see those often, even as an Avariel."

(((Gah. REALLY short.)))

She had started to think about other things as she was leaving, like if she might be able to get a sheath for her newest blade. She hadn’t been able to find one for a good price for her double-bladed one though, and she was rather upset about that. She would have to get one custom made if she wanted a decent one that wasn’t simply a sheath fit over each end. Did they have a place to get custom made leatherwork here?

“WAIT!” AD froze, startled by the shout in the quiet that surrounded them now that the attack was over. She half turned to see him take to the air, his wings had heeled well, and she was glad. Though AD didn’t recognize that what he was wearing around his neck was anything special… but she thought she recognized it. She would have had a chance to remember that that was the symbol of the God who had introduced her to Shadowdanceing, if he hadn’t mentioned flying. Her heart felt like it leapt in her chest and she was unable to answer right away. She adored flying. The thought of someone having wings but being unable to fly was the worst thing she could imagine for anyone. She was without wings though… but she knew how flying felt. She had been raised by a dark winged angel she had called Raven but the meaning behind the word, for her at least, was the closest she was ever going to have to Father. She would love to fly, though it wasn’t jealousy. She was never jealous because someone could fly. Instead she felt very happy for them, letting her mind and body remember what it was like to fly with those who had taken her into the air with them. There was such a feeling of just raw and simple power behind true flight and a feeling of defiance that came from no longer being planet bound.

“I don’t see what being an Avariel has to do with fly dragons. I’ve only met one other besides Turin in all of Imythess. He found me though, so I don’t know where you could find one.” She shrugged and looked up and the forever night above them. “And no, I don’t like to fly. Like doesn’t fit it… I’m not sure what does though, more then just like…” She let out a wasteful sigh and started to turn back to her search for a leather shop that might do custom work. She never asked those with wings to take her flying… last time she had done that he had died.

His face crinkled slightly as he smiled. "Like doesn't really describe, eh? Would enjoy fit better?" he asked quietly, his brilliant, golden-hued eyes, the only part of him that wasn't dark, twinkling slightly. Now that the light was clear, his pants, though once of fine quality, were slightly tattered from the knees down, as though he had traipsed through heavily overgrown underbrush and low shrubs.

He shook his head, and sighed, his eyes crinkling more as they shut. "Flying... I'm guessing that you have done so, so I need not try to explain it to you... but the feeling you get... like you no longer belong to the earth below you, but to the skies above you."

Grinning, he had an idea. "I think I've figured out how to begin repaying you for saving me." With no further preamble, he stepped forward, scooped her up in his arms, and took to the air once more, this time climbing as he cradled her carefully in his arms.

Aether Draka found herself looking over at him again with a puzzled look on her face. She didn't think enjoy really worked either. No, it wasn't the right word... she wasn't sure what the right word would be. It was more then that… She was going to have to think about it some more probably. She did like how he explained it though. Belonging to the sky… How would that really be like? She let her gaze go to the sky again, thinking about it. Belonging to the sky, never having to be on the ground and feeling free, weightless… But there was still a strength, a power behind flight. Having wings and being able to lift of the ground, to so effortlessly take to the air and defy the very forces that kept one earthbound. It was...

"I think I've figured out how to begin repaying you for saving me."

Then she felt her feet swept right out of under her and she instinctively grabbed hold of Aurikos with a squeak. She wasn't frightened, just startled. She hadn't been given enough time to think about what he had said and what it meant. She figured it out soon enough and let her head come up from where she had hid it against the inside of his shoulder when she had no longer had her feet on the ground. For a single moment she was reminded of Raven and it was something that made her very happy instead of the anger she had toward the celestial for leaving her on her own and letting her be caught up in the doings of demons… weather he knew it or not, Aurikos did look quite a bit like the black winged angle she had known when she was little. There was a difference though. Aurikos didn’t seem to have that wall between him and she, like Raven had. It also didn’t hurt to be near him. Raven’s holy aura had hurt to be around… though she now knew it was because she had demonic blood, more demonic then celestial. No, she couldn’t talk about that… AD didn’t realize she had been studying him, searching his face with her emerald eyes in an attempt to figure him out. Why did he seem both strange and familer? It was a bit frustrating, though she had managed to forget all about the reason she had come here to begin with.

Aurikos grinned when she squeaked, smiling as he climbed higher above the lights of the city. "You don't have to hold so tight," he said with a soft chuckle. "I'm not going to drop you," he said, looking out in front of him. His wings flapped steadily but somewhat slowly, but he didn't worry about falling himself. There was still a bit of warm air current rising from the city streets below, which seemed like a giant hand that caught his wings and lifted them still higher.

As they gained more and more height, the sky above them became more and more clear, more and more of the stars showing as the light below them dwindled. He gestured outward with his chin. "This is one reason I enjoy flying at night. You can see the stars as clearly as if you were out in the middle of nowhere, staring up at the night sky," he said softly, his voice taking on an altogether different tone than what had been there mere minutes before.

He sighed, and stopped, hovering in place, his wings moving in figure-eights as he hung there, between earth and sky, between mortals and gods, if you will, and shook his head. "And yet, doing so reminds me sometimes of what we mortals rarely attain: the status of a god. Those who look down on us poor mortals in our suffering, and seem to strike at us even when we are down." At this point, his voice hardened, but his grip on Aether did not tighten at all.

She saw him looking up and let her eyes follow where he was looking. The stars? They were different then where she was from, but they were the same as she remembered. Why was he talking like that? Then, his tone changed when he spoke of Gods and Mortals. AD sighed softly, her eyes dropping from the sky to Aurikos' face once more. "I've only met one God and he taught me my Shadowdanceing, or at least set me on that path. He wasn't the God of Darkness though. He was the God of Nature... but, but I think I understand what you mean. I think Lynthaer understands too, which is why we band together, to protect ourselves..."

She closed her eyes and rested her forehead on his shoulder. She didn't want to talk about things that were sad. Instead she focused her attention of the comforting feel of the air moving around them with every beat of his wings and the sound of it. She could also feel the muscles move and the power in that movement, the power needed in that movement to be able to carry not only himself but also her. It was that feeling, that feeling right there, that had made her feel safe when she was little. Nothing could hurt her. The smell though, the smell was different. Raven had a clean sharp smell. Lynthaer had a deeper smell, one lingering with fire and brimstone and death. Aurikos smelled different... He smelled more alive. He smelled of the wind and the earth and she still smelled some of his blood left on his skin from his injury even though it was mended now. It was a richer scent, but a little sharp from the wind. It was different. AD decided she liked it and added the scent unconsciously to that feeling of safety created by Aurikos' flight.

He shivered slightly as she spoke, as if returning from a world entirely his own. Was it a trick of the light, or had his eyes just turned ebony for a few moments as he had spoken about the gods? It could have been the moon, it could have been the way his wings were moving... Or could this pillar of right and good, the EPITOME of how far a being could fall and still be brought back to the light, be reverting to the darkness that had claimed him in his long distant past?

He raised an eyebrow. "Lynthaer? A friend of yours?" With a minimum of effort, he began to move again, this time merely gliding and catching the updrafts, The banding together bit had caught his interest, but the name seemed to ring a long forgotten, overly dusty bell in his memory. He smiled. "Not that it matters. If you trust him enough to know what he understands, then that's good enough for me." He smiled at her for a moment, and then looked down. "Whoops. That's the edge of the city." He shrugged, an almost rocking motion going through his arms as he held her. "Feel like turning back?" he asked, the soft tone of voice once more.

"Yes, Lynthaer is a very good friend of mine. We have a guild that I help him run. It's fun, but then he went and vanished on me. He came back, but something is different with him I've been meaning to talk to him about it..." She wondered then if she should mention that Lynthaer was a demon? No, she probably shouldn't.

If Aurikos did have angel blood then his first instinct might well be to attack her best friend. She hopped though that he wasn't like others. She had enough trouble when Gregory and Lynthaer met, when she had met Gregory in fact... that didn't seem the same though. She was still mad at Gregory though. So what if Lynthaer killed their father? It was wrong to break a promise. Words had to mean something while everything died eventually, by someone's hand or not... She knew she would die, it wasn't something she would worry about though. What was the point? Souls came back again anyways, nothing was really lost. Gregory should know that...

Then Aurikos asked if they should head back and she was confused. As far as she was concerned, the moment they were above the city, it had been left behind. She didn’t have a place in mind to go, she could go where she wanted when she wanted after all. Well, almost.

"Why would we turn back? Do you want to?" Worry flickered across her eyes as she looked from one of his eyes to the other. He didn't want to land, did he? She didn't, she liked flying... Besides, if she ever wanted to go back to somewhere she had been, the shadows knew the way and she could be there in a thought.

((OOC: If you want, we can end this thread and start a new one that is more current in AD's time line. I have a wonderful starting post, if you want to that is! ^_^ ))