Disclaimer: Fanfiction is fiction written by the fans of a given story/series. Ergo someone who owns it clearly doesn't write fanfiction. This work is a work of fanfiction, draw your own conclusions.

AN: Heart of Demons managed to get my muse up and running again, with a picture he sent me. Although the picture had nothing in common with this fic, it got me going.

Taranee looked at the woman who was sitting on the other side of the table. With her long dark hair and muddy green eyes, Nerissa was regarded as one of the most attractive woman in the resistance. Taranee didn't trust her at all though and if Will hadn't betrayed them then in all probability Nerissa would be her enemy, not her ally. Taranee was determined to win this war and to do that she had to use every resource at her disposal and if this meant dealing with another evil, well so be it.

"So, you called this meeting because you claim to have a means of turning the tide of this war in our favour." Nerissa began. "What are you proposing exactly?"

"We recently captured some documents on the defences of Candracar." Taranee paused. "Now we all know that Candracar's defences are almost impossible to breach from the outside without at least having the Heart of Candracar on your side. But there is a way into the temple without having to breach its defences."

Nerissa raised an eyebrow. "Really?" she asked, scepticism written on her face.

"Yes. You see after Candracar fell to the Traitorous Bitch (Taranee refused to call Will Vandom by her real name.) Phobos decided to create a gateway to Candracar to allow his minions free passage through Candracar. You need magical clearance to get through though and once you arrive, Phobos's troops will immediately attack you. You and your Knights of Vengeance," Taranee paused as she gestured to Ember, Tridart, Shagon and Khor, "are the only troops that can handle the numbers of guards there. Once you get to the Aurameres, you can reconnect Hay Lin to hers and interrupt Will's powers."

"And what are you and your Phoenix commandos going to be doing while we're performing this useless gesture?" Nerissa asked with some sarcasm, but Taranee was prepared for this.

"We" she began "are going to go into Metamoor. Your attack will disrupt the detection grid that stopped our last attempt at rescuing Hay Lin. Together with Hay Lin, we'll be able to bring down the entire castle and hopefully take out some of Phobos's top minions."

Nerissa smiled, sending a shiver down Taranee's spine. "I'm impressed Miss Cook. Very well, when does this attack start?"

"In one hours time. Here's a gate key to get you through the gate. Cedric doesn't know it's missing yet, but he will do soon enough, so time is of the essence. Good luck."

"You too Taranee Cook, you too."

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Will jumped as someone knocked on the door.

"Mrs Vandom?" a voice asked through the door.

"Come in." she replied somewhat nervously. A tall, Asian man stepped through the door.

"Don't worry Mrs Vandom, it's just a routine check up on your pregnancy." He said with a smile.

PREGNANCY! She thought to herself in shock, mum is going to kill me. Then the absurdity of that thought hit her. At twenty-four, she was just a little to old to worry about mum. She arranged her face into a neutral expression.

"Of course doctor. How far along is it exactly? One, two months?" Will asked innocently

"Two months." He said with a frown.

"That long eh? My how time flies" Will replied cheerfully.

"Yes, well shall we get started?" He asked with a slight tone of suspicion "King Phobos is most anxious to ensure the good health of his forthcoming child."

Will's eyes widened. "Phobos's child?" she gasped, before she promptly fainted.

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Hay Lin steadily opened her eyes and tried to sit up. She winced as she felt the pain of her injuries. Whatever had annoyed Cedric this time, it had been something serious and she'd taken the brunt of his anger. Bringing her knees to her chest, Hay Lin began to chant Buddhist prayers from her childhood. They weren't much good against Lord Cedric's attacks, but they provided her with a sense of comfort in this hellhole.

As she chanted, she found herself thinking of her old friends. Irma's jokes, Cornelia's confidence and Taranee's quiet intelligence. She refused to even think of Will in that group. She'd been so proud when her grandmother had explained about her and her friends being chosen as the new guardians of the veil. But after Will's betrayal, she'd began to wonder if it was in fact a curse.

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Nerissa's Knights attack came fast and furious. Shagon blasted through the troops protecting the Earth end of the gate like they were mere rag dolls. A wall of fire from Ember incinerated those that had avoided Shagon's blast, while Tridart and Khor tore into the soldiers, physically ripping them apart. Soon the gate had fallen and Nerissa stood in front of it. Closing her eyes, Nerissa sent Taranee a message telepathically.

"We've taken the gate." She said in her message.

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Taranee looked at the four people standing in front of her. Four people who she'd personally trained in the art of fire magic. (Taranee chuckled to herself. She was the only person who could teach fire magic.) And each and every single one of them had proven themselves in battle, time and time again.

There was Eric Lyndon, a young man with short dark brown hair and brown eyes. Eric had lost his grandfather, Zachary Lyndon, when Phobos had invaded Earth.

Then there was Alchemie Jones, a young woman with short brown hair and green eyes. Taranee had been unwilling to take her on at first, the girls emo-goth approach to life had made Taranee think that training her would be a waste of time, but Alchemie had persevered and to everyone's surprise, she mastered the magic really fast. Taranee never found out why she was involved though and Alchemie didn't want to talk about it.

The third member of their little squad was Sarah Weising, her long red hair, brown eyes and heart shaped face had drawn many an admirers glance, but she turned them all away. An ex-slave worker from Europe, Sarah was highly introverted and seldom spoke unless she had to. Taranee guessed that whatever had happened to her as a slave had driven her inwards, but Sarah refused to talk about it.

Finally there was Thomas LeBlanc, a narcissistic Frenchman with a sense of the grandiose. He had short dirty-blonde hair and powerful blue eyes. Thomas was probably the biggest mystery of them all. If asked about his past, he created wildly absurd stories, each one contradicting the other. But in the field, he was completely honest.

In short, Taranee thought to herself, we're all good candidates for a loony bin. "Nerissa's taken the gate, now it's our turn. Everyone into the portal." She shouted with a wave towards the portal to Metamoor. Hold on Hay Lin, we're coming she thought to herself.