For TheGhostWhriter226, individulitea and Lollypops101; who reviewed chapter ten — this chapter is for you.

Proof read by Danaye

Chapter 11

Daniel could feel the thing tugging in his blood and he knew instinctively that his master wasn't pleased by what had happened. He ran through the corridors and finally entered the stable. He scrambled forward, only to fall to his knees as pain shot through his body.

This was what he hated, but it had been part of his training. He was used to the pain, but not to pain of the magnitude he was experiencing now. His master, Sun Tzu, was angry. He was furious over Daniel's failure and now his wrath was penetrating every cell in Daniel's body, regardless of the distance between them.

"Please!" Daniel whispered as the pain grew more and more until it came to be too much. He crawled on, trying to ignore the spasms wracking his body, but it was in vain. Despite his desperate attempts to block it out, he just couldn't. His master had always been an expert in the art of inducing pain, and he would spare Daniel no mercy.

Daniel had almost reached his destination when his body collapsed. He couldn't withstand the pain anymore, so he allowed himself to enter the bliss of unconsciousness.

He woke later to find himself inside a stall, lying beside firmly planted hooves in the straw. The sun had yet to rise above the rooftops of the village, but he wasn't keen on remaining where he could be caught and found guilty of drugging the entire household.

His head felt as if it were full of beating drums. As he pulled himself up on the horse beside him, he found that his body only held faint reminders of the punishment his master had given him.

The horse shifted underneath his weight, nervous over the fact that its rider hadn't bothered to put on a saddle. Daniel clapped the neck of the black stallion he had chosen and gave it the sign to move out.

As they exited the stable, Daniel noticed that his master hadn't been merciful. His body ached. There had been times where his punishment had gone on for hours, and it was only stopped when he was about to give in to the Black God himself. Those punishments had only forced him to be more precise in his killing and fighting. During one of his first punishments, Sun Tzu had made very clear that losing wasn't an option and that Daniel should count himself lucky to be alive to see the light of the sun once more.

Not that Daniel was particularly fond of the burning orb that glowed in the sky — he was a creature of the night. He sometimes liked to compare himself to the winged beasts that flew into the night in their hunt for insects. He hunted too — not small things that had six legs and wings on their back, but the things that could ensure his own survival. Reminded of his hunt, he pushed the horse forth.

Daniel lifted his head and blinked as the rays of the sun hit him. Due to the punishment and the pain it had caused, he had been delayed. Even worse, the man and woman who he was hunting had a strong lead. He would have to use all of his skills to find them again, but as always, he reminded himself that this was what he had been trained to do. He had been trained to hunt, find and kill. His mind reminded him of his new assignment — kill the mage and bring the girl to his master. And, Daniel shuttered, Sun Tzu was going to send assistance…Scanran assistance.

As the sun traveled over the horizon, Daine realized that she hadn't talked to Numair for some time, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to talk to him. Her husband's actions were beginning to become confusing. First, she had a feeling that he wanted to charm her as she had seen other nobles do with their women at court, but he was acting so strangely. Twice he had fled from confrontation. Why didn't he just stay and fight? Didn't he want to get it over with?

Daine could feel the item pulsate slowly in her pocket as she rode. She tried to reach it, but sitting in a saddle made it a difficult feat. Her fingers managed to get near it, but as she was about to pull it out, Cloud shifted underneath her and a pain shot through her finger.

"Curse it," Daine snapped as she withdrew the finger and lifted it up in front of her face. The claw was sharper than she had anticipated. A single drop of blood was welling up on her forefinger.

Numair allowed his horse to fall back. He took in the red liquid and crooked an eyebrow at her. "You're hurt," he stated.

"Yeah," Daine replied absently and snapped off a leaf, wiping up the blood before she allowed the leaf to fall to the ground.

He chuckled low. "The correct reply would be 'yes'."

Daine's head snapped towards him, "Are you correcting my speech?"

"No," Numair shook his head, "I'm correcting your choice of words."

She snorted and looked down at where her finger was continuing to bleed. "Are you also going to correct everything about me?"

"Could a man change the nature of a horse?" Numair questioned seriously, using a metaphorical approach in an attempt to get her to talk more. There had been silence between them for far too long and he wanted to make an effort.

"I don't know," Daine replied slowly and turned her attention to the tanned man beside her, "but a man could try to break the horse." She shuddered as a memory of a man using a whip on a two-year old stallion rose to her mind. It had caused great trouble for her to interfere, but no one was going to get away with harming an animal when she was near. "It would then do his bidding, if only for the fear of getting beaten."

Numair reined in his horse and turned his full attention on her, "Is that how they treated you?"

Daine smiled sadly and gave him a sideways glance. His dark gaze was intense and she saw a brief flicker of anger in it, but the emotion was gone as quickly as it had appeared. "Not everybody," she revealed, "but I can't deny that some of them tried. When Rosalie lived at the castle, no one dared to lay a finger on me or even speak badly of me, but as she got married and moved —" Daine shrugged, "They had every opportunity to try cruel things."

"Did they manage to harm you in any way?" Numair asked, clenching his fists.

She shook her head, "Not after the royal healer got himself kicked all the way across the stable. They decided they would rather ignore my existence than acknowledge that I sill lived at the castle."

"They ignored you?" He asked, startled.

"Better to be ignored than to have everyone watching every move I make," She replied.

He could every well understand her reasoning. What he would give to have that. Everywhere he would go or be inside the castle of Tortall, there would be too much attention turned his way. He had almost gotten used to it now, but there had been times when he had been forced to flee. He was glad that it was still a well-kept secret that he had another residence besides the three chambers in the castle. He didn't know what to say. He wasn't sure that she wanted his pity or his sympathy, so he said nothing.

Numair observed Daine as she snatched another leaf from a bush and tried to wipe away the blood. He fumbled with his belt-purse where he had various items. Opening it and looking inside, he found it was devoid of a handkerchief. He growled and turned his palm upwards instead, starring at the calloused skin. It only required a small spark of his gift to produce whatever he needed.

Daine followed his movement and was trying to determine what in Mithros's name he was doing when suddenly a small plop could be heard and white fabric appeared.

Numair's gelding danced to the side, frightened by the sound, and nearly collided with Daine's pony.

Cloud tried to avoid the larger horse, but when her coat met the coat of Numair's horse, she laid her ears back and launched towards the gelding. "Stop it, Cloud," Daine ordered, sharply pressing her knees into the mare's shoulder, "you have experienced the use of magic before. This is no different from the others at home."

They finally reached what Daine assumed was their destination. Numair had stopped and was now dismounting his horse.

Half a day had passed and she calculated that they were somewhere near the border between Galla and Tortall. The cave they had reached was not actually a cave, but more of an overhang made of large rocks that had piled up over time. She glanced up at it uncertainly as she dropped down to the ground. She had doubts about the sturdiness of the structure, but her thoughts were demanded elsewhere as harsh words entered her mind. Cloud spoke as Numair lifted his hands towards the cave and long, black tentacles wrapped themselves around the rocks.

'Please, tell that man to stop doing that,'Cloud said sharply, referring to the long black tentacles sparkling with silver that shot from Numair's hands to wrap themselves around the rocks. 'At home there would be nothing like this. If you absolutely had to be married, why couldn't you have married a simple man, not someone with an enormous fire boiling inside him?'

"I can't just start ordering him around as if he was some servant..." she snapped back, stopping abruptly to turn and look into the mare's deep black eyes. "Wait a minute. You can see his gift?" she asked, startled over this information. She ignored Numair, who had returned from the cave where he had left his saddlebags and was patting the neck of his gelding affectionately and whispering softly to the horse.

'See it, feel it, hear it, smell it, almost taste it — what difference does it make? A man like him shouldn't be near someone like you.'

"Now you are hurting my feelings, Cloud. Do you find me unworthy of marrying a noble-man?" Daine asked, a clear note of sadness in her voice.

'No,' Cloud retorted tartly, 'it's him who is the unworthy one...He's like —'

The rest of Cloud's words were drowned out by a crisp comment from the gelding. 'Who was it that demanded us to come here? Not my master, you insulting, presumptuous, insolent…'

"Hey, stop arguing!" Daine snapped angrily, "if the two of you must know, I find him rather attractive and what's done is done. I'm married, we are married — he and I are together now! I can't turn back time, and the two of you are going to keep any opinions to yourself or else..." The two horses were silent, as was any other animal around her. Daine glanced at Numair and blushed when she found that he had overheard everything.

He looked at her strangely.

Daine growled low, crossing her arms in front of her. "Don't you dare say a word. That wasn't even for your ears!"

Numair smiled and lifted his hands in surrender, "I wasn't going to say anything, although maybe you should consider talking about such things in private. Others might not find the conversation as interesting as I do. Other than that, I'm flattered." He smiled at her, his dark eyes dancing with mischief.

'You shouldn't be,' Cloud snorted, and flickered her tail as one of the last flies of the summer sat on her rear.

"Cloud, for the last time," Daine turned back to her pony, "please be nice!" With that, she stalked into the cave, not caring that her husband lingered in the opening of the shelter. She looked at him, "If you are so clever then how do you suggest that I speak with them in private?"

Numair shrugged, turning his head westward towards the setting sun. Something had caught his attention, and Daine lifted herself up on her toes to look, but she saw nothing — only an endless expanse of trees. "That I will explain another time," he said, still looking out into the distance. Numair finally turned back to her and scanned the cave. "We need to set up camp for the night," he finished.

"Set up camp?" Daine's voice croaked and she cleared her throat, "I thought that we were going to meet up with that lady-friend of yours."

He moved over to his horse and set to the task of taking off the saddle. "The woman you are referring to is not a 'lady-friend'," he snorted, "she'd be furious if someone called her that." He shook his head as he carried the saddle inside, "She is just as temperamental as an angry dragon. There's only one difference."

Daine had followed his example, "And that is?"

He laughed as he straightened up, "Well, from what I know from the scrolls at the University, they can fly and she cannot. Also, she only spits fire when she's angry."

Daine's chin dropped to her chest. "You have a University in Tortall? A...a real University where one can study, learn and...and," she paused, searching for the right words, "be something else..."

Numair nodded slowly, studying her with scrutiny in his dark eyes. "You can be anything you want to be," he replied, "our university is for upcoming mages, such as myself. The queen has, however, established other schools so anyone can get the right education."

"With the right amount of money, certainly," Daine concluded as she scraped the floor with her cloth-covered foot. She had located some of Numair socks. They were far too large for her of course, but that didn't necessarily mean that they wouldn't keep her feet warm.

"Yes and no," Numair said, walking to the opening of the cave. He looked out and studied the sun. "We need some wood. It's going to be cold tonight."

He left and Daine was still standing in the cave. She hurried after him, eager to learn more. "What do you mean by 'yes and no'?" she asked as they picked up wood that would burn easily. Other wood that was just damp could be laid beside the fire to dry.

Numair's left arm was stocked with wood. "Some pay for it, some don't."

She grabbed another piece for firewood and settled it in her arms. "How does that work?"

"You seem awfully interested in this. Why?" Numair asked as they walked beside each other on the way back to the cave.

"My mom always says…said…that if one was to go somewhere in life you needed to seek out the opportunities," she allowed the wood to slip from her arms and down onto the floor, "anyway, she always tested me in the hope that I had inherited her gift, but over and over again she was disappointed." Daine stopped herself for a moment and then continued, "If I had gone to Tortall, or if we had lived in Tortall, then I could have proven to her that there was something inside me — something much better than the gift. Of course, we only had enough money to live an almost decent life, not enough for anything more, or so my mom said."

Daine was kneeling on the floor when he replied softly. "If you want, you can have any education you want," he said softly and a bit hesitantly.

"It's just because you have money and are married to me now that you are saying these things. Don't make promises that you can't keep," Daine replied in a harsh tone and rose.

Numair reached out and grabbed her hand, "Queen Thayet was a smart women when she married the Tortallan king, King Jonathan. She demanded that those who could afford to pay for an education should do so. The arrangement is this: for every two paying for the education, there can be one accepted who can't afford it. That way, everyone still has a chance to get in. The only thing they have to provide is a letter of recommendation..." His baritone voice filled the cave, and the way he spoke encouraged Daine to look directly into his eyes. "Is it something you would want if you could have it?" he asked.

She was standing so perfectly still with hope shining in her blue-gray eyes that Numair didn't realize before it was to late that he had boxed her in and was standing in front of her. Daine's expression changed slowly, and Numair followed the transformation from hope to distrust. She narrowed her eyes. "So," she said very slowly and very carefully, "one has to know someone with connections in order to get a letter of recommendation?"

Numair frowned before he answered, "Yes, one could see it that way, but —,"

Daine shook her head as she answered his question, "No."

"No?" he asked in confusion, not quite understanding what she meant.

She nodded, "Yes." Then she shook her head, "I mean 'no'. I wouldn't be interested in needing someone to write a letter —,"

"Oh?" He wasn't sure if he had heard correctly. "So you don't want to receive an education of your own choice?"

"I do," Daine nodded and smiled up at him, "but as my husband, you will have to pay..."

Numair scratched his neck. "But I thought…" he began.

She took a step forth and gently rested the palm of her hand on his chest. "I don't want to be the type of person that takes away someone's opportunity to study something that could change their lives forever. My life is already changed. I'm glad to have the opportunity, but others deserve the chance more than I do..."

He looked down at the hand that lay above his heavy and warm cloak, realizing that the young woman he had married wasn't selfish. She wouldn't jump at any opportunity that presented itself — she was careful and reflective. He found himself smiling down at her. "Okay," he said softly and took hold of her hand, "just tell me if you ever change —"

Daine smiled up at Numair, more confident now than she had ever felt before. "I won't," she said with certainty, "but I will seek to ask the favor if I happen to find someone who needs it more than I. Maybe, then, we can come to some sort of agreement."

Numair laughed loudly, "Are you striking some kind of deal with me?" He suddenly decided that this was an opportune moment to test how far she had come in accepting that they were married now and that he would be a part of her life maybe forever. Numair carefully snuck an arm around her back and drew her inside his arms.

Daine found herself laughing. "Yes," she told him boldly.

"So, I take it that I'm forgiven for my earlier outburst?" he asked her, looking down hopefully into stormy, blue-gray eyes. He could get used to being able to see inside the depths of her large eyes. Suddenly, arms were thrown around his neck as she hugged him abruptly. Slowly, not wanting to scare her, he carefully pressed her against him.

"I guess so," she said quietly.

Daine's heart flipped as his warm breath hit the side of her neck. Numair had tilted his head forward and was burying his face in the nape of her neck. She shuddered, not from the cold, but from the pressure of his body against hers. She was beginning to enjoy the feeling when he suddenly moved away from her.

Numair cleared his throat, slightly embarrassed over his own body's reaction to the woman he held in his arm. He looked down at Daine's flaming cheeks and took a huge step away from her, greatly increasing the distance between them. "We should get a fire started — otherwise you are going to be cold." He turned to the wood piled on the floor and started to arrange pieces in the middle of the floor.

Daine just stood looking, not comprehending his words, as Numair lit the wood with his gift. The hug had been nice, more than nice, she corrected herself. It had been something she could get used to. It still tingled everywhere they had touched. From her thighs to her stomach to her breasts – Daine's attention snapped back to reality. "What do you mean, 'I'm' the one who is going to get cold? Aren't you going to be with me?"

"No," Numair shook his head. "There are warriors coming and I need to lead them away from here." He glanced around the cave. "This place isn't suitable for a fight," he said, his eyes coming to rest on Daine, "and neither are you."

"I can take care of myself," Daine retorted tartly. "I'm not one of those distressed maidens…and I have this," she lifted up the item from her back and held it out in front of her. "I have a bow and some arrows."

Numair came over to her and looked down at the crafted wood. "Can you use it?" he demanded to know.

Daine looked down, not sure how to answer his question. Of course she couldn't use it! It was the first time she had ever held an item like that. She hated weapons. Other than the knife she had used to kill the man with, she hated anything that could do harm or take life away. "No," she admitted and grimaced.

"I thought so," Numair said as he turned from her to add more wood to the fire. Somewhere in the back of his mind he could feel Alanna's presence, along with several hardcore Scanran warriors. He turned to walk to the entrance of the cave, but stopped when he was mid-way.

Daine looked up as he came over to her yet again and cupped her face with his large, tanned hands. "I promise you that I will return," he gave her a reassuring smile that didn't quite reach his dark eyes. Numair continued, "Promise me that you will stay here, Daine, and don't try to follow me!"

She opened her mouth, starting to protest, but he silenced her by moving his thumb over her lower lip.

"Promise," Numair said again.

Daine found herself nodding, and before she could react, Numair was walking out of the shelter. With one single gesture at the cave, he sealed the entrance with his gift.

She didn't know if it was the shift in the air or the darkness creeping over the ground that made her edge forward towards the shield Numair had created.

He had left the horses inside, to keep her company as Cloud had pointed out tartly. Now the horses were making small talk behind her and Daine was standing with her sock-covered feet mere inches from the shimmering wall. Glancing back, ensuring that the horses were occupied by the discussion, she lifted her hand and moved it towards the magic.

'Are you really that stupid?' Cloud asked, making Daine flinch as the mare's voice entered her mind. 'Do you really think that that isn't dangerous? And by the way, why do you think he made that up? For his protection…or yours?'

Daine rolled her eyes and lowered her hand, turning to the gray mare. "Maybe he needs help," she replied and turned back to the magic once more.

Cloud snorted, 'He can care for himself. It's not your job to go and rescue him. He's the one with fire inside himself, where you only have —'

'A copper-fire,' Numair's gelding said, cutting off the flow of Cloud's speech. The mare turned her head towards the black horse.

'She doesn't need to hear that, you dolt. Whose side are you on, anyway? Mine or hers?'

'Hers, clearly. If she wants to go, then let her — she's not your foal.' The black horse flickered his tail, 'She can take care of herself —'

'And have her get herself killed because there was no one to stop her?' Cloud asked primly.

Daine smiled to herself as she looked the shield over. She was going out and the only thing that could stop her was the shield, but she had a strange idea that it wouldn't. The two horses continued to argue behind her as Daine lifted her hand again, touching the shield carefully.

'I'm not sinking down to your level, missy —'

'Who are you calling 'missy'? I'm not nearly as obstinate as you! Being black and flashy —'

A tingling feeling filled her body as the energy from the shield flowed through her. The hair on her arms stood up, along with the hair on her neck. Daine pushed her hand forth and the shield bent slightly to allow her hand to slip though, inch by inch, as the other half of her arm remained on the other side. Behind her, the argument continued.

'I'm not the one who is short —'

'Short! You dare to call me 'short'?'

'Well, if you are not long-legged, then what are you?'

Daine glanced back, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. She had thought that she was the one that would find this arrangement difficult, but it seemed the horses were having a harder time than she was. She took a deep breath and stepped out into the cold air, leaving Cloud to advance on Numair's horse. Whatever problems the two of them had, they had to overcome it by themselves.

'I'm not the one with a master that can't ride properly!'

'Don't you dare speak ill of my master, you short-tempered midget! It's not my master who has broken through the shield and left us here!'

Cloud spun around and trudged over to where the barrier was still in tact, preventing the horses from following Daine. 'Oh, we will be in so much trouble if she gets hurt,' she snorted and turned towards the gelding. 'Why didn't you stop her?' Cloud accused.

'Why didn't you? She is not some offspring of mine — that was something they took care of a long time ago.'

Cloud stamped her hooves into the ground and tried to follow after Daine, but Numair's horse prevented her by grabbing a hold of her tail with his teeth.

'Are you completely mad? Are you trying to kill yourself? When she comes back and you are gone, we both know who will be blamed if you are hurt!' He gave Cloud's tail a small tug and the gray pony turned her head, glaring daggers.

'So we are stuck with each other?' Cloud asked curtly. 'And leave my tail alone, you dog!'

'Who are you calling a 'dog'? And yes, we are stuck with each other, you...you rabbit!'

'Now you're saying that my teeth are too big?'

Daniel smiled as the young woman walked through the only thing that had kept her safe from him. He knew from his examination of the shield that it would not only drain his powers, but also his life-force if he was to try to break through a shield set up by the Black Robed Mage himself. No one, other than maybe his master, could be equal in power to the Black Robe. Even though Daniel knew that his master was so far away, he still felt as if he was standing behind him observing every move he made. However, that wasn't the case. His master was occupied elsewhere, reveling in his victory, for he had finally caught one of the Untouchables.

This was too easy, he began to think as he followed her. It would be so easy to snatch her and then just leave. Lost in his planning in how to catch her, Daniel didn't turn in time see the heavy branch that came his way. He only managed to curse silently before the wood smacked into the side of his head and everything went black.

Daine didn't stop to look back as the voices of the two horses were cut off. She had other things on her mind and, with the bow settled on her back, she went in search of Numair.

The sun was low in the sky, but it still gave her enough light to see where she should set her feet. By listening to the information coming from the animals in the forest, she knew which direction he had gone.

She was going to hunt Numair down, or at least try. After walking a few hundreds meters into the deep forest, she suddenly heard the warning cry of an owl. A man was following her, and he was being careful not to alert her to his presence.

Picking up a branch about the size of a man's arm, she slipped behind a tree and waited for a sign. Sure enough, the owl over her head warned her and Daine swung the branch as hard as she could.

She was pretty sure that it wasn't Numair, the owl had assured her of that by answering one single question. She simply asked if the man held an enormous fire inside him, and the answer had been a certain 'no'. It could only be the assassin that was following her.

The branch hit its target — the temple of the assassin's head. The man, a young man Daine realized, stumbled to the ground unconscious.

She allowed the branch to drop suddenly from her hand as the pounding in her veins became too much. There was blood on the man's temple.

Suddenly, she clapped her hand over her mouth as nausea hit her. Turning away, she threw up beside the tree. She wasn't sick because of the blood she had seen, but because of the feeling of guilt and self-loathing. Glancing back, she wondered if she should check the young man's pulse.

Daine dried her mouth with the backside of her hand and wiped it on her breeches. She took in the man's form and his appearance, and stopped as short cut brown hair caught her attention. Daine knelt down and turned the man's head to the side. He was handsome, she thought, and tried not to smile over the thought that she had quite possible just taken out a very dangerous assassin.

A fox nearby announced that it had found her husband and it could take her to him. Daine thanked it and paused before she stood. Laying cold fingers carefully on the side of the young man's neck, she found a pulse. He was not dead.

Rising from the ground, she followed the fox into the darkness of the forest. As she maneuvered around mossy green roots, the fox told her of strange men in the forest. She was beginning to run as the next warning from an owl hit her hard.

The strange men, bandits she corrected, wanted to engage in a fight with her husband. A fight that was rather unfair, or so the owl thought. Daine hurried through the forest, pushing branches out of the way.

At some point a bush caught her, entangling its long, thorn-covered-branches in her clothes. Cursing under her breath, she fought as she felt long cuts break open on her arms, cheeks and neck. It took her forever to get out and away from that cursed bush, but she finally reached the clearing where the owl was observing the men. She counted eleven of them, circling around a rather angry-looking Numair.

In his hand gather black orbs of fire, but apart from that he stood calmly — waiting.

Daine had lowered herself to her knees, wanting to get a better look, when a grim faced man laughed out loud. The sound chilled her and goosebumps broke up along her spine. "So you still claim that the young woman you married managed to sneak out from underneath your nose?"

"Yes," Numair growled. He was standing in such a way that he resembled a mountain-cat ready to strike, but he also seemed to be holding himself back and that surprised Daine. "She's surprisingly skilled in that art," he continued and glanced to the side where Daine kneeled, frowning over his words. Did he already know that she had snuck from the cave? Why was he deliberately lying to the warrior? Couldn't he see that it only made them more eager?

Numair continued, turning back to the man in front of him as the warrior unsheathed his sword. "I wouldn't do that," he warned the man, "we are still waiting for…someone."

She was wondering who that someone was when a woman stepped out from the shadows — a small, muscular woman with fiercely red hair.

Daine was about to shout a warning as another man stepped out from the shadows, behind the woman. However, before Daine could get herself to do anything, the man was flying through the air — only to land on his back, unconscious. Daine's mouth dropped over how easily and quickly the woman had managed that feat. Daine stepped back a bit, concealing herself, and watched as the woman took off what seemed to be riding gloves, hooking them on her belt.

The woman smiled and lifted her face, revealing violet eyes shining with pure amusement. She spoke, her voiced laced with amusement, "Interesting company you are keeping these days, Numair. Aren't you capable of defending yourself?"

Daine crawled forth and lowered herself down to the ground once more. She recognized the woman's voice and apparently Numair had been expecting the newcomer. His voice rang out into the silence of the air.

"Of course, my Lady Lioness," he said mockingly, his eyes still following the movements of the men standing around him, "but you would be angry with me if I didn't let you participate in the excitement." He was closing and opening his hands slowly, every time letting the balls of fire disappear only to reappear yet again.

The red haired woman laughed happily. "Always the gentleman, Numair – even when it comes to a fight," she paused before she halted in her steps. "Do you ask permission before you do any killing, or are you going to pull the same stunt as when you snuck out of the castle? You left behind a very annoyed king…and I had to deal with him!" Daine frowned, finding the red haired woman to be very rude. Was she trying to start some kind of argument?

"Snuck out?" Numair said roughly, eyeing the man in front of him. "Better that it was you who dealt with him and not me," he tilted his head slightly to the side, "and by the way, I'm not the one whose line of work involves mostly fighting!" The man who stood facing Numair shifted uneasily.

"Do not question my profession! I'm not the one who stumbled into an assassin by mistake," the woman hissed low and moved her feet, planting them firmly on the ground. Daine could see that the woman had a sword hanging on her belt, but it didn't seem that she was going to use it anytime soon.

"I'm not questioning anything. I'm simply wondering why you came alone," Numair growled as a large man with a doubled-sided ax began to draw closer to him.

Daine frowned. Why the charade? They were arguing as if they had been married for years. She had finally realized where she recognized the woman's voice from, but back then they had talked to each other in a friendly manner. Now, there seemed to be only cold radiating from them both. Daine realized slowly that they were acting like that in order to distract the bandits.

After Alanna had arrived, the warriors had spread themselves out, dividing their numbers equally between the two Tortallans. It was now that Daine realized that the warriors weren't Gallan. Their skin was dry from heavy frost and their clothes consisted of fur, something that wasn't exactly rare in Galla, but...Daine's attention was brought back to the scene in front of her.

One of the warriors had made a move — a very wrong move.

The woman, Alanna Daine guessed, turned abruptly and lifted a hand to the man, warning him. "Do not play any games," she said simply to the man that had pulled out a grim-looking sword. "It wouldn't be wise to do anything," she paused briefly before she continued, smiling wickedly, "yet".

The man's shoulders drooped as if he was some lad that had been scolded by his mother for sneaking into the kitchen and dipping his finger into the whipped cream. Daine watched in amusement as the huge warrior, the same height as Numair, lowered his sword in shame.

Still observing the man, the red haired woman spoke to Numair in an ice cold voice, "Don't scold me over my being here." Both Tortallans still seemed fully aware that the men were changing positions — five of them had surrounded Numair and the rest had positioned themselves around Alanna.

"I'm not," Numair answered back and flicked his hands in the direction of two nearest grim-looking warriors, "I just want to get this over with so I can return to the cave where she is waiting." He seemed to be cursing under his breath as he realized his mistake. Daine cursed as well, aware of his slip of the tongue.

Two bandits, those who were furthest away from everyone else, looked at each other. In a silent agreement, they turned on their heels and began to run in the direction of Daine's hiding place.

She froze on the spot, unable too move as the two bandits abruptly fell to the ground only ten feet away from her. It only took a moment and then they were gone, turned to ashes by a violet fire that had come from the red haired woman.

"Stupid," Alanna commented and twisted her body as the first bandit attacked her with his sword. She dropped to the ground with rehearsed speed, turning her body so one of her legs shot out, overturning the man in the process.

Alanna was on her feet yet again before Daine could blink and had drawn her sword. In one fluid movement she cut the man down, leaving him to the Black God. The Lioness looked back to where Numair was holding off his own attackers. "One would think that you had more brains than to let slip to Bandits where you left her," she hissed under her breath, but loud enough for Daine to hear it as a second bandit took the place of the dead one.

"Brains or no brains" Numair simply shouted back before he paused. One of the Scanran warriors formed a small and weak ball of fire in his hand, sending it against the Black Robed Mage a second later.

Daine looked on as Numair merely leaned forward and snatched the ball with his hands, sending it skywards where it exploded — illuminating the sky. "They knew that we were here. I don't know exactly how, but it was only a matter of time before they found us. It's better to have the fight here than at the cave. She is safe where she is," he ended his sentence as the warrior halted in his attack, as if he was unsure about how he should proceed.

The man didn't stand a chance as invisible hands reached out and strangled him where he stood. Looking down at where the warrior had dropped dead, following his comrade into the black realm, Numair shook his head and sighed. "It's a pity that they choose such a path," he said, lifting a hand and gesturing at the man with the doubled-edge ax. The weapon, which seemed to be quite heavy, dropped to the ground and the bandit struggled to lift it up. Daine giggled quietly as she realized what Numair had done — gluing the ax to the ground would leave the bandit occupied long enough for her husband to attend to the third warrior who was sneaking up behind him.

A battle cry sounded and Daine turned her head in time to see that the red haired woman, unarmed, was hanging on the back of a huge bandit. The man was taller than Numair and more muscular. Daine recognized him the one that Alanna had scolded earlier.

The bandit roared in frustration and the woman replied with an eerie calmness, "Oh please — for Goddess' sake — be quiet!" The man did just that by freezing on the spot, only to tilt to the right and topple to the ground. Daine could have sworn that the sound of the man's body hitting the ground could be heard everywhere. Alanna rolled away from the man before she was caught underneath, only to be on her feet seconds later.

Then something caught Daine's eyes, a small movement. Before she knew what she was doing, she grabbed the bow from her back and pulled the string back on the bow with an arrow ready. Without blinking she shot. The man dropped from the tree where he had been sitting — waiting with his own bow pulled, aiming at Numair's back.

Her arrow sat like a third eye in the middle of the bandit's forehead, penetrating the skull, when he landed on the ground. Daine lowered her bow with shaking hands. She had startled herself and, looking down, she realized that the bow had shifted its nature — altering itself to fit more precisely in her hand.

Daine sank to her knees. She had killed yet again, she began to think, as several screams erupted from either side of the clearing.

Thirty battle-ready men wearing spears, axes, swords and other kind of weapons came forth in a frantic stampede. 'How could so many men be coming from nowhere?' She thought as nausea hit her and she emptied her stomach once more. She felt weak, strangely weak — just as she had before...

Daine's focus shifted to where Alanna was pulling her sword out from where it had been embedded in a warrior. The woman turned around, so she stood back to back with Numair.

Both of them wore determined expressions on their faces and Alanna turned her head slightly, her violet eyes ablaze with fire. "Well, this is going to be interesting. How shall we split them?" Alanna asked as Numair flicked his hand at the first wave of warriors. They flew through the air for thirty feet, only to rise from the ground, even angrier than before.

"What about 30/70?" Numair asked and pushed more men away. Some landed in a thorn bush and Daine could hear them scream in agony. The other men were luckier, merely landing on the ground with thuds.

"Nah," the woman said, binding a knot on some string that she had pulled from her pocket, "I think that since you invited me, it's only fair if we split it 50/50." She tightened the knot and five bandits found themselves being levitated up in the air, only to remain there — fighting off the invisible magic that held them there. Alanna tied another knot and the five men were turned upside-down. A few bandits tried to pull them down by tugging on the trapped men's hands, but in was in vain.

"Then that's settled," Numair said and took a step away from the red haired woman. Alanna surprised the forthcoming men by running towards them, letting loose a battle cry.

One of the warriors simply took flight and fled from the woman that now reminded Daine of a large cat from one of the books she had been reading. A lioness was the accurate description of what she was seeing. Daine turned her head to where Numair stood she noticed out of the corner of her eye a man standing almost still, muttering to himself.

Some kind of brown fire twisted around his hands and before Daine could think about what she was doing, she had thrown herself out of the shadows.

A battle cry almost as vicious as Alanna's tore from her throat. Something inside her moved as the brown fire broke free from the man's hands to float towards Numair, who was occupied by his attackers. Something ripped her skin, burned her cells — just as it had done previously. It was now biting every part of her insides and she could feel the presence of something that wanted and needed to be free.

The feeling was hurting her, torturing her, but Daine tried to push it back as she ran. When she reached the stone where she had access to the mystery man's back, she dropped the bow and she felt nothing but pain as copper teeth sank themselves into the wall of glass Numair had put inside her in a fight to gain or regain control.

Unable to bear the pain anymore, Daine let go of everything. She breathed in relief and allowed the beast to take control once more.