A/N: I've had most of this chapter written for awhile but I've been caught up working on my Original stories so that's why it took so long to get this chapter done. I hope you all enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own.


Rei burrowed deeper into his sleeping bag, not ready to get out of what little warmth he had managed to build up in his sleep. Despite the fact they were three days from Tala's manor the cold hadn't let up and if anything had become even more bone chilling. Every night when they stopped Driger and Wolborg would dig a small shelter out in the snow and the three would sleep together, keeping each other warm.

Luckily, Wolborg didn't smell like a wet dog when his fur was wet or else the close conditions would be less then pleasant. Driger shifted in his sleep and pressed Rei closer to Wolborg.

The wolf however, was having none of it. Huffing in frustration he got to his feet and slipped out of the shelter. The temperature of the snow cave dropped significantly, causing Rei to shiver even through all the layers of fabric that covered him. Sighing he wiggled out of his sleeping bag and gently nudged Driger. "Come on. I think Wolborg wants to get moving."

The tiger got to his feet and shook himself, snow flying everywhere. After shooting a disgruntled look at Wolborg who was sitting across the clearing he stalked into the woods searching for something to eat.

Rei shook his head at Driger's attitude and sat down on a snow covered stump, dragging Wolborg's harness to his feet. He pulled a cloth wrapped bar from one of the bags and unwrapped it. The bar was made of nuts, fruit and oats combined with honey. While they were actually quite tasty he was tired of eating them. However, he was not willing to take the time to build a fire to cook so it was the bars or nothing.

He broke off an a piece and stared at it for several seconds before popping it in his mouth. Wolborg came over from where he was sitting and dropped into the snow at Rei's feet, kicking up a small snow flurry. "I can't believe the two of you are so crabby." Ignoring the look Wolborg gave him Rei scratched the wolf's ears, smiling when the great animal arched into his touch.

Ten minutes later Driger returned, licking the last of his meal off his whiskers. Wolborg got up and disappeared into the underbrush. Rei was about to get up and get the tiger's harness when Driger collapsed at his feet.

The neko-jin rolled his eyes as he stroked Driger's back. "I really wish you two would stop acting like siblings. You're making this trip harder then it already is." He continued to run his fingers through the tiger's fur, trying not to think of anything. He found the more he thought about everything that had happened since coming to live with Tala. The less he thought about his time at the mansion the better he could focus on getting Tala back.

Wolborg returned several minutes later, tongue lolling out of his mouth and seemingly in a better mood then when he had left. He ran around Rei and Driger kicking up snow and yipping, much like a happy puppy. Shaking his head at the usually dignified wolf's antics, Rei got up and grabbed his harness, shaking it to remove the snow. "Come here. I can tell you want to get moving."

The wolf finally stopped and allowed Rei to put his harness on before sticking his nose against Rei's cheek, his grin returning full force when the neko-jin yelped at the cold wetness. He danced away from Rei, his harness clinking lightly.

Rei glared at the wolf even as he slipped Driger's harness on, making sure all of the straps were tight enough to prevent slippage but not so tight that they cut into the tiger's flesh. Keeping one eye on Wolborg, not trusting him to do something he climbed onto Driger's back and wrapped his cloak tight as they started back on the trail.


Nestled in the valley was a small village, the lights from the windows spilling onto the snow that coated the ground. Rei pulled his hood back up and hunkered further into his cloaks, certain that he was never going to feel his hands or feet again. He leaned closer to Driger and they started forward again, Wolborg in front of them to break a path through the deep snow.

The sudden cessation of motion pulled Rei from the light doze he'd entered. He looked up to find them in front of a two story stone building. Light was pouring out of the windows and he could smell something cooking. He slipped off Driger's back and slipped slightly, landing against the door.

Before he could stand up the door was pulled open and he landed in someone's arms. "MAX! Get some hot water." The owner of the voice pulled him closer and Rei's arms unconsciously went around his savior, burrowing into his warmth. "I can see why Tala chose you."

At Tala's name Rei pulled back and found himself looking in bright navy eyes. "How do you know Tala?" He could barely focus on anything beyond the pain prickling his hands and fingers as feeling slowly returned to them.

"Don't worry about how I know Tala. Let's focus on getting out warm first." Before he could react he found himself swept into his benefactor's arms and carried up the stairs. With startling gentleness he was settled into a large bed. Strong fingers stripped his cloak and boots off before drawing thick blankets up. The bed dipped slightly and warm fur brushed by his fingers. "Rest."

The neko-jin slowly drifted to sleep.


Rei slowly sat up, feeling disorientated. Nothing in the room was familiar and none of it gave him any hint to where he was. Driger and Wolborg's harnesses were sitting in the corner of the room so he knew his guardians were close by. Sighing he crawled out from under the heavy blankets.

A pair of slippers was on the floor by his feet and he slipped them on and carefully got up, feeling slightly lightheaded. Shuffling across the floor he rested his ear against the door, checking to see if anyone was around. He could barely make out the sounds of quiet talking coming from down the stairs.

When he pulled back from the door he noticed a note that had been pinned there. The writing was blocky and slanted.

Feel free to come downstairs when you wake. There will be food and please put on the robe. You've been exposed to the cold for to long.

The neko-jin smiled slightly and turned to find a thick wool robe dyed a deep red. He slipped the robe on and tied the sash tight before carefully opening the door and slipping into the hallway. At the top of the stairs he was swamped by a wave of vertigo and he closed his eyes, fighting down a wave of nausea.

A warm wet nose brushed his hand and he slowly opened his eyes to find Wolborg staring at him, head cocked to one side. The neko-jin smiled and sunk his fingers into the thick fur on the wolf's ruff. "I'm okay. Just a little dizzy." Pale blue eyes watched him for several seconds before Wolborg slowly started down the stairs, making sure Rei was close.

At the bottom of the stairs Rei was forced to stop, another wave of dizziness threatening to overwhelm him. A warm hand settled on his shoulder and he jerked, back slightly eyes meeting the same navy eyes of his savior from the night before. "Who are you?"

The man in front of him was tall and lean with long navy hair pulled back into a low tail and bright eyes that danced with happiness. "I'm Tyson and we've been expecting you." When Rei made to ask another question Tyson shook his head. "You don't get to ask anymore questions until you eat something warm. After that you can ask all the questions you want and we'll do our best to answer them."

Feeling slightly angry at Tyson for treating him like a child Rei none the less allowed the taller man to lead him to a chair and drape a blanket over him. He was barely seated when a blonde with bright blue eyes came out of the kitchen with a tray. Before he had a chance to ask his name the tray was set on the table next to him and the blonde disappeared again, this time upstairs where Tyson had vanished too not long ago.

The smell of warm food reached his nose and Rei turned to survey the tray, surprised at what he saw. There was a bowl of oatmeal that had honey and cream in it, making it look tastier then most of the oatmeal he'd had to eat back in the Mortal Plain. There was also a cup of tea that was gently steaming and a bowl of fresh fruit salad.

With a long sigh Rei started eating, knowing the sooner he was done the sooner he'd be able to get some questions answered. The moment he'd eaten the last spoonful of oatmeal the blonde had appeared again to whisk the tray away before returning with a second tray, this one with a pot of tea and four cups. "Sorry to not say anything to you but Tyson was adamant that you eat something before we talked. I'm Max and if you'll follow me we'll try to get you straightened out because I'm sure Kai and Bryan didn't explain things very well."

Rei got out of the chair and followed Max down the hall to a small rectangular room with a small fireplace against the far wall. A tortoise was on the left side of the fireplace, happily eating a bunch of lettuce. A small blue firedrake was curled on top of the tortoise, asleep. Driger was stretched out on the other side, golden eyes half open as he watched the room. Wolborg was under the table happily gnawing on a huge bone and a plump orange cat was sprawled on the mantle, green eyes fixed on Wolborg.

Tyson was seated at the table with another man who was rapidly flipping through a huge book, his focus completely on it. Max set the tray on the table and took a seat next to Tyson. Rei settled into the seat between Max and the other man, drawing his robe closer.

"Kenny, would you mind leaving the book alone for the moment. Rei has questions and you'll probably be able to answer them better than Max and I will be able to." When Kenny didn't respond Tyson grabbed the book from in front of him and closed it. "Kenny, focus."

Kenny pushed his glasses higher on his nose. "Fine. You didn't have to be a brute and take my book away." He turned his attention to Rei, a slight smile curling his lips. "Ah, finally you've returned. Tala was starting to get frantic."

Rei frowned. "How do you know Tala? That's the first question I want answered."

Tyson poured everyone a cup of tea and added several spoons of sugar to his, stirring as he talked. "We were raised with them. The three of us, along with our Guardians are their Eisteddfod. We act as a barrier between them and their magic. Despite the fact they are Elemental Princes their bodies cannot withstand the constant pull their Elements exert against them."

"We serve as a siphon for them. Some of their magic trickles to us, keeping them from being destroyed or driven mad by their power. Without us, they would never have lived this long. We are bound to them through their magic. Once you have saved Tala, we will be bound to you as we are to them."

Kenny pushed his glasses up again as he sipped at his tea. "We're like symbionts. We keep them from going insane and in return we can use small amounts of the magic we drain from them for our own use. That's why we get fresh vegetables throughout the year."

Rei stared at the three men, trying to wrap his mind around what they'd just said. Just when he'd started to come to terms with what Lei, Bryan and Kai had told him more information had been dumped on him and he was having problems trying to connect all of it. "How did you know I was coming? You seemed rather prepared for an unexpected visitor?"

Tyson smiled. "Dragoon, would you bring me the charm please?"

The firedrake slowly uncoiled from the tortoise's back and stretched his wings before slithering off its back to waddle across the room and climb up Tyson's leg and jump from there to the table. A leather thong was wrapped around the base of his neck, something hanging from it. Tyson untied the thong and passed it to Rei.

The neko-jin stared at the charm, trying to figure out where it had come from. It was a piece of white marble that had been carved in the shape of a sitting tiger and inlaid with small citrines for the eyes and onyx stripes. Gently rubbing his thumb over the stripes it came to him where he had seen the small charm before.

He remembered when he'd first met Kai and Bryan that Bryan had given a small trinket to Falborg who had flown off to the east. "Bryan sent you this didn't he?"

Max nodded, one hand stoking Dragoon's tail. "He did. It was imbued with some of your magic and it resonated. The louder the resonation the closer you were. It nearly jumped off the shelf last night when you first got here."

Rei continued to stroke the charm, eyes fixed on it. "But that doesn't explain how they knew I was going to come through this village. I mean, there have to be hundreds of other ways to get to the Enchantress."

Kenny took his book back from Tyson and flipped it open. "There are, but we knew you would come this way. Kai sees things in the fire. Usually they are nothing more than things from the past, from their childhood. However, this time there was no doubt it was the future. He saw what would happen should you fail to defeat the Enchantress or turn to her side."

"However, there really isn't any more we can tell you. Like the others we are forbidden from telling you any more. To hear the rest of the story and the prophecy you must find Tala. The Enchantress' fortress lies deep in the forest of Valerin. On the border of the forest you will find a small cave. There, you must use some of the potion Lei made for you to summon the Guardian of the Fang. He holds the key to your success."

The room fell into silence, each person caught up in their own thoughts. Rei's gaze drifted from the charm in his hand to the ring on his finger from Bryan. The stone seemed to be glowing slightly. "What about this ring? I can tell there is a spell on it I'm just not sure what it is."

Max leaned forward and touched one finger to it, eyes going hazy. He pulled away, smiling brightly. "It's a circle of protection. As long as you wear it the Enchantress can't scry for your presence. Leave it to Bryan to create a spell just to upset her."

Tyson stood, Dragoon perched on his shoulder, tail curled around his neck. "Enough of this. We need to get Rei new supplies and Kenny needs to do a little more research.


Rei ended up spending several days with the three men, helping them get everything he would need and enjoying the warmth of their small house. When the morning of the fifth day dawned, all Hell broke loose.