"I thought you could track!" she felt they have been running in circles for the past hour. He looked up at her from where he was kneeling on the ground, Mios prancing at his side.

"Not when he doesn't let them leave any!" he was annoyed, frustrated and fear was beginning to worm its way into his eyes.

No, they were not losing them. She dismounted Aran, advancing towards him. "There were twelve men! How can he know where every single one of them is? What kind of a hunt is that?"

"He doesn't need to know where they are. It's to make the hunt more interesting that he doesn't let them leave any tracks." He said bitterly. "To show everyone there is no esca-"

A horrible scream ripped through the forest, followed by triumphant roars and the sound of tearing flesh and wet hungry growls. The gurgling scream died soon after it had first went up. Another one. "How many are left?" She asked, the blood turning to ice in her veins.

"Four I think. If we have heard all of them." he said quietly.

Ywain wasn't one of the fallen. He wasn't. "You need to find him Robin." Her voice wasn't hard, wasn't commanding, it was imploring, but she didn't care. All through the hunt Daniel's face had swam in front of her eyes, dying a million times over and over and over again.

"He's not Daniel Regina." Robin was gripping her shoulders tightly, his eyes boring into hers. His hands left her shoulders to come rest gently at the sides of her face. "If he was one the fallen-"

"-No!" She jerked herself out of his hold. "He is not dead yet." She bit out vehemently. "You need to find him, now." the iron was back in her voice, demanding obedience.

"But he can't now, can he?" Said a disjointed voice. She looked around confused, trying to locate the source of the accented remark. "You!" Robin snarled with so much rage and fury that she twisted around in alarm. She saw him go ballistic in the space of an instant. He leapt up in the air and onto the trees, towards a slender figure sitting nonchalantly on one branch. He landed on the branch, but his hands closed around empty air. He whirled, his whole body coiled like a lion's, waiting to spring at his prey, eyes unrecognizable with savage fury.

"Now don't go havin' your hair off lad!" The voice cried mockingly. "That's the way of treatin' an old friend these days is it?"

The figure was straddling another branch on the other side, legs dangling insolently, a devilish grin on his face. Robin was preparing to pounce on him again, which she was sure would do nothing but enrage him further. "Robin!" she called his name forcefully. "Robin! Get down here." He leapt at the man in the other tree, who promptly vanished again. His eyes roamed the trees around them, not heeding her calls.

She decided she had to climb up a tree and bang him on the head a few times to knock some sense back into his thick skull, when suddenly his eyes snapped to hers. No not her, but at something behind her. He dived down, landing in front of her. "Get away from her." He uttered each word with biting menace. She spun around. The man stood there, hand up in front of him in a gesture of complete surrender, eyes glinting green mischief.

"Surely the evil queen doesn't need anny protection." The man replied in his melodic staccato accent. "Although, now that she does not have her magic..."

"What?" Robin said, his body going stock-still in shock. The man blinked innocently at him. "Didn't you know?" His eyebrows shot up comically in exaggerated surprise. "She's been unable to perform anny magic since she opened her eyes in that tree." He lowered his hands, a slightly mocking smile curling one corner of his mouth. "A right tidy spell you've been draggin' her along haven't you lad? Not tellin' her a wit of what's goin' on...And why do you think your arse hasn't been blasted to the middle of some other nowhere by now?" His smile gained full force. "It wasn't your charmin' personality now was it?"

Robin turned to her, incredulity written large on his face. "Tell me it's not true." She looked at him. What did he expect her to say? The disbelief died down at her silence, giving way to anger burning in his eyes. "Tell me I didn't let you be dragged into this nightmare with no way of protecting yourself-"

"-When are you going to learn Robin? No one lets me do anything! I make my own choices, not you, not anyone else!" She could feel her own face burning hot with fury. How dare he? When had she ever asked for his protection?

"And you didn't see fit to tell me of this rather important development so I could compensate for it on my plan-"

"Your plan? What plan? We have been flying by the seat of our pants and you know it! So what I can't do magic? Neither can you!"

Before Robin had a chance to retort back, the man's voice stopped them in their tracks, "That's not the proper truth now is it?" They both turned to look at him in confusion. "On either count." He looked at her, drawing his eyebrows together in a look of puzzlement. "Surely you have noticed it by now." At her blank look, he went on, "The man slept like a babe all day he did! And he couldn't do that even when he was a babe!" What was he talking about? He looked at them hopefully, waiting for them to get whatever it was he going on about. As their silence stretched, he gave an exasperated huff. "The girl had her hand in that antithesis to all things life givin' they call water, and the damage just magically disappeared! Magic bein' the operative word here."

"What?" Regina and Robin exclaimed in unison.

"Now they get it. Give the chaps a cwtch." He said, rolling his eyes. "Proper half soaked you are the two of you!" He muttered under his breath. Turning back to her, his face lost its playfulness; instead of the youthfulness of a young boy, the face staring back at her held wisdom and knowledge beyond her understanding.

"I...what are you talking about? I didn't..I can't.." Regina was babbling and not making any sense, either in her mind or out loud.

"Your magic never left you you foolish girl. Just the hold the darkness had over it when you let go of your rage. And you lost control over your own magic." He took a step towards her. "But it found ways of comin' to your aid it did."

How can he know all that? He was wrong. The magic had left. She had the hollowness inside to prove it.

"Don't listen to him." Robin said, taking her by the arm and drawing her behind him. "Nothing good ever comes from listening to him." His eyes were full of hatred and rage, his lips two colorless thin lines.

"Come now boyo, I don't intend the lady any harm! Or you dear lad! I'm just here to help I am."

"Like you did the last time?" His hands had fisted and he was forcibly holding himself in check.

"Look you now, it's not my fault you didn't carry out my instructions -"

"-Not carry out?!"Robin cried disbelievingly. "I did exactly as you said. And look where it got me. He is now even more powerful, more vicious than he was before!"

"I held up my end I did. Any fault lies at your door."

Robin lost it again. Regina had to cling to him with both hands and all of her weight to keep him from lunging at the dark haired man. "He is baiting you!" she hissed in his ear.

Robin let himself be held back, still glaring furiously at him." Did you see what he did to Anna?" he rasped. She wound her arms tighter around him, not liking the anguished guilt she heard in his voice.

"You're not to blame for that lad." The man replied softly.

"No we both are." Robin said, his whole body shaking. "You lied!"

"I did not lie." She had at first thought his eyes were green, but she now saw they were the light grey of a colorless winter sky. "It's not my fault the land do love you too much."

Robin uttered a disgusted sound and turned away from him, going towards where Mios and Aran were patiently waiting for them. She almost turned to follow him, but she couldn't make herself. "Do you know how to track them?" She asked the man.

He turned his blue green eyes to her. "Oh I can do better than that my lady."

"Are you out of your mind?" Robin asked her his voice rising in indignant anger. "He can't be trusted-"

"Well he does seem to be our only chance."

"Regina-"

"-No! I am not letting him die do you understand?" If I have to make a deal with the devil, well, been there, done that.

He stared at her, emotions passing through his eyes too fast for her to read them. "This is a bad idea." He finally said.

"It's our only idea." she replied holding his gaze a moment longer. She turned back to the other man to see his eyes had become completely green again.

"We've not been introduced proper like my lady." he said, bowing his head to her slightly. "Jack o' Kent, at your humble service."

"Why do you sound welsh?" she blurted out, completely weirded out by the changing color of his eyes. "Why does he sound welsh?" she asked Robin at her side.

"What's a welsh?" he asked befuddled.

"Ah it's from this beautiful little country I used to frequent a while back. They called it Cymru back then though." he informed Robin. "You didn't think you were the first one to grace that particular realm with you presence now did you?" he asked her conversationally. Who was this man?

"What do you want Jack?" Robin asked him, thunder in his expression. "We are not entering any games with you."

"Ah none of you're devilish enough for that boyo. You barely even qualified the last time! And she, well she isn't the evil queen that she was now is she? No use in a game..."

"Are you going help us or not?" she asked him, getting tired of all this nonsense about games. What was the matter with these people?

"Of course I am goin' to help!" he gave them a cheshire grin." That's what family is for now isn't it?"

"We are not family." Robin said, his hands jerking angrily with the vehemence of his denial.

"You lay claim to that twisted brother of yours, and not your dear old uncle?"

"Stop wasting our time!" Regina interjected. "Both of you!" She would get to the bottom of the twisted mess Robin had for a family, but now wasn't the time for it.

Jack gave her a bright smile. "Ay-ay my lady, right you are."

Three men solidified in the space between them, in various poses of flight, shrugging off clouds of darkness and shadow. They looked in panic around them, gazes fastening on Robin and her. She only had eyes for the green eyed blond on the left. He lunged at her, but Robin got there in time, tackling the young man to ground. "We are trying to help you." He gritted out, grappling on the ground with the boy.

He came out on top, a hunting knife pressed to the young man's throat. "Just do it you coward." the man snarled at him, not giving up his futile struggles.

"We're not here to kill you you idiot." Regina told him. "Adelina sent us-"

"-Leave her out of this you filthy pi-" Robin putting pressure on the knife at his throat drew him up short.

"That's a lady you're talking to."

"She is no-"

"-I think we were too hasty" He said conversationally over the boy's rant. "Maybe I should just finish what my brother started."

"Yes why don't you. You-"

"Enough!" Regina shouted at both of them. "Ywain, I promised Adelina I wasn't going to let anything happen to you, and I'm not!" Why was he being this bull-headed? She took a breath, taking in the mulish expression and the dread and torment that hid underneath it.

"The only reason she didn't do something foolish right then and there that would get both of you killed was that promise" She said to him, putting all the sincerity she could into her words.

"And I'm supposed to take your word for it?" He had been burnt too many times to risk the warmth of fire, no matter how welcoming it might seem.

"Adelina's goldfish!" She exclaimed inspiration hitting her suddenly. "The one she killed in the pond! Well not intentionally...Now why would I know that?" She asked him triumphantly.

"What was the fish's name?" he asked. The stubborn cast of his jaw had softened, but distrust still lurked in his eyes.

Oh. "Umm, she didn't tell me the name exactly..."

"Yeah, she wouldn't tell me either." he said sheepishly. The merciless teasing had something to do with that huh?

"You can let me up now." He said to Robin.

"You sure?" He asked him arching his eyebrows. "No more insults you want to through around?"

"Let him up Robin." Regina told him, not knowing whether to be amused or annoyed.

"And what would you be wantin' me to do with these two fine gentlemen over here?" Jack asked.

The other noble men were at the exact same place they had appeared, bound and gagged in silver chains, staring daggers at them.

"They're with me." Ywain said.

"Where is the other one?" Robin asked Jack.

"And who would you be talkin' about boyo?"

"You know who. There were four left. Where is the other one?"

"Umm, I do think you would not be wantin the other one-"

"-Jack" Robin began threateningly.

"Aright aright." Jack said waving his hands placatingly, and the fat man appeared in front of them. Figured he was going to survive till the end. "You sure this be a good idea boyo? He is not a very savory character..."

"So we throw him to William and his beasts?" Robin said hand pointing in the general direction where occasional growls and howls could be heard.

"He would not hesitate to do the same or worst to you!" Was that concern she heard underlying Jack's words?

"Well I'm not him."

Jack exhaled slowly, looking annoyed. "Let's see what he do have to say on the matter"

"...Will tell the king of your treachery..."the gag appearing back on his mouth cut the pompous tirade up short, and in the next breath the fat man disappeared altogether.

"Bring him back." Robin demanded.

"No. I'll not be helpin' the likes of him."

Robin was going to argue, but Regina cut in. "And how exactly are you going to do that? Help I mean."

"I could send them through the veil..." He began uncertainly.

"Out of the question!" Robin said affronted.

"They would be better off there. Your nain and taid are much better tempered than William is I can tell you."

"No. "Robin was adamant, his voice broking no argument.

"I could hide them from him… There are parts of the forest he doesn't have full control over." That seemed like a feasible plan. "It's not goin' to be indefinite mind you..."

"Fine. Do it for as long as you can manage." Robin replied.

"No! I am not leaving Adelina to that monster..." Ywain shouted, panic and outrage coloring his voice.

"Just get him out." Regina told jack with a roll of her eyes.

"As my lady wishes." jack said smiling at her. The three men disappeared. "Better be off with you then. Runnin' interference and the like. Come back when you do have an inkling of what you're doin'." Jack gave them a provocative wiggle of the eyebrows to go with his comment.

"Give it a rest." Regina muttered. She turned away, dragging an irate Robin after her. "We've got to go run interference."