The vale was silent, a unreal silence caused by the mist that always hung over the area. No animals or birds lived here, where shadows and spirits dwelled more freely than living beings. But today at least one of the living walked these lands. A dark shape in the mist, he walked normally and surely, as if he knew exactly where he was going in the mist. The tall figure was shrouded in a black cloak that covered his body from the neck down. His face was shadowed by the brim of a hat tilted low over his eyes, with light blue hair pouing over pointed ears to his shoulders, showing that he was of elven descent. As he walked, a quiet clanking of chains was heard.

However, only two of these chains were visible. They trailed on the ground from under his coat and behind him for a foot or so before being lifted into the air. There they were wrapped tightly around a woman. She had auburn brown hair that cascaded down her back and large green eyes, swollen with tears and red from silent crying. A thin chain held her mouth shut, while another with a wicked piece of metal at the end was held loosely against her throat. The rest of the chains were wrapped around her arms and legs, binding them to her body. Her clothes were ripped and dirty, barely suffecient to protect her modesty, probably held together only by the pure black chains that ensnared her. She was carried off the ground behind the silent elf, struggling weakly with her bonds. Tears streamed constantly down her smooth cheeks.

The man took no notice of her despair or suffering. Instead his eyes, shining gold from underneath the brim of his hat, were always moving, watching, waiting. They constantly kept watch on the swirling mist around their path.

Curious to what could have made that strange noise, that rattling of iron, a young woman stepped out from an old ruin house. It was Selena Starling. A young fire diviner with bright green eyes and long, red hair. She was both annoyed as intruiged by the noise that interupter her secret activities. Because, though she was of the curious kind and always wanted to know exactly what was going on, like now was the case, she had also had a reason to come here. Alone.

The bricks and leftover walls around her were filthy and full of burning stains. Stains of the time when she had practiced her fire magic to be able to control it. She still came here when she was trying out a new spell or wanted to be alone. Just her and her thoughts. Yet now she was being disturbed. And she didn't like that at all. Of course, this land was for anyone and everyone to walk upon, but no one ever did. And the thought of having to watch her back and stand on the look out in case any visitors came along, didn't really do any good to her already unsteady mood.

She tapped her fingers on her knee as she sat on broken statue. She was waiting. Just waiting for that noise again. A while passed, nothing. She sighed deep. Maybe she had just imaged it. Though I swear I heard it more than once...
Then she heard it again. Her eyebrows were raised.
''Again now! What is that noise?'' she wondered aloud.

Curious and suspicious of this situation, she jumped off from where she sat and reached for her blade. She made her way through the empty ruin, on her way out to investigate the matter.
Whatever it is, that intruder better be ready...

Selena emerged from the ruin just a few seconds later. She had walked, nearly ran to see what was going on. As she reached the partly torn down frontdoor, she readied her weapon, holding it in front of her, gripped tightly, while her eyes flashed from left to right and to the left again. Not much later she heard the noise again. That sound of iron being dragged, hitting solid objects. Probably rocks and trees that housed there along the way. And accompanied with that noise were the gentle yet fast rhustling and patting on the soft, mossy ground of footsteps. And, so she could determine when she leaned in a bit and listened more closely, not of just one person.

She frowned, confused. To erase any doubts about this matter she decided to kneel and let the earth and wind tell her what she could not explain for herself. What was that? What was happening?
As she put her ear to the ground and listened to the heartbeat of Nature herself, an image started appearing in her mind. A man, so she could tell by his breathing and the way he walked. Determined and steadfast. The second one, the one that was walking not far behind him was female. A young girl too and not at ease at all. She could clearly sense that by the way she was moving, like she did not want to follow the man that was leading her the way at all. And also, she was crying. Yes, she was crying, very silently and carefully. Like she was afraid.
Afraid of that man? That animal that has made her his prisoner? Is that it?
Why then...I do now know what that noise was. She swallowed, feeling only disgust and grief. The girl has been chained.

She opened her eyes and stood up again, walking into the direction of the footsteps, trying to get a good image of what that abducter looked like. It could be someone she had faced before. Though she somehow doubted that. She had never dealt with cased like this. Well, sometime should be the first time...
She smiled, thinking of a way to overwhelm him, surprise him. She could easily win from such a coward as he. If he couldn't even fight the girl or simply ignore her.. But to chain her and strip her of her weapons and nearly clothes... That was just low. She shook her head, upset about all of this and just plainly wanting to kick his a**.
Whatever has happened and whoever he is, I can promise him this, he will meet his own karma. Indeed, for he will meet me...

Seele stopped suddenly. The golden eyes didn't stop though; they turned constantly. He rotated all the way around slowly, his eyes looking into the solid mist as if he could see through it. And he could, for the most part. After all, mists were shadows made of water, and no shadow held any secrets from him. He frowned slightly, even seeing through these enveloping mists there was nothing that had given hima sudden sense of danger, of another thread coming towards his own in the great tapestry of fate. He closes the golden eyes and was still, and his own shadow writhed and came apart from him. It was a relatively simple spell; by combining the SUmmon Demonic Being and Shadow Cloak spells, he could give a wraith from the Abyss he frequented his shadow as an outlet in order to spy for him. The shadow traveled off, another dark spot on the ground, all but invisible to the untrained eye. And the elf sat down to wait, the chains that were his constant companion making a small clattering noise, barely audible.

While he waited for the return of the Shadow Wraith, he beckoned at the chains that held the women. The drew her towards him, and her strugglings became more franctic. A muted sob escaped the chain that held her mouth shut. Soon she was all but on Seele's lap, her legs folded beneath her by the chains so she kneeled in front of him. He reached out with a pale hand and touched her cheek lightly. She flinched and tried to draw back from the touch, as light as a spider's feet and as deadly as their poison. He smiled softly and traced a finger down her cheek, wiping away the path that a welling of constant tears had created. A soft whisper escaped his lips. "Calm little one. Soon it will all be over." The human girl shivered, green eyes that were brighter than any jewel almost seemed to plead, asking a silent question. But the elf's face did not change, no flickering of emotion that gave away his emotions. he was remembering a time before the chains, when a similar pair of green eyes met his own, filled with tears. But before he could think about where that memory had come from, the chains were blocking it from him again. He wiped the blood from the girl's face clean of blood and tears and water from the mist. "Soon, soon, soon..." He lightly kissed her forehead, and then she was once again hanging in the air behind him, suspended by the midnight black chains. And the shadow returned.

It took a shimmering transclucent form and bowed to the elf, then his shadow melted once again to it;s natural position, filling his mind with what the wrait had seen. One women, one whose aura burning with a blinding fire, was nearby. She had been using magic at the time, which is why the wraith had escaped her attention. A small smile spread across the pale face. She knew, and he knew that she did. Someone with such an aura must know. Well, let her choose to interject if she wished. The chains clanked in an unseen and unfelt wind, almost in anticipation, before settling down again. The elf started once again to walk in the same direction, senses at full alert, the human girl suspended behind him as he walked.