A/n: Sorry it took so long to update again. . Something came up. At any rate, it's getting to the good part so I will try to make a better effort to update more frequently. Anyways I would like to give a special thanks to Lucky for getting on my case for updating, so if anyone else reads this and enjoys it you have her to thank for it. Hm, I think that's all this time.

The Contract
Chapter 4

"Mother night! Are you serious?" Surreal demanded of the slightly weaving Saevus.

"Yesh. It happened jusht like that!" he sniggered into his drink as if this statement was incredibly funny.

"Excuse me. Am I interrupting?" a smooth cultured voice came from behind Surreal and she shifted so that she could see the newcomer. She stared at the two really handsome men with hair the color of an angry sunset that were staring at the table's occupants with serious grey eyes. Then Surreal cocked her head to the side and realized it was only one man. But even so he wasn't hard to look at. Well except for the whole focusing part.

"Ah Banighe! Just the man we were looking for!" Ra'vien exclaimed raising his drink in a sort of tribute to the stranger.

"In the bottom of my ale mugs no less. What were you needing this time Ra?" he asked raising an elegant brow.

"Wasn't us! Was her. She needs to meet Ozzy, wanted to know if you knew how."

"I see," the man named Banighe drew the word out slowly. "I am sorry lady but I cannot get in touch with him. He is already gone. Ozmyndaeus comes to me as soon as he reaches the city but I only know one person who can reach him once he is out of the city. I'm afraid you will have to go to Zetahn. You can probably find him in the woods to the north if he is in the area still. He has a small cabin hidden away that he spends time at whenever he is in this part of Terreille."

"Uh huh. Well thanks anyways, I have to be going. Oh, here's some money for that ale sugar," she called in a wallet and shoved a couple of bills into the handsome red head's hand before giving her newly acquired friends a wave and then she left.

"Oh I can't believe it! Tipsy! I haven't been tipsy in over a century! Not since… I can't remember the last time, was probably too tipsy to remember it. Darkness have mercy, that statement almost made sense to me. Must've drunk more than I realized," Surreal shook her head, trying to clear her vision. She heard a rustling in the bushes nearby. She tensed as her hand fell to her side and she called in her stiletto, some of the fog clearing from her mind.

 She felt rather ridiculous when she met the surprisingly intelligent chocolate eyes of a deer. The animal shook its head. Reprovingly, she was sure of it. Surreal straightened up from the defensive semi crouch she was in, vanishing her blade as she did so.

"Yeah, what do you know about it anyways?" she asked the graceful creature. Then she realized she was being silly and grinned slightly at the animal. It tossed its head and gave a leap, disappearing into the underbrush. "Talking to wildlife. That's it sugar. No more alcohol in large quantities… at least not until Winsol in any event." Surreal continued along the tiny leaf strewn path, stumbling over the occasional stray twig. She didn't feel the eyes following her progress through the woods.

Surreal was creatively swearing to herself about people who lived out in the middle of nowhere for no good reason as she somewhat wobbly made her way deeper into the woods. Otherwise she would have noticed the increase in the rustling bushes around her. As it was she was taken completely by surprise when a bolt from a sapphire jewel struck her.

She careened into a tree and a small ribbon of blood began to stream into her eyes from the cut she received on her forehead. She was jerked around and the rough bark scraped against her back as she collided with the tree once more. The beautiful woman gritted her teeth against the pain that shot through her skull, and looked at her enemies.

A small group of guards, Hayllian guards. Two sapphires, a green, summer-sky and a purple dusk and red. She could match the green and take the summer-sky jeweled prince easily but the combined strength of two sapphires… and one of them was a warlord prince, as was the red-jeweled warlord prince. Her hand fell to the side where it curled, ready for her hunting knife and she called in her grey jewel.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here boys. She's a real looker boys, I must say she's quite a catch. Looks like the lady is lost. What do you say we show you around?" the guy who spoke was standing close to her. Too close. His hand shot out and he grabbed her breast, squeezing it painfully. This elicited a laugh from the other guards as they circled in. Like scavengers. Surreal glared at them before turning her attention back to the cretin pawing her.

"Get your hand away from my crotch before you lose it you gutter son of a whoring bitch!" she spoke through clenched teeth to the sapphire jeweled warlord prince.

"Now, now. Is that any way for a lady to talk? And here we were being nice enough to offer you our services," the man's hand stayed where it was… right up until her blade whistled through the air and sliced cleanly through the flesh and bones of his wrist. Is hand fell to the ground as blood welled up from the wound, a satisfying sight that she didn't have nearly long enough to enjoy. She only wasted a second watching as the rather dirty guard clutched his stump, screaming. Then she quickly channeled the strength of the grey into her blade, sinking it deep into his chest with satisfying thud. He toppled to the dirt, as blood flowed from the gaping hole in his chest and his eyes stared unseeing, a mindless shell.

Surreal quickly snapped up a grey shield just in time to block a blast from the red, but the force of the impact sent her slamming back into the tree once more. As her head connected with the tree the shield slipped a little, and black dots swam in her dimming vision. Then a hand striking her face sent her sprawling on the ground. She managed to raise the shield once more; she held it, just barely, as she struggled to keep from passing out.

Surreal raised herself onto her elbows, staring up at the guards that hammered at her shield, trying to break through. She could feel each blow from their weapons, from their jewels through her shield and she knew she was beginning to weaken. She knew she wasn't going to last long against a green and a red, not to mention the remaining sapphire prince. Standing up, the black haired woman fell into a defensive crouch, holding her hunting blade ready and calculating how she could take out as many as possible before she died when her shield fell.

The guards' faces were twisted and ugly with hate and rage at the female who had dared to attack let alone succeed at killing one of them. They continued to blast away at her defenses, feeling her shield slowly giving way under their relentless assault. With a howl of triumph the red-jeweled warlord prince slipped through a failing in her defenses. He raised his blade and was bringing it down toward her head.

But it never reached its destination.

There was a sharp clang that rang out and sparks flew as the sword rebounded off the blade that was held up, blocking the warlord's attack. The man standing between Surreal and her attackers shoved the guard back, swinging his blade up and into the stomach of the man, sending a jolt of grey strength through his blade and destroying his mind. Surreal couldn't feel the power of the strange man as he unleashed his strength in a tightly controlled arc that caught the guards straight on, sending showers of blood and gore flying through the air as their heads exploded, an exact imitation their shattering jewels. The lifeless bodies fell to the ground with a sickening thud.

Surreal blinked as she took in what remained of the guards but she didn't drop her shield. She didn't notice that she was weaving on her feet as she watched the stranger's back. He casually walked over to one of the guards and wiped his sword off on one of the tunics, checking it to make sure it was completely clean before sliding it back into its sheath. Finally he turned around to look at her.

"Are you alright?"

"I-you! What are you-" But then the world went black and she was falling…

Bum, bum, bum! Alright she's met the sexy and you'll find out who it is next chapter okay? *dodges rotten fruit thrown in general direction* Lol, I'm in the right mood so I might even et it out within the next couple of days.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Thanks for Reviews*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Grimsister: Thanks for reviewing. It sucks that you're out of town, but drop me a line when you get the chance so we can work some more on DF k? Hm, decisions, decisions. You know I can always change my mind about the sexiness, but I hate to disappoint. It's NOT Saevus. *snicker * Like you didn't already know that.

bAd-KiTTe422: Thanks for getting on me about this, I almost forgot just how much I really liked this fic. If I start slipping up again feel free to smack me (cyberly speaking of course ^.~) Hope this chapter wasn't too short.