So shockingly I return with another chapter, enjoy!

Disclaimer-I don't own Avalon…come on people, it's fun to use our brains…

"Pack mate, pack mate; wake up! Please, pack mate!" Adriane groaned, annoyed as Dreamer nudged her arm repeatedly. For a few moments she tried to push his muzzle away.

"What is it Dreamer?" his voice was groggy from sleep and dripping with annoyance. She sat up on her elbows, knowing she was fighting a loosing battle, and squinted her eyes at the glowing green numbers on her alarm clock. "It's 5:30 in the morning! And it's Saturday!" She rolled over, determined to go back to sleep but the mistwolf leapt on her bed, throwing massive paws at her legs, preventing any form of relaxation.

"Tasha needs you!"

"Tasha?"

"Something's wrong, we have to help her."

Still sleepy but with a new rush of adrenaline Adriane sat up right. "What do you mean something's wrong? Is someone hurt?"

Dreamer whined and leapt off the bed with a thump and scratched at the door. She felt the blood leave her face even though she could feel her heart beating twice as fast. Hastily she pulled on a pair of socks, mismatched, and pushed on her slippers before grabbing her robe and silently chasing after Dreamer through the dark little house and out the front door. The woods were silent and usually she would have stopped and took time to notice the natural beauty of it all, something that could never be accomplished by man with the first rays of light peaking over the dark and still forest with a hazy layer of morning fog hovering just above the ground. Today however the fog seemed to slow her down, to bind her ankles like shackles and the silence of the forest felt like a dark omen.

She pulled her black bathrobe tighter around her thin body, wishing she had worn her full length sweatpants to bed instead of her shorts. It was only a short walk to the manor but today it seemed to take an eternity to reach the back door of what use to be the kitchen, now dusty and covered in cobwebs from years of disuse but still holding the air of Victorian pride, and through the foyer. She felt like she was climbing the great pyramids rather then a slightly longer then average stair case and she was out of breath, something these stairs hadn't done to her in years. Down this hall then that one, around this corner and back another, had the mirror always been so far away? Finally she saw it shimmering at the end of the hall, a string of ivy wrapped around its dulling golden frame and an ancient door to an unknown room standing beside it. The mirror glittered and rippled as someone tried to contact them from the other side.

"Tasha!" she dropped to her knees before the mirror and waited until a green blob came into view through the churning of the mirror's surface.

"Adriane?" The familiar voice sounded tired and a little hoarse.

"Yeah, I'm here, what's going on?" She tried to keep the panic out of her voice.

There was a long pause and she thought she could see the green shifting around in the all ready shifting surface. "I think you'd better come here, but get Kara and Emily too!"

"Dreamer, go find Kara and Emily!" She commanded, having no intention of leaving. Tasha made a noise as if to disagree with this plan but Adriane was all ready pushing herself into the uneasy surface of the mirror.

As the goblin laboratory came into focus she knew something was wrong, the normally neat counters were cluttered with half finished experiments, as if Tasha had stopped in the middle of whatever she was doing, and the goblin teen herself was a wreck. She was usually as neat as her work area, with her cute black hair brushed neatly out of her face and her clothes professionally crisp, but this morning was not the case. Her hair was untouched, sticking up, frizzy and falling across her light green face, which appeared far paler then usual. She held a red robe tight around her body; she was still in her sleepwear. Her expression held none of her usual playful excitement, she looked tired and even a bit older, and her eyes were red and puffy from crying.

"Tasha," Adriane felt a loss for words "What…what happened?" With a sigh and a final uneasy glance at the mirror Tasha turned and motioned for her to follow. They walked past the many rows of shelves a counters that made up the laboratory, most of them clean and well kept, a few with items still out until they passed one where Tasha turned her head away and Adriane jumped as if something had jumped out at them. Glass was smashed, their contents of powders and liquid covered the floor, but she hardly saw any of them for the sickening amount of blood that coated the floor. Adriane had never felt queasy around blood before, she had seen doctors operating on television and blood in action movies where others turned away, she had even seen a few sever cuts on humans and animals alike and hadn't flinched but this was a whole other story. It was one thing to see that blood and know that it was Hollywood effects or the person would be all right and quite another feeling to see it spread out along the floor like paint, and know it all belonged in someone you knew, maybe even someone you loved. After a moment of blank staring she tried to calm down her breathing, she turned away from Tasha so she wouldn't see the brief look of relief that crossed her face. She felt terrible for whoever had been so brutally attacked, truthful she was no where near being at ease, but it hadn't been Zach. There was no reason for him to be at the Goblin laboratory so early in the morning, and she was pretty sure human blood wasn't that dark.

A few shaky breathes later she felt ready to speak "Who…" when her voice gave out she tried again "who's is it…" was that really her voice, so high pitched and frail?

Before Tasha could answer footsteps echoed through the empty corridor to their right and a blonde human boy turned the corner.

"Zach!" Adriane gasped and without thinking flung her arms around him. Astounded he hardly reacted until she released her grip and pulled back, crimson faced. "I'm sorry…" she stammered "just…" she gestured in the direction of the blood and he nodded, understanding. His face was pale and his hair disheveled. She didn't want to look at the scene of chaos but didn't feel safe in turning her back to it, like if she let her guard down whatever horrors that had occurred there would leap up and strike her from behind. Focusing in on Zach's tired features and nothing else she searched his face for any sign of physical upheaval, she found none other then exhaustion. "What happened?"

With a burdened sigh Zach looked back to Tasha, she rested on the counter with her head in her hands. Finding no help in the goblin sorceress he stared at the wall above Adriane's head, taking both her hands in his. His blue eyes shook with pain and he made no move to brush his pail hair away from his face. Adriane took a small step forward, unsure of what to say, they were inches apart.

"I was sleeping when Nightwing showed up…" he averted his eyes to the floor and tried to laugh "Thing was screeching and carrying on a fit." He shook his head "I didn't know what was wrong, damn thing can't talk, and jumped on the Drake and followed it through a portal and all the way here." He coughed and flipped his hair uneasily.

Adriane braced a hand on his shoulder and applied a bit of pressure until her met her eyes. "Stop delaying it Zach, what happened?"

He tried to look away but found she had him pinned, he couldn't break her gaze as hard as he tried.

"God Zach, if you're having this much trouble telling Adriane what are you going to do when Kara gets here?" Tasha laughed humorlessly, staring out the wide window at the beautiful scene painted across the fairy realms as the sun stretched out over the trees. A fresh wave of tears trickled down her face as she fought to keep a false smile in place. Adriane's eyes widened in horror, of course it had been Lorren, who else would have been in the goblin laboratory at such an hour?

"Adriane…" Zach trailed off again unsure.

"Yes?" was there more? What more could he possibly add to this tragic tale?

"It was a Mistwolf." Adriane's heart stopped.

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Kara raced through the dark hallway at Ravenswood Manor, a quick yell to her parents that there was an emergency at Ravenswood and a change of clothes and she was gone. She hadn't even applied any make-up today and her hair was only half brushed, fear raced through her for what could have happened. Passing Emily in a blur at the gate she had continued following Dreamer up the path to the old manor, unlike Adriane she didn't feel out of breath, in fact she didn't remember having to breathe at all. With Emily, Ozzie and Lyra at her heals and Dreamer in front of her she raced down the intricate halls and corridors until the mirror came into view, without a second thought she hit it at full force. It was an eerie feeling, it slowed her down so suddenly she knew she must have injured something but the mirror passing itself was gentler then she had remembered. Crashing to the other side she stumbled for footing and when she finally regained her sight and weight crashed against her back, sending her sprawling to the ground.

"Sorry…" an embarrassed Emily mumbled, helping her back up. Kara nodded in acknowledgement then looked up and her heart sunk. She half hoped someone laughed at the two of them, falling around like newborn foals, just to reassure her things weren't as bad as she assumed but everyone's expression remained grave. She took a few steps forward but Zach and Marlin leapt forward and held her where she was.

"Kara…it's not good." Zach's expression was exhausted and pained, she looked over his shoulder at Adriane and Tasha, neither of them looking at her but at the floor.

"Where's Lorren?"

When no one answered and all refused to meet her eyes she felt her heart kick-start, feeling all the running she had been doing and the cramps in her calves. Struggling to stay up right she tried to push past Marlin and Zach who held her steadfast. "Let me go!" With a final effort she freed herself and continued through the laboratory towards whatever it was they didn't want her to see. Her footsteps echoed off the dreary walls and were magnified in her ears. A few short steps led her to the scene. Blood splattered across the floor, counters and wall. Glass, potions, powers, liquids and broken instruments littered the floor, innocently sitting on top or covered in the red substance.

All sense of reality drained out of her a turbulent spiral, taking all sanity with it as well. Her throat burned and her ears rang, she couldn't connect the two long enough to realize the screech filling the room was from her own mouth. The room swirled, colors bleeding together like she was living in a wet-on-wet water color. Even her mind couldn't form the a reasonable statement to say at this point, her world was falling apart, it had come crumbling down since Lyra had woken her up with eyes full of pity and told her something had happened to Lorren. Lorren, her Lorren was gone. She shuttered as another cry raked through her. Someone was holding her limp form up, keeping her from completely crashing to the floor. Far off there were voices, but they seemed so distant to her.

"He would have made a great king." Adriane whispered softly, but Kara caught every word of that. 'Would' rung in her mind, he was truly gone. Her first, last and only encounter with the boy she loved replayed in her mind over and over, but she couldn't feel his touch or hear his voice, all she could hear was Adriane's use of the past tense while speaking of him and knowing she would never hear him speak to her again. It was too much; all the LSD in the world couldn't trip her to the point of irreconcilable hysteria that she was in now. Slowly she began to come out of her trance-like state, a familiar calming feeling engulfed her form, a dim blue light hovering before her eyes but she swatted it away. She didn't want her friend's false calm, as painful as it was she just wanted to be left to her misery on her own, not to cover it up, it only seemed more painful to do so.

"What…what do you mean 'would'?" Marlin's fierce but quivering voice sounded close to her ear, "We can't give up! We have the greatest healer in all the realms with us, how dare any of you give up so easily." Kara's head snapped up.

"He's still alive?" her voice echoed off the walls, she hadn't meant for her tone to be so loud, or accusing but she couldn't help it, how could no one have told her that he still had breath in his body, that some of his blood still remained inside of him? She struggled to her feet, not bothering to push Marlin off of her as he kept her from falling.

Zach sighed, heavily and covered his face with his hands, "Yes, but Kara, I don't think-"

"I don't care! I want to see him!" Her voice was even louder and higher now. She turned wild eyed to Emily "You have to do something!" her tone had lost all of its demanding quality now though, it was all pleads. All eyes turned to the healer, her eyes were wide and horrified behind unruly auburn curls, full of self doubt. She swallowed though her mouth was dry; looking over the gruesome blood stains and nodded timidly, wiping the moisture from her eyes with the back of her hand. Marlin stood tensely by Kara's side, dying to comfort Emily but not daring to leave the hysterical Blazing Star for fear of her falling.

Tasha, who had remained silent the entire time, rose from her slumped position and wordlessly led them down the corridor, this way and that, with even more anxiety raking through them all then when they had raced through the winding halls of Ravenswood. Suddenly Tasha turned on her heel and faced them, her head lowered so her short hair covered her somber face. One hand shot out and opened the closest door. Kara shook as she looked inside the room, but from where her feet were rooted all she could see was the far wall. She turned to Tasha and stared at her, willing her to look back.

Tasha's eyes were red and swollen from tears which were still coming, her cheeks drenched. The two girls locked eyes and forgot all the others standing around them. Finally the suddenly frail looking goblin girl opened her mouth, no noise came out, a second attempt led to a small croaking sobbing noise and Kara hugged her on instinct. Tasha hugged her back like a sister. Kara could feel her shaking as well; she knew she was the only one of the group who could possibly understand her pain, none of the rest held Lorren as dear to their hearts as they did.

"I...I…found him." Tasha choked, her voice sounded nothing like her usual peppy chatter. Pulling away the girls locked eyes once more. No more sobs came from the sorceress but her shaking had turned more violent, racking her body with tremors. "It-it-it was early this mor-morning. I wa-was coming down to star-start my work and-and I smelled bl-bl-blood." She swallowed hard, looking more like she was choking she struggled so hard "I-I-I did-didn't know wh-what had happened. Then I s-s-s-saw him lying there…." She trailed off, eyes wide and terrified. She tried to say more but her throat had given out. A part of Kara's mind wandered, following Tasha through the corridor to find Lorren lying broken and bloody on the floor, but she quickly pushed the image from her mind, she didn't want to think of it anymore. With a deep breath she strode past Tasha through the doorway.

Across the room was a single bed, surrounded by three goblin healers, all busy with different things and talking quickly among themselves. The goblin prince was blocked from view by a willowy female healer who turned around at a cough from Tasha. The woman looked tired and her eyes were tense with worry. "We just finished applying the bandages…" Kara rushed past her to Lorren's side. The prince looked nothing like she had expected. In her mind's eyes she had seen her love ripped apart, drenched in his own blood, twisted and mangled but it looked like he was sleeping, resting peacefully on his back with his head resting on his right cheek. His onyx and green hair was ruffled as if from sleep, gently she ran her hand through it, remembering doing the same just two nights ago. His left cheek still bore a bruise from John's fist, her mind trailed back to the two boys fight; it seemed so far away though it had been hardly three days prior.

The woman was back by Lorren's side, she pulled back the goblin boy's covers and Kara heard gasps behind her. It hit her brutally, the creature hadn't been attacking out of fear or nature, it was aiming to kill. He still wore his clothes from the day before; he hadn't even made it to bed. The denim on his jeans, jeans she had bought for him, had been slashed in a few places, the cuts weren't deep or serious looking but the edges of the torn fabric were red-brown with the stains, the true damage however was his upper half. His shirt was gone, obviously destroyed in the attack, but bandages covered most of his torso. The dressings were soaked through with blood and Kara could see it still seeping through. He was hit hardest on the neck. The beast hadn't wasted any time; it had gone straight for the kill. It was then she saw the toll it had taken on his arms, also wrapped in bandages, braced at awkward angles at his sides.

The Blazing Star ran her hand delicately over the braces and bindings that held his arms, biting her lower lip to stop its quivering. "What was it?" she looked back up at the woman, "Why didn't he fight back?"

With an audible exhale the goblin looked to the ceiling and then back down to her patient. "It was a mistwolf. There were bruises on his chest, we believe in slammed into him with its forepaws, his sword was laying a few yards away; the force might have knocked it out of his hands. Then it went for his neck, those scratches on his legs were probably the hind claws."

"And his arms?" She looked back to the immense damage done to the tender skin.

She paused again before continuing "His only form of self-defense, it would have killed him if he hadn't fought back so hard." Kara had to remind herself to breath, he had blocked the fangs and claws of a mistwolf with his arms. The thought chilled her to the bone, she could picture every second of the attack; Lorren stalking into the dark laboratory, sword in hand, and a shadow with fangs leaping from the darkness, forcing weapon out of hand and the boy to the ground. Her stomach churned as she imagined the enormous wolf standing over him, knowing it had won as it slashed at his tender skin, blood flying as he tried to keep its maw from his neck with his bare arms. Resting her hand softly on his left cast she imagined to torn tendons, slashed muscles and broken bones, all of which would take a long while to heal.

The woman took a hesitant step forward and took another deep breath before reaching down and tilting Lorren's head to the side, revealing three long scratches racing from his left temple, curving to his chin. Kara's intake was so sharp it burned her throat. Shaking she leaned down and ran her fingers across the marks before leaning down and kissing him the middle of the thickest one.

"Where's Raelda?" Tasha asked meekly.

"Voraxx and Selinda are in the other room with her; we had to give her a mild sedative to calm her down…." Kara cringed thinking of the goblin queen, though right now she wasn't a high and mighty queen; she was a hysterical mother with a dying son.

"He's lost a lot of blood, far too much…"

Kara looked to Emily. She saw her own desperation reflected in her friend's frightened eyes. With a deathly pail face and shaking hands the healer took a hesitant step forward, hand outstretched. Gently she laid her hand on Lorren's bandaged chest, a soft blue light spreading from her touch. Marlin moved forward, laying his hands on her shoulders. Kara too moved to Emily, resting her hands over top of the healers, adding an extra boost of energy. Lyra, Dreamer, Ozzie, Zach, Adriane and finally Tasha all moved to take a spot beside Emily.

Kara stared at Lorren through blurry eyes. She refused to believe that she would never again feel his lips against her, refused to believe she would never feel his warm body again and certainly refused to believe that the goblin kingdom, through all its turmoil with the Dark Sorceress, would have to burry a member of their royalty before he even became of age. No, she wouldn't let that happen. She would kiss him again and she would tell him how much he meant to her and he would become the greatest king the kingdom had ever seen. With new vigor she pushed her magic harder.

Emily bit her bottom lip to keep from yelping as Kara sent the new wave through her. She was tiring fast but she wouldn't give up on her friends, Lorren or Kara. She felt Marlin's hands on her shoulders, holding her steady and his breath on her cheek. She couldn't let go, her exhaustion would be well worth it if Lorren survived. There was no way she would let everyone down now. Painfully, she too pictured the burial of the prince; it might just be enough to push the rest of the goblin kingdom to The Dark Sorceress. Right now they needed their prince more then ever. She pushed her magic stronger.

Zach too watched with high anxiety for Lorren, whom he considered one of his best friends. True he had The Drake and the mistwolves for company and they were the greatest family he could ever ask for. He also had Adriane who he knew he was closer to then anyone else, but Lorren had been his first and best guy friend, his first male friend who didn't have fur and fangs. Lorren was the first person he had ever confessed his feelings for Adriane to. Sparing a sideways glance at the warrior's pail face he saw absolute terror in her dark eyes. He never wanted her to look like that again. Gently he pulled her a bit closer as they both focused their magic to aid Emily's healing. Looking at his bloody friend he couldn't help but feel responsible. A mistwolf had attacked him. After all, shouldn't Zach have been the first too know if a mistwolf was so violent? He raked his mind for any wolf who could have done such a thing. The cunning Iceclaw? The enormous Thunderheart? The lonesome Stareye? The sharp-tongued Firefang? No not even they would commit an act such as this. Much as he wished she didn't, he knew Adriane felt the same way.

Indeed she did, blaming herself for the mauling of her friend. How could she not, she was The Warrior after all, and some Warrior she was, letting a member of her own mistwolf friends nearly kill one of her other friends. How could she have not seen this coming, why couldn't she have prevented it? She pressed herself tighter into Zach's arms. Though she felt horribly guilty for thinking such a thing, she was glad it wasn't him. Looking over at Kara, her friend merely a reflection of what she had been before she couldn't imagine what she would have been like if it had been Zach laying in that bed instead of Lorren. As soon as they were out of earshot of the others she would tell him everything. Tell him how much she loved him and how much she needed him. Things she knew she would never say if she hadn't thought it had been him hurt for those first awful minutes. They were in a war; he needed to know, in case-no she wouldn't think like that. She pressed her magic harder to distract herself.

Marlin too looked over his friend with a heavy heart. He Zach and Lorren had become very close recently, bonded together by the girls. All three of them were complete opposites of the other but that's what evened them out. Marlin was intelligent and arrogant and Zach was brave and hot headed but where would the two of them be without Lorren's cunning and nervous demeanor? Besides Emily and Niva, Zach and Lorren were his closest friends, who he spent all of his time with when Niva grew bored and Emily was at her home on Earth. Marlin knew something the others didn't though, he knew this attack was provoked by the book, that damned book that knew them better then they knew themselves. He couldn't exactly pinpoint how he knew it was about the book, he just did, in the same way he knew what he had to do.

"Midnight" the voice in the cave had whispered, had whispered to him. He knew he had to return there, tonight, and see what answers he could find. For a moment he thought of bringing the others but as he looked down upon his broken friend, listened to Kara's sobs going dry and felt Emily's body quiver beneath his fingers he knew he had to go alone. Pressing his check to hers he made a silent promise to her that he wouldn't let Lorren's fate be hers as well.