The next night Thorne awoke with a start. Today was the day of the attempt. The day that she would be freed forever; or lose Cameron. She climbed from her coffin and went looking for him. He was in his room holding the assassin blade again. She stood in the doorway for a moment and then turned and left to go to the meeting room. The rest of the coven was gathered there. Cameron came in soon after.

"Cameron, what do you plan to do?" asked one of the elders.

"What else? I'm going to go after Faeden while you guys combat the army. Is it so hard for you to understand?"

Thorne looked to him somewhat surprised. He seemed on edge and it only worried her more. She looked around the table. All of the leaders were of mixed ages. Some were elderly while others were younger, but she and Cameron were the youngest by far. Plus Cameron wouldn't be with them. Thorne would have to lead the others in the fight against the army because she knew the territory. She sighed heavily and left with Cameron to go to her room. Soon the others dispersed also. Digging in her trunk, Thorne dug out the old armor which she had worn years ago, when she belonged to the coven. All the members of the coven had similar armor for whatever skirmishes happened to come up. She put on the heavy black padding over her white T-shirt. Over the vest she pulled on a wrap-around shirt. It had long sleeves that were tight to her arms to keep from getting caught but were loose enough to not restrict movement. She wore loose pants that were the same dark red color as the shirt. She walked down the hall and met up with Cameron who was carrying his sword and a black cloak. His shirt was a similar style but was instead a dark blue.

They walked side by side down the long corridor leading to the western doors which opened into the forest where Thorne had died. All the other members were dressed in like clothing of varying dark colors. They all carried swords and were wearing cloaks. Their faces were hidden by the hoods and the swords glinted threateningly in the light of the moon. Only Thorne and Cameron had their hoods down. Cameron turned to Thorne and quietly talked to her.

"I'll go and find Faeden while you guys distract the army. Once Faeden is dead his army shall weaken since they are no more than incarnations of him. If you can hold them off long enough they'll die on their own if there are any left. And keep that damn silver hair of yours covered. It's as bright as the moon and makes you any easy target," he said pulling her hood up.

Thorne smiled at him knowing he was only saying that to liven her mood a little. She looked up at him as he pulled his own hood up over his black hair. He encircled her in his arms, drawing her close.

"Be safe," he said gently.

Thorne nodded. They parted ways with Cameron heading North towards Faeden's castle and Thorne leading the others west. They would go so far and then turn north to the army barracks. They traveled in silence, moving through the trees until they came to a clearing. In the distance they could see the crumbling stone buildings that were the barracks. They advanced toward the buildings keeping to the shadows. When they were within a hundred yards they stopped. Something wasn't right. The soldiers weren't out training or around the fire. Thorne signaled for the others to stay while she looked around in the surrounding trees. She leapt into the trees and scanned the area. There was nothing. She made her way back to the others only to find them missing. She scanned the area puzzled. She stood in the clearing alone. She heard a yell behind her and turned to see that the coven had been ambushed and were being held by the army. A soldier came running in her direction; sword drawn. She turned drawing her own sword and parrying his swing. The others wrestled away from their captors and turned to fight. The constant ring of clashing swords could be heard. Thorne's sword was soon covered in the blood of her enemies as the small coven fought the thousand strong army. The coven only held about 200 members. Thorne easily fought the dimwitted soldiers but the commanders were clever and swift. Many of the coven members were bleeding from at least one wound. Thorne had a gash on her left shoulder as a result of a commander's saber. A heavily built soldier locked blades with Thorne, knocking her to her back on the ground. His sword connected with hers along the narrow blade forcing her to hold the sword single handed, lest she cut her hand. With a simple turn of her blade, the soldiers saber slipped and hit the broadside if the sword. He lost his balance and Thorne was able to kick him off of her and swiftly stab him as he lay on the ground. She turned to her left to see an elder pinned to the ground by a commander and she rapidly shouldered him off of the aged man.

"Demon, why are you still alive?"

Thorne turned to the all too familiar voice. It was the slayer who had hunted her all those years ago.

"Because you do a terrible job at containing me," she retorted.

"The poison should have killed you by now," the slayer drew her sword, still stained with Thorne's blood.

"I'm stronger than that," Thorne easily deflected the slayer's sword when she rushed at her.

The two locked blades, ignorant of the fight going on around them. Thorne tripped the woman easily, sending her tumbling to the ground. Again, the blades clashed but the slayers thin blade could not hold up to Thorne's war sword. It snapped in half, sending shatters of the metal everywhere. Thorne drover her sword through the slayer's heart, killing her instantaneously. She straightened and looked around. The army was quickly diminishing. She was about to rejoin the others in fighting when she felt a sharp pain in her heart. She stumbled sideways. It felt like someone was crushing her heart. Her breathing became heavy and she fell to the ground beneath a blossoming peach tree. The tiny white blossoms covered the ground beneath her as she collapsed. The hood of her cloak fell back revealing the silver hair as her eyes closed.

Within the castle, Cameron had been searching for Faeden. He didn't expect it to be this hard the find him. He snuck about the castle, scanning each room. He came upon one where the door was open. He looked inside and saw Faeden at the mirror. His long black hair came halfway down his back. His black robes were highlighted with a dark red. Cameron slipped into the room silently and crept into a dark corner where he could hide himself until he reclaimed his body. He released his soul from his body and forced it down into Faeden's, knocking the overlord's soul out of the body. The castle was crumbling and therefore had many holes in the floor which led into the depths of the earth. Cameron could feel Faeden trying to reclaim the body so he stepped over the edge of the hole and released the body allowing Faeden's soul to reclaim the body. Cameron's soul took control of his own body again. He took a deep breath and sighed. Faeden's body and soul were now in the depths of Hell. He grabbed the antidote for Thorne off of the bedside table and he quickly turned and ran back through the corridors of the castle determined to find the others. He reached a balcony low enough that he could jump from it to the ground. He rushed to the battlefield. All of Faeden's soldiers where disintegrating and being blown away by the wind. He looked around confirming that most of the coven had survived. He reorganized the coven into groups to tend to the wounded. He never saw Thorne in the group. He began searching for her. She was too strong to have been killed by one of the soldiers. Wounded but she couldn't be dead. While the others collected the dead and injured he paced the area always looking. A sudden flash made him look over to a tree. It was a peach tree in bloom. The blossoms had fallen to create a white blanket upon the ground. It was a tiny area of beauty among the field of bloodshed and bodies. But it wasn't the white blossoms that caught his eye. It was the moonlight reflecting off of Thorne's silver hair.

Cameron ran over to the tree and took hold of Thorne's hand. It was colder than normal. She had no color and she had no pulse. Even though she was an elemental she would have still had some warmth and color and her heart would have been beating strong. She had been dead for a while. Cameron didn't understand. She had no wounds other than a small gash on her shoulder and it wasn't enough to kill her. He turned and whistled to one of the groups. The wounded were being transported in carts pulled by horses. He carefully placed her in the back of the cart and took the horses reins. He led the horse on foot all the way back to the coven house. He still had the antidote in his pocket. He carried her into her room and laid her out on her bed. The coven masters would take care of her tomorrow night for it was almost dawn. He returned to his room in a daze. He couldn't believe it; there was no way. He lay in his coffin that night, broken hearted.

He awoke the next day and went in search of the head coven master. He found him in his study, sitting in his chair.

"Where is she?" Cameron asked, his tone bland.

"Out beneath the willow tree. I figured it would be best since it was her favorite place."

Cameron nodded and left the room to follow the winding path out to the willow overlooking the pond. He found her there, lain out in a white coffin. A white sheet covered the table her coffin sat upon. She wore a white gown and light pink flowers were woven into her hair. The moon cast a faint light on her. The only thing Cameron could think of was how beautiful she looked and how bad he missed her. Her hands were wrapped around the hilt of her sword which lay in her chest. The sword had been cleaned of blood and now it lay along the length of her body. He swallowed hard and turned to lie on his back on the edge of the pond. As the night progressed, more and more of the coven came to look upon her. Never once did Cameron move until the coven master came to bring him in before sunrise. He finally came in after much pleading from the elderly man.

From then on, every night progressed like this. Cameron would lie on his back next to her coffin and stare blankly. He had been so hurt by Thorne's death that he never spoke again. Finally, one day, Cameron refused to come in. The coven master had to retreat from the sun but Cameron just stayed on his back and let the sun overtake him. Above Thorne's coffin, the coven placed a plaque on the tree trunk with Cameron and Thorne's names intertwined with vines and bordered by peach blossoms. The coven master still came to look upon Thorne and to remember the two whose hearts had been so closely intertwined.