Shadeen wandered around the jumping arena, picking up fallen poles and placing them back on their cups. As she finished rearranging the layout she kept an eye on Fury, her beloved gelding. He wandered contently through the grass arena, chewing on the dewy treat. His golden coat glowed from the brushing Shadeen had given him this morning; Shadeen’s own hair was tied up in a pony tail high on her head. Shadeen smiled and went back to work, draggin unused poles out of the ring and into a pile. Extra stands were also left outside the ring as well as a few boxes of extra cups.

It was still early and the sun was low on the horizon, giving off a still orange glow. Already the day was hot and sweat beaded on Shadeen’s exposed skin from the work. She wore simple clothing for the work. A white t-shirt covered her upper body, the sleeves had been torn off and that shirt was stained with dirt. She wore a pair of shorts, or trousers that had been cut mid thigh. They were light material so Shadeen wouldn’t get over heated. The day was cloudless and the sky shone a brilliant blue. The lack of blockade from the sun could have been part of the reason for the heat. For Shadeen, however, the day was perfect. The few apples tree that grew wild around the farm were budding and a flowery smell filled the air.

Shadeen hummed as she worked; content with her new home and new life. She mentally went over the course she had created and reminded herself to mention the idea of a horse show to Fios, her friend and house mate. Shadeen was fond of the man despite the charges against him. She had vowed to keep his identity to herself and still stayed loyal to the promise.

Fios was in the stables, finished putting on Seer's bridle. The horse stood quite still, as Seer was a patient horse, at least, a little more then what most horses were, but normally a horse had to be patient when waiting to go into battle, but then, during those times, it was also nerve-racking. When the bridle was on, the former knight bent down and checked the horses bracers on its front legs, then stood up again, grabbing the reins and leading the horse out and towards the jumping arena where Shadeen was picking up poles.

Fios remembered when he first met the young human. It was a nice day, but grim in his standards. It was a long while ago, and he was very down in spirit those days, always feeling grim, always looking over his shoulder. No, he was more relaxed, but he still often looked over his shoulder, or even in the sky. One would when going through a war and with a sky full of dragons.

He shuddered and banished the thoughts from his head, and tried to stick to cheerier thoughts.

He made it into the jumping arena, and saw Shadeen ahead. He stopped then climbed easily into the saddle on Seer, then nudged the horse in the sides with his heels, and the horse, jumped into a canter, then slid easily into a gallop. He directed the horse to the closest jump. They reached it, Fios leaned close to his horse neck, then the large, but slender horse jumped over it, not even touching the jumps poles or rope, and landed on its feet, and went back into a canter. Grinning slightly, Fios directed the horse towards Shadeen.

"I don't think I can ever get sick of jumping over those." He said, and stopped Seer a little ways from Shadeen.

He was so happy when Shadeen had allowed him to work on her farm, mainly because she knew what happened to him, she knows that he was charged with murder, but she kept it a secret, he was happy that she hasn't told anyone. Fios works here happily, even if he would prefer to be out there helping more people, he knew working on a farm a much safer then being out in the world, and sides, it was nice not having to go out to Norwood and always running into little human bandit boys who always seemed to want Fios to train them, but he helped them, he could never let anyone go when they were in trouble.

"I was thinking of going into town today to get a few things. Is there anything you need?" The elf asked.

Shadeen dropped her pole and clapped as Fios and Seer cleared the jumping poles. She had always admired the warhorse, so calm and well trained. Still she wouldn’t trade in her beloved Fury for the world. He had lifted his head when Fios had entered but was now calming eating once again.

“You and Seer look good. Real show material.” Shadeen let a sly smile slip onto her features. “Which reminds me… I think we should hold a show here. I mean we have the room, and we could also do a 3 day event type deal. Well without the cross country.”Shadeen looked up at Fios hopefully. She liked to have the elf’s opinions on things and she didn’t really think of the farm as hers… she thought of it as theirs. “So what do you think? It’ll take a little work but I think we can pull it off.”

Shadeen reached down and picked up the pole she had dropped earlier and started to put it on the pile as well. She surveyed her work, she only needed to set up two more jumps and her circuit would be done. After that she could turn Fury out into the pastures and then she’d have the day to herself to do mindless chores. She loves the farm life.

As she surveyed she thought of what they might need in the market.

“We’ll probably need some more food for dinner. I’d say just pick up some bread and beef, maybe some apples for the horses too. I’d have to check inside to see what we’re really running low on but I can do that later.”

“You and Seer look good. Real show material.”

He grinned slightly. Shows. Fios didn't quite see himself and his warhorse going into those, it'd be fun, but he'd rather not. He listened to her talk about wanting to have a show here. He looked at her a moment, looking thoughtful, then up and glanced at the jumping arena they were in. He smiled slightly. It would be fun, something new and exciting. He looked back at Shadeen.

"I think we should try it. It shouldn't be that hard, if it is... well, I've had worse." He said, smiling somewhat cheerfully. Nothing was worse then running for your life. "I'm sure theres a lot of people out there who likes running horses through jumping courses. I know I do." He said, and laughed slightly.

He patted Seer on her neck as he listened to her again. Bread, beef, and apples for the horses. Easy enough to remember, if not, Seer would remind him somehow, she loved apples, her ears even perked up when the word apple went by.

He nodded to Shadeen.

"Alright. I'll get that for now. I can go back tomorrow if need be." He said, and was ready to go.

Shadeen couldn’t agree more. Jumping horses was her favorite pass-time by far. The wind in her hair and the sun on her back, the feeling of flying, in her opinion, nothing could beat it. Shadeen just nodded along with Fios when he talked about it, her mind already wandering to the time when she rode Fury over the jumps herself.

Shadeen was happy that Fios had agreed to the idea of a show. She turned and looked over her work, realizing she had just dropped the last pole her needed Shadeen wiped her hands off on her shirt. ”That covers that,” She said the words more to herself.

”Sounds like a fair idea to me.” Once Fios left Shadeen (assuming he left) made her way over to the old shed by the ring. She didn’t know what to do with it and considered just tearing it down. She pulled her hair tighter in the ponytail. There were still items in the shed and she thought today would be a good time to remove them.

”I’ll just put Fury away first,” Shadeen grabbed a lead rope and made her way over to the golden horse.

Fios left soon after talking to Shadeen and was riding down the rode to town, passing the darker figure without much notice...

Fehade rode Evier, slouched in the saddle, bent over more then normal, Fehade is usually sitting tall and proud a top his horse, now, he seemed down, and angry. He wore his cloak, the hood over his face, but his red eyes told it all. He was ticked, either he woke up on the wrong side of the bed, or someone made him angry as hell, either way, no one would want to tell him no, or to even try to pick a fight with him. Evier felt her master angry, and was tensed up.

Fehade went towards the stables to let the fools take care of his horse while he got some things finished, and while he met with Mara, and he heard of this place, and he decided it would be best to let humans take care of his horse. He flicked his eyes to the elf that rode a grayish horse down the road, but they instantly flicked back to the road ahead of him.

He made it into the Meadow View Stables, and stopped his nightmare, and looked up and around, and spotted a young human, and he snapped his reins on his horse rump, to get it moving, and he went towards the human girl, and as Evier moved, he slid from her back and landed on the ground lightly, and led Evier to the woman where he stopped.

"You there, girl, you work here? I need you people to take of my horse while I'm gone." Fehade said, and not in the nicest of voices.

Shadeen didn’t look up as the man spoke. Instead she simply hooked the lead rope unto Fury’s halter and said, ”My name’s Shadeen, not girl. And I own this place.” Still not looking she stroked Fury’s fur before she turned and finally faced the man. Something about him struck her as familiar but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. She stared at him as she walked by, puzzled.

”I just have to put my horse away and then I’ll be right with you okay?” Without really waiting for an answer Shadeen opened the rope gate and walked Fury through it and into the stables. While inside she took her time putting hay in his stall and taking off his halter. She should have turned him out into the pasture but something made her leave him in the stall.

As she was heading back outside she stopped at the entrance, suddenly struck with a memory. It was a while ago now, she couldn’t remember when. The first few days after coming to Imythess, or was it the first few weeks? She had just met Zehavya the Demon Huntress, and this was... her half-brother... something? Shadeen couldn’t remember.

She came out of the barn and walked up to the man, demon, thing, and stared at him. He was familiar enough to be the same man from the ruins. ”What was it you wanted again?”

”My name’s Shadeen, not girl. And I own this place.”

Shadeen? Damn, that name was so familiar, why couldn't he remember it? It seemed to be a long ago memory, but then, just there, waiting for him to remember. He stared at the girl for long moments, trying to piece together where he he heard that name before. Then it clicked. The ruins. Zehavya. A elf boy. And the girl, Shadeen. Anger smoldered inside him at the thought of Zehavya, and then, the idea of the wench even having "friends". When one thought about it, the hunter was just like Fehade. Hungry for power, bad attitude, hates their family, and wants everyone to stay the hell away from them.

”I just have to put my horse away and then I’ll be right with you okay?”

He sighed, already impatient. Even Evier grew impatient and stamped her hoof on the ground. He looked at Evier a moment, then glanced to where the girl Shadeen went. She was taking long, and with each passing second, it made the demon grow in a worse mood. When she finally came back, he glowered at her, red eyes bursting with annoyance.

”What was it you wanted again?”

"I need you to watch Evier while I run some errands that don't require a horse." He snapped, as a breeze blew the hood off his face, his features showing more clearly, except for the shadow that always seemed to shadow his features. The tiefling looked different, not his normal self with red leathery skin, but he held a different form right now. He seemed taller, but he was slouched over. His hair was longer, and in a shaggy style now, instead of its spikiness and his skin was alarmingly pale.

"Will you watch my horse now? Or are you going to make me wait even longer?" He asked coldly.

((OoC: Writer’s Block))

Shadeen watched him, every bone in her body was screaming at her not to trust him, and in truth she didn’t. She also didn’t want anything to do with his Nightmare or the Tiefling himself. She just wanted to get rid of him and make him leave and take his horse with him. What errands could he run where a horse was a burden? Shadeen knew that if she tried she could think of some but told herself there were no errands where a horse wasn’t welcome just to give herself a reason to get rid of the man.

”I know you. You’re Fahad? No that’s not right...” Shadeen tried to remember the name Zehayva had told her that one time but she couldn’t quite recall, which she found odd since she had remembered the name for the longest time. But she supposed over time the memory had faded and with it the reality of the encounter... and now she was on the brink of another one. She gave up on the name and just continued.

”I’m sorry but there’s just no room,” She lied. ”So if you could just leave now that’d be great.”

Fehade continued to watch the girl, growing more and more unamused. His eyes dimming with anger, and impatience. Fehade tilted his head towards his nightmare, the beautiful black horse stood there, keeping its black eyes trained on Shadeen, looking just as annoyed as its owner.

”I know you. You’re Fahad? No that’s not right...”

He closed his eyes lightly in annoyance. He hated it when people called him by the wrong name, and that didn't help with the mood he was in. "Its Fehade... Not 'Fahad'." He snapped, eyes opening again, glaring at the young girl. Then she rejected his horse, saying there was no room. He clenched his hand int to a fist, his left one crackling with dark magic. "Wrong thing to say, sweetheart." He hissed, a strange look glinting through his red eyes.

"I can tell when little humans lie." He said, walking towards her in nice long strides, and was looking down at her with a smirk on his face. He flick his hand slightly, letting his unholy aura grow stronger, then used his spell cause fear. He lifted his right hand the rested it on Shadeen's head, then ran his fingers through her hair, before grabbing a handful of it, and yanked her head back.

"A shame... if you had just agreed I would have let you off easy." He hissed.

Shadeen backed up when he spoke those words:

"I can tell when little humans lie."

She shook her head slowly, still backing up a few paces. “No I’m not... I’m not lying,” With the spell she was trembling, trying hard to hide it. She couldn’t understand why she was so afraid, but the images of what Fehade had done last time she met him flashed through her head. If it hadn’t been for... for... something... she didn’t know what had happened exactly, she probably wouldn’t have made it out alive. But now she had no Zehavya, no Magic, no sword, she had nothing.

“Look I—“ It was all she managed to get out before Fehade grabbed her hair. Shadeen let out a yelp and struggled to get free. Her hands found Fehade’s skin and she started scratching, digging her nails in. “Let me go!” She twisted in his grasp, but she seemed to only manage to get herself more tangled in the deal.

Shadeen started kicking her legs, she aimed in Fehades general direction but it was awkward with her head yanked back. All she could see was the sky. Shadeen started to get dizzy, her vision swam before her. She was so scared of what would happen.

“Let.

Me.

Go.”

Shadeen grabbed his hand with both of hers and tried twisting violently again. Tears threatened to spill over her lids but she bit them back. The combined spell and pain was enough for Shadeen to not even think things through. Her only thought was ‘get loose’. But it seemed to be failing miserably.

When he yanked her head back, she started clawing at his skin, but because of his demonic infused, nothing like nails or needles could prick his skin, even normal sword could barely hurt him. She then started kicking at him, he growled in annoyance, then in a quick motion he kicked her legs out from underneath her so se would fall to her knees, but no further for he held her hair tighter.

“Let.

Me.

Go.”

He smiled. She tried to jerk is hand away, but as she did, he only ending up yanking her hair again. "I suggest you stop fighting, girl, or you'll only get hurt worse." He smirked slightly at the idea. Pain was always good, no matter who was the one feeling it. He then looked up, searching, then his eyes rested on the old shed. A cruel smile slid onto his face. He glanced towards Evier. "What do you think, my nightmare?" He asked, and the horse, seeming to understand bobbed its head up and down, its eyes seeming to gleam with fire.

"Come now, Shadeen. Your a friend of my sisters, I guess I should treat you with the same respect a I do her." He said, sneering. He then started walking towards the shed, pulling the girl along by her hair. "Lets go play... with fire."

Another cry of pain passed her lips when he yanked back her hair a second time. She sat on her knees, wanting to stare at the ground, but the way Fehade had his hand buried in her hair made it impossible. She gazed up at the sky and tried her best not to even look in Fehade’s direction. Her blinks were slow, paused for a few seconds when closed before they opened again. She was wishing herself away and it wasn’t working.

"What do you think, my nightmare?"

Shadeen twisted to see what Fehade was talking about. “What?” She tried to look at where he had been looking but she couldn’t seem to get the right angle or something because nothing seemed to come into her view. “What does he think of what?” Panic was rising in Shadeen’s voice as she twisted and turned, her head aching from Fehade’s hand. She moved around and finally spotted the shed. She didn’t know what Fehade was thinking but she knew that was where he was taking her.

True to her suspicion Fehade started dragged her by the hair. Shadeen couldn’t fight while moving, instead she held her hair with one hand trying not to have it all pulled out. She scrambled across the ground trying to keep up with Fehade’s pace.

“Lets go play... with fire."

“What!?” Shadeen reared back. A new strength was found in her and she bucked and kick on the ground, desperately trying to get away from the shed. She clawed at his arm. It only seemed to manage to get her more hurt.

He ignored the girl as she spoke, wanting to know what he planned. As he went, she scrambling along. He smirked. It would be a shame, really, she was a pretty girl, and if she ever survived the flames, well, she wouldn't be the prettiest thing anymore, but it would teach the girl a lesson, one to not ever, mess with demons. They were close to the shed now, when Shadeen reacted to what he said.

She reared back, and tried to get away. He stopped and jerked her head sharply, almost how one would do with a dog and a lease to keep it from going after someone. He glared at the girl. "Now, now, dear girl, the sooner I get this over with, the sooner it will be over for you." He said, and continued on his way, ignoring her clawing, though, he wasn't happy when his black sleeve got ripped by her fighting.

He reached the shed, and opened its door. While still holding her, he looked in it, to see all that was in here, just normal things a ranch would have. Not much, but better then anything. He looked at Shadeen a moment, thinking a moment, he then reached down with his left and, that was still covered in dark magic, and he grabbed her around the waist, then threw her in the shed, and he stood in the door way, watching her a moment.

"I think... we need some rope." He said, now talking to himself instead of to Rraezanon. He looked to the corner of the shed, and saw some rope, and he reached over taking it in his hands, then looked to Shadeen again. "Turn around and put your hands behind your back. I can't just leave you in here untied."

“What if I don’t want it to be over for me,” Shadeen almost whimpered as Fehade dragged her along. She was on the verge of giving up but part of her still screamed and clawed and told her to keep fighting, just keep fighting. It would do her no good if she died.

Shadeen flew through the air, Fehade had seemed to have unused an inhuman strength to throw her. Now her waist burned with pain from where he had grabbed her, and her body ached with the effort of fighting, her hands cramped from clawing, her head pounding from being knocked around, and her spirit... nearly defeated. She hit an old bag of feed that had been no good and so she had tossed it in here until she could do something with it. Now she crashed into it and it winded her. Shadeen let out a strangled sound as she crumpled to her knees, face almost in the dirt.

When she raised her head she saw Fehade blocking her only escape. She was a pitiful sight now. Her hair fell in tangled around her face, matted at the top from where Fehade had grabbed her. Her face was smudged with dirt. Finally she started to cry, tears trailing down her cheeks. She didn’t sob or make any other noise, she just sat and stared at Fehade as drops rolled down her face.

When he ordered her to turn around with her hands behind her back she sniffled and shook her head slowly, wiping away the tears with the back of her hand as she did so. Even with the small show of defiance she rose and turned to face the back of the shed, putting her hands behind her back.

“What will you do to me?”

“What if I don’t want it to be over for me,”

He laughed, a cruel sound coming from the tiefling, that almost seemed inhuman to hear through the air. He looked at the young girl, a cruel smile twisted on his face. "Oh, believe me, you will." He said, laughing. When in the shed, and he hand the rope in his hands, he watched the girl as she looked at him, crying, and it only seemed to make Fehade happier to see the fear, his anger slowly seemed to disappear, with only the thought of being cruel.

“What will you do to me?”

He smiled, and walked towards when she turned her back to him, doing as he ordered. He began to tie the rope around her wrist and not to gently either, and he made sure it was pretty tight. He then knotted it.

"Don't worry. Not much." He said, the laughter that seemed to be in his voice was clear. When he was finished tying her, he turned her around roughly, and pushed her against the sheds back wall, his hand at the base of her neck. With his other hand he rushed a strand of Shadeen's hair behind her ear, then leaned close to her, so his breath touched her face.

"No need to be afraid, all will be over soon. And to tell you the truth, I hope you live." He said, then kissed the girl, in a mocking, playful way just to be cruel. He then broke away, laughing. He then shoved her to the ground then walked out through the doorway, then turned around, looking at Shadeen, and held his hand out, and then in his left out stretched hand, a flame appeared. He looked at the flame, smiling.

"To bad that elf guy wasn't here. I'm sure he would have tried to help you, and it would have been fun to kill more then one today."

(OoC: Sorry it's probably not going to be that great.)

Shadeen pulled back when his lips brushed her own. It was all in vain however since his hand held her firmly in place where she was, unable to escape his touch or mocking laughter. It made her want to shrink back into a vast dark corner of her mind where nothing could ever hurt or touch her again. As soon as Fehade pulled away from her she turned her head and spit, disgusted.

Shadeen grumbled under her breath. Hope she lived. It was laughable, the only thing this... this MONSTER hoped was that he could hear her screams as he walked away nonchalant from her farm and her live and never turning back. She watched him and at his last words she was completely torn. Of course she didn't want to have Fios harmed in any way, and him being here at this moment would surely have him trapped in this shed like her was. But at the same time she wanted company, someone to be brave for her, or even someone to come save her.

Instead she shot Fehade her dirtiest look and almost put a snarl into her voice as she spoke. "Get out. Get out and let me die in peace." Fehade would not be the last thing she though about before she died. No. She would think of other things. Of the vast landscape of Imythess, of Piter her adorable cat friend, Fios a companion she could live her dream with, and of course her faithful pets.

Instead of crying Shadeen just seemed to withdraw into herself and wait for the flames to lick at her body. She could already start to feel the heat pulsing around her.

He couldn't help but smile wider at her reaction to his kiss. It made him want to fall over with laughter. He was then standing outside, the fire in his palm, his eyes trained on Shadeen's face. A smile still twisted on his cruel features. His eyes shined with a strange happiness. He cocked his head to the side, eyes shining.

"Hm, you will die, but far from peaceful." He sneered, and laughed out in mockery again, then thrust the fire forward, the fire was thrown towards the shed, the fire spread quickly on the shed. Quickly, Fehade slammed the wooden door shut, and latched it shut, just as a flame licked his hand, so he withdrew quickly, and took several steps back, his gaze never straying from the shed. A laugh escaped from his throat then he burst out laughing with cruelty. The laughter was insane like, one no one really heard.

He watched the flames burn the building. Then turned and walked towards his dark horse, ears listening for Shadeen's screams. He remounted his horse, his gaze returning to the small flaming shed, and looked to the sky, dark smoke coming from the shed, surely people would notice soon, but he didn't pay much attention to that. He turned his horse and and dug his heels into his horse, sending it into a canter, and off down the road.

Shadeen wanted to cry: to scream: to laugh. Mostly she wanted to kill him. A feeling she had never before felt. She wanted to rip him apart, she wanted him to suffer, to whimper, to beg her for his life. These thoughts horrified her and she tried desperately not to think about it. She closed her eyes and tried to bring up an image of anything else, of her horses, or cats, but all it managed to do was show her how much she was losing. She opened her eyes again.

Fire licked at the wooden boards and filled the room with an orange glow. Shadeen felt a chill go down her spine even as the room warmed. She felt the tips of her hair seer with the heat and her eyelashes burn off. With a small cry she tried to bat at her eyes before remembering that her hands were tied. Soon her skin began to boil and she started crying the tears evaporating as soon as they formed.

Finally the flames hit her skin and she cried out, unable to hold it in any longer. The cries pierced the wooden shed floated into the air. They didn't cease as the shed burn. Instead they rose in pitch and urgency. The pain could be felt from the cries. The horses in the barn were panicked, whinnying and snorting in distress. A few of them beat at the stall doors.

The ropes had burned off and Shadeen writhed on the floor, just waiting for death. . .

Fios was in town. The farm wasn't far from the small village of Kellen thankfully. He had tied Seer to a post, as he went to get some of the things they needed at the farm. He got some beef wrapped in paper in one arm and bread, and was getting some apples too, but he froze, looking as still as a statue as he saw something in the sky. He looked up, focusing his gaze on it, and caught his breath in his throat. Black smoke.

Maybe he was being paranoid, but then, the smoke was coming from the farm. He took a few steps back, trying not to panic, but he bumped into someone behind him, and that made him drop all his things to the dirt ground and ran to Seer. He untied her, and jumped on her back. He kicked the warhorse in the sides, getting it to run, and out of town as fast as possible, people having to jump out of the way.

As he pushed Seer towards his new home, he passed the same strange dark fellow he had when he left. He let his gaze follow the man, before whipping his head around to look at the farm, and saw the small shed burning, and screams, agonized screams.

Seeing the shed burning and hearing the screams, seemed to take him into the past. Flames everywhere. Dragons. Pain. Death. The memories from the war nearly made him fall off his horse, before he pulled himself to together, and jumped from the horse back and ran towards the burning building.

"Shadeen!?" He yelled. Panic pulling at him. Before he could think what he was doing, he kicked the burning door, breaking it, and coming into the sweltering hot fire pit. Fios, as he was in, felt his skin blister, and hair singed. He then noticed the writhing Shadeen. He frantically, grabbed Shadeen up in his arms. Fire licking at him as he did so, and a small flame catching his shirt. He jumped over the flames that crowded the door, and out into the hot air. He managed to get a few feet away from the burning shed, hearing the crash from the ceiling of it fall, before he crumpled to his knees, and set the young human on the soft ground.

He tore off his shirt to pat the fires out over Shadeen and himself. He looked at Shadeen, panic in his eyes. "Shadeen?" He mumbled. He didn't know what to do. He needed a healer.

All Shadeen knew in those moment was despair and pain. She knew deep down that she was going to die, that Fehade had succeed, that she was terrified. She tried to curl up but everything was pain and suddenly she lost herself.

The next thing Shadeen was aware of was being moved. Her head lolled back as though she couldn't support it and her eyes were seared shut from the heat. She tried to open them but pain shot through her causing another black out.

She came to herself again when someone called her name. She tried to speak but her lips were so badly burned and blistered that all she managed was a faint whimpering sound. She felt a cough welling up inside her and after a shot burst she let it out, tearing her burned lips apart in the process. She whimpered again in pain, tasting blood. She tried to figure out who it was she was with but her head was fogged and she didn't even remember what had happened to her. All she could feel was pain.

In a small moment of clarity Shadeen realized that it must have been Fios who saved her. He would have been the only one. She wasn't sure. She hoped it was.

"Fios." The word was barely a breath and yet it hurt so much. She groaned in pain and struggled to stay conscience. She still couldn't see and didn't dare try to open her eyes, they hurt so much. Instead she reached out a hand, the skin completely almost melted away, and clung to his pant leg, despite the pain she wanted to know someone was really there. Then she started to black out again...

"Help..."

The only sounds he heard coming from the human were basically whimpers, he could hardly hear them. He was so helpless, he didn't know what to do. He couldn't remember any of his spells, he was at a loss, why couldn't he ever remember his healing spells when he needed them most. He felt his eyes slightly go moist. He was the son of a high born noble. He was a great warrior in the war. He saved so many comrades when they needed him, saving them from the wraith of dragons, getting them to safety. But now, he was so helpless, so desperately helpless.

He looked at Shadeen, as he heard her mumble his name in a pained voice. Then she groaned, making his eyes go wide with panic and fear, fear of being alone in the world again.

"Shh, its alright, Shadeen. Everything will be fine, but please, stay with me." He said as calmly as he could. He then looked up at Seer, who was watching, the horses eyes oddly sad looking. He then quickly looked at Shadeen again. He then remembered his healing spell. He held his hands over her, and mumbled a few strange words under his breath, then dark blue light glowed, and went to Shadeen, healing her, but not enough, she would need so much healing that his little spell barely does anything.

Fios then thought of something. The large cat. Mykel. Fios stood and ran to the cats stables. He looked for the can, and soon found him. "Mykel, you have to go get a healer. Your master is in trouble. Go get the town healer. Now!" He said frantically, and left before he could see Mykel off. He was at Shadeen's side in seconds, fretting with no idea what to do.

The big cat was lying down, resting in the sunlight that filtered through one of the windows when Fios came in. Mykel could smell the panic on him and quickly rose to his feet, moving closer to the man. All Mykel needed to understand was Master, Trouble, Healer. He stretched out his muscles and was right on Fios' heels out the door. Mykel ran down the street, his long strides would take him into town easily.



Shadeen lay on the ground her breathing coming in shallow gasps. She kept one hand in contact with Fios, just glad for the company. She was lucid now, unable to even tell where she was. All she saw were flames and Fehade. A sudder went through her everytime she thought of him and she cowered back in her mind.



The woman had just been shopping when a giant cat had come up to her. He was hurt and limping. She had moved over to him. "Don't worry I'm a healer." The next thing she knew he was dragging her down the road. It was clear to her that he wanted to move fast since at one point he growled at her and lay down, waiting for her to get on his back. It must have cause him some pain and discomfort but he didn't let it show as he raced along.

When he finally stopped it was in front of a farm. She followed the cat down the path until she saw a burned down shed, a man, and a woman lying in the grass. "Oh my! What's happened here?" She rushed over and fell to her knees beside the man.

Fios fell to his knees by Shadeen again. She kept one hand in contact with him, and he held her hand in one of his. Eyes still wide with complete fear. He looked up, wishing Mykel would go faster, a lot faster, but he was sure the feline was going as fast as he could. He closed his eyes, and mumbled silent payers to the gods. Then opened them, looking at Shadeen's face.

"Mykel will be here soon with help, Shadeen. You need to stay with me." He said in the calmest voice he could muster, which wasn't very convincing. Soon, when he looked up again, he saw Mykel, leading the way, with the local healer behind. "Thank the gods." He mumbled, then looked at Shadeen again. Soon the healer knelt beside him.

"Oh my! What's happened here?"

"Someone threw her in the shed and burned it down. I just barely got out with her." He mumbled in a voice of despair, not even noticing the burns on his own skin, they were nothing compared to Shadeen's. He edged slightly out of the way as the healer worked, but he refused to leave Shadeen entirely, and didn't let her hand go. The healer had pulled out balms and medicines she had on her person, and used some, but Fios wasn't paying much attention, all he could do was stare at Shadeen's scorched body, facing the sick truth that she may die.

And he didn't move much, as he seemed completely stunned, fighting back memories and tears of fear.

The healer did what she could with the magic and mixtures she had at her disposal. These were some of the worst burns she had been and although there was a chance the girl would survive there was a lot she would never have again. Once she had finished with the balms she asked Fios to turn around while she undressed and wrapped the girl. She bandaged her chest first so she was desent before asking Fios to help hold her up while she bandaged the rest of her body. She put back on the top and wrapped Shadeen's legs and arms next.

The healer surveyed the scene before she turned to Fios. "You'll need to let her know a few things once she wakes up. She should rest a lot. She'll need at least a week to heal. Her skin will never be the same again, its harsh but its better to let her know right away. She can't handle heat as well anymore so a lot of sun is bad, as with hot water or touching hot items. Hot food is okay to eat still. Most of all, she may not be able to feel touch as well anymore. . . It shouldn't be too long until she wakes up. When she does tell her what I said and give her this, it'll help her sleep." She handed Fios a bottle of blue liquid. The healer looked down at Shadeen before whispering "Poor thing," She got her things together before smiling sadly at Fios and leaving.

--------------------------------------------

Shadeen awoke to silence and had a moment of panic before she realized that she was looking up at the sky, a few clouds drifting across the wild blue yonder. She moved her head to one side and felt a dull aching pain that made her close her eyes for a moment or two. She felt groggy and like she wasn't all there. When she moved her head to the other side she saw...

"Fios? What happened?"

Fios watched helplessly as the healer worked, his eyes kept lingering on Shadeen's ruined face, and he kept shivering, not because of a chill, but out of fear. He tore his eyes away from Shadeen's face and looked at the burned down shed, that didn't help either though, it just reminded him of a village they couldn't save from the dragons. Everywhere he seemed to look, he remembered some terrible day, so he shut his eyes, trying to block it all out till the healer asked him to turn around. He obeyed, then helped the healer as much as he could, doing as she said.

When she was done, he looked at the healing, letting a grateful smile slip onto his face, but it never once reached his dreadfully grim eyes. He hung onto the healers every word, and nodded. He took the bottle of the blue liquid, looking at it a moment, before mumbling his thanks. As the healer left, he kept his eyes on Shadeen, rocking back and forth on the heels of his feet.

As Shadeen was still out, Fios never left her side. He once or twice got up and paced, trying to focus on anything besides what happened. He knew what happened to Shadeen will most likely scar her badly, and he wanted to know what had happened. The man he had passed didn't look that friendly, and terribly regretted leaving the young human here alone now, and now, he felt like he could never leave her again like he did. And he knew this will scar him to, with all the memories from the war constantly flashing before his eyes, it was like he expected dragons to appear and destroy everything green around him, leaving him alive to cower in fear.

He was up pacing again. Seer had come closer, but not much, afraid of the smell of burnt flesh that still seemed to linger in the air. Fios stopped looking at the warhorse, before he heard Shadeen's voice. He whipped around and basically ran to her side, and dropped to his knees beside her, his eyes deep with worry.

"What happened?" He seemed lost a moment, collecting his thoughts, then spoke again. "You were caught in the shed, it must of caught fire, and well... I had to get you out, but your safe now, nothing else will ever hurt you now." He said, his voice grim. He then thought he should take her in so she could rest, he could have down it before, but he was afraid he'd accidently hurt her somehow.

Shadeen let out a small smile as she gazed up at Fios’ face. It was something familiar that she clung to without even realizing she was doing it. The sun was overhead and Shadeen shifted her gaze to watch it move across the heaven’s. Her eyes danced and she had laughter playing around in her mouth but never escaping her lips. It almost seemed as though she had taken a strong drug that had made her this way, however it was only the escape of reality the ordeal had pushed her too. She looked up at Fios and finally a laugh did escape her lips, a small childlike giggling. ”I can’t feel my fingers,” Once she said it she just started to laugh until tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes. ”Fios, I can’t feel my fingers,”

She took a small breath and slowed her breathing and stilled her laughter. Once she had stopped everything seemed to push down on her and the pressure just got a little too much for her to handle anymore. She closed her eyes and let her body and thoughts gather for a moment. The whole ordeal just seemed like too much for her to handle. She struggled to keep from crying and when she opened her eyes they gazed past Fios. ”Can we go inside now?”



Shadeen lay on the couch, a blanket up around her neck, her hands gripped it tightly but she couldn’t take her eyes off of the fingers that peeked out over the white linen. They were mixes of red and white and even though they gripped tightly she could only feel slightly. She closed her eyes and willed the colors to go back to her normal brown-tinted skin. However when she opened her eyes again she could still see the blotches of red and white. Shadeen remembered being carried in by Fios but other than that everything seemed to be fading. Maybe she just needed sleep.

“Fios?” Shadeen called weakly, turning her head so she could see him, abandoning her fingers for now. When she settled her eyes on him she felt like looking away once more but she had to ask. She had to know. It scared her but she knew it would drive her crazy if she didn’t ask for sure. In fact she already knew the answer but she clung to the hope that it wasn’t true, that Fios would laugh and answer with the answer of hope. But she already knew.

”Will I always look like this?”

Fios let out a sigh of relief when he saw her smile, but it also hurt him. He managed a weak smile back, but then his face twisted in fear at seeing her oddly happy face and the laughter that came from her. He almost wanted to get up and run as fast as he could, but he held himself still as he looked down at her.

”I can’t feel my fingers, Fios, I can’t feel my fingers,”

Despair ripped at him, leaving him at a loss for words. He took one of her hands for a moment, unsure of what to do. She was his first friend in a long while, since being hunted by his own father, and he hasn't dealt with a situation like this in years, he couldn't quite remember the exact date he was thrown in the war. He then looked at her, his eyes dark and grim for one of the first times living on this farm. Shadeen calmed herself, but he still couldn't bring himself to say anything. When she asked if they could go in now. He had picked her up easy, not wanting to let her waste the strength she had trying to walk, and when inside, he set her on one of the couches, and gave her the blanket.

Then he took to pacing for a couple minutes pulling his thoughts together once more, since they were trying to get away it seemed. He then stopped and slump down into the other couch, and looked at Shadeen when she called his name.

”Will I always look like this?”

He dreaded this part. He nodded weakly. "That's what the healer says." He mumbled. He then took a deep, shuddering breath, and told the young human all the healer wanted him too. He watched Shadeen's face as he told her, afraid what her reaction would be, and when he was done, he shuddered slightly, and closed his eyes a moment.

Shadeen stared down at her hands and the skin stretched over them. The white and red, the waxy shine, the…the… She closed her eyes tightly and forced herself to listen to Fios talking. It didn’t seem so bad right. Shadeen touched one of her hands, testing the feeling in her skin, just to test Fio’s words. Then she touched her face, her eyelids, her lips, her ears. She just kept touching skin, her neck, anywhere that was showing above the blanket.

“Well I know you’ll look after the animals while I’m gone. Could you get Teddy for me? And well…” Shadeen choked on her words and suddenly tears were streaking down her cheeks. She struggled to regain control of herself but it just wasn’t happening. She started to sniff and tried even harder to calm herself.

In the end all she managed to do was cry harder and breathe in short gasps. “Fios,” Gasp, “Will,” Gasp, “Will…” She broke into tears again and reached over to fling her arms around his neck and cry onto his shoulder. “I’m so scared!”

Fios watched her as she touched her face. Knowing how terrible this must be for her worse then how it probably was for him. What hurt him was the pain from years ago, old pains always come to haunt him, and today it had come at full force. The fear and despair of the war, the betrayal of Belana his once wonderful half-sister, and Sava, she had deceived him into thinking she was just a human, a wonderful human. But the pain of the war was worse, every one and a half second the war appeared in his thoughts.

“Well I know you’ll look after the animals while I’m gone. Could you get Teddy for me? And well…”

He listened to her speak, then looked up alarmed as she choked with a sob, and looked at the tears falling from her eyes, and he frowned, not knowing what to do again. He knew he should try to comfort her, but he couldn't bring himself to move, he was frozen with his own fear and guilt. He tensed up, wishing, wishing so much that this was just a horrible nightmare.

He watched Shadeen, his eyes tormented with grief. She tried to ask something else of him, but couldn't get it out. When she flung her arms around him, he was a bit to stunned to feel shock, he hesitated first, then let his arms wrap around her in a comforting way.

“I’m so scared!”

He wanted to admit that he was too, but knew that wouldn't help much, like in the war, he had never mentioned once how much he was afraid. "Its alright. Everything will be alright. There's no need to be scared. I'm going to always be here for you, help you through this. Everything will be alright." He said in a much stronger voice then he thought. He then pushed her back slightly, letting a slight smile fall on his face, then raised a hand, brushing her tears away. "As long as I'm here, nothing will be able to harm you again, whenever you need anything, I'll be here, I'll help you get through this." He said calmly. He then sighed.

"You should get some rest now."

"Its alright. Everything will be alright. There's no need to be scared. I'm going to always be here for you, help you through this. Everything will be alright."

Shadeen smiled, glad that Fios was there to comfort her, even though it seemed a little hollow right now. She settled back into her position on the couch and watched Fios' lips move as he talked. Dante jumped up on the couch and curled up on Shadeen's legs. It was almost relaxing. Almost.

"As long as I'm here, nothing will be able to harm you again, whenever you need anything, I'll be here, I'll help you get through this."

Shadeen reached out a hand and found Fios' sqeezing breifly before she let it fall back to her side. She smiled at him. "I know. I'm glad your here with me. You're the one person I trust to follow through on something like that. I'll still try to help around the farm. Maybe I can do the accounting?" Shadeen smiled. More than anything she didn't want to feel useless.

"You should get some rest now."

She smiled and pulled the covers up to her neck nodding at Fios as she did so. I think so too, but the words never passed her lips before she closed her eyes and started to dose. Shadeen fell into a deep dreamless sleep, and she couldn't have asked for anything better. Somehow she knew that if she dreamed it would be of a girl trapped in flames made by a demon.