So, interestingly enough, a lotta people have recently asked me for better descriptions of what Xeria and Arcon look like. Personally, I like to leave my characters semi-ambiguous so its up to the reader to picture them, that way then can be anybody xD ('cept for Untamed, since their animal parts end up being important, lol)

I'll say, I guess, that Xeria is an average thin, from lack of food and from activity with chores and whatnot, not truly toned, although the chores have given her some slight definition, pretty flat chested, not at all curvy (unlike Aani) with a sort of light brown or dirty blond hair color (b/c being in the sun a lot would start to bleach the brownish color).

Arcon on the other hand, has dark black hair, and a build that's lean more then muscular, although toned from all the magick running through him and…well…I would consider Elves to be health conscience about what they eat, but not bother bulking up since they fight from afar.

Anyways, the descriptions are mostly up to you all, but that's just a bit to help in case you wanted it lol

On another note, I'm not hating Aani so much lately…

Also, I'd like to apologize for any inaccuracy with land descriptions. Please ignore it^^

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"A Blood Rose?" I asked, having absolutely no clue what the frig' he was talking about.

Without nodding, Arcon nodded.

Wait, what? Jeez.

"It's a flower that only blooms every 100 years," Aani spoke up, taking her place at my side, "Most people assume it to be a legend, because only one will bloom, and not many people ever find it. I think history tells us that only three have ever been able to pluck one."

"100 years doesn't seem so long, considering the life length of Mages and Venomancers, and the immortality of Elves."

"I suppose you're right," Aani smiled at me, "but like I said, only one will bloom and if it's not picked within twelve days, it dies off until the next cycle."

"The part that proves the most challenging," Arcon spoke up, eyes never leaving the ground way below us, "is the fact that the location of the Blood Rose changes with each bloom cycle."

My brows shot up, "So then how do we know it's here?"

"What I Saw," Aani practically beamed as she spoke, "I was able to see the Blood Rose as it first bloomed, the day after you arrived with us at Twilight Temple. I informed the Lady Oracle and shared my Sight with her; she recognized the terrain as Burning Heart land."

I stared down at the blackened and burnt earth at the bottom of the cliffs edge, "But there's a lot of land down there. Do you know where we're supposed to search?"

"Uh," Aani blushed, "not really. But Arcon and I had been discussing this and we think if he sort of, well, heals my mind when we get down there, I might be able to hone in on the location enough for him to then add his tracking magick to...and...uh..."

She could tell I had no idea what she was talking about.

"Do not concern yourself," Arcon said, eyes on me, "Aani and I have tried this technique out on other, simpler things, and it showed promise. We shall try when we get down there."

"Oh," so that's why the two of them had been spending so much time together... "Okay. So what does this flower, rose, whatever look like?"

Aani's eyes seem to cloud with love, "It's beautiful, almost crystalline in appearance."

I frowned, "What's that got to do with blood?"

"The Rose is called blood for other reasons, Xeria," Arcon lifted his and Aani's packs onto his back, then passed me mine, "we should get going; there's no telling how long it will take to locate the Blood Rose. I do not sense any Wraiths below, at the moment, so now would be a good time to take advantage."

"Will you put up those barrier thingies?" I asked as he scooped me into his arms.

"No; they will not work against Wraiths, only animals. As for them, none can exist in a land such as the one we are going to."

"Let's hope what Aani Saw was right, then."

She shot me a look and hopeful smile, then transformed into a fox, curling up, once again, on my lap.

I clutched myself tightly against the Elf as he unfurled his wings and pushed us into the air, hovering a moment above the cliffs before settling into a decline.

I tried not to look down as best as I could.

"So why are we getting this Blood Rose?" I asked, "What does it do?"

"Like the Oracle had stated, one of the reasons we are attaining the Rose is so no one else can. Other reasons include its usefulness in this war; my destiny involves either myself, or someone else, dying, and the Blood Rose can help prevent that. I do not know which path will lead to victory and an end in this war, so it is best to be prepared either way. Of course, the Rose has its usefulness in any battles or problems we must face on our journey," he tilted his head to look at me, "and it has its uses with you, as well. That is why when we find it, I would like you to hold onto it."

"Me?" I asked nervously.

His silent pause was a yes, "Your magic has been trying to consume you much, lately, and next time it does so I, or anyone, may not be there to stop it. In such an event, the Blood Rose will lend a hand."

I scrunched my nose, "You gonna tell me what the hell this Blood Rose is, then?"

He was silent, staring at the quickly growing ground. I chanced a look over my shoulder and felt nauseous; we were dropping pretty fast, and the closer I got, the worse the lands of Burning Heart looked. It was kinda like a giant scab that had been set on fire, then doused with bloody lava. If that even made sense.

"The Blood Rose, despite its rose-shaped characteristics, is only composed of three petals," Arcon spread his wings wider at that moment, slowing our descent as we prepared for landing, "Legend says that when Pan Gu wiped out the Wraiths, he rid himself of some of his blood to atone for his mistake in creating them. One drop fell to our lands, and from it bloomed the crystalline Blood Rose," he touched down gently, setting me on my feet as Aani jumped from my lap, swirling into her Venomancer form.

"And?" I prompted, eyeing the sooty, crispy rock beneath my feet. A greedy, selfish part of me was picturing myself using the Rose to avenge my father and Edrow...however it worked.

"The Blood Rose is a sort of amplifier of power and ability. It provides an instantaneous and immediate boost of magick, either when the bearer calls upon it, or when the bearer's life is at risk. The magick magnification is not permanent, and lasts only a short moment, but could be the difference between life and death, or victory and defeat; that is the strength of the Blood Rose."

"The user will be left weary afterwards," Aani added, "and each time the magick of the Blood Rose is called upon, a petal will shatter. Which means the Rose is only good for three boosts."

"Aani," Arcon extended his hand, "let us try to locate the Rose now. Xeria can continue her questioning later, if she must."

I frowned, "Forgive me for being curious."

Aani tried to hold back her laugh, then placed her hand into Arcon's. I watched as he pressed three fingers against her forehead, the tips glowing with magick. Aani's eyes shut tight, a look of concentration crossing her face.

I sighed, breaking my gaze on them to take in my surroundings, but they were no different then how they looked from above. There was a cave behind me, a little way from us, decorated with stalactites and mites and whatever the hell else. A little further in the distance, and in a slightly different direction, I could see what appeared to be some sort of jagged building.

"Anything?" Arcon asked.

Aani frowned, "No, for some reason all I'm getting is flashes of armor and what looks like a stem with black thorns."

Arcon's expression didn't change, "Try to hone in on the black thorns, they may have something to do with the Rose."

"I don't think they do," she scrunched her nose, "I think I'm picking up on the wrong trail. You want me to see what it is or just push it aside and keep searching for the Rose?"

"Does it seem to pose a threat?"

Aani was silent a moment, and then, "I don't think so, unless flowery armor seems dangerous?"

Arcon blinked in response, "Armor is a natural part of our world nowadays, continue your searching for the Rose."

I turned back to the cave, looking like a menacing open mouth with jagged teeth. It sure gave me the spooks. Well, this whole damn place gave me the spooks. Arcon had said there were no Wraiths hanging around at the moment, but I still felt nervous as shit. And that cave... I felt like it was calling me.

Yeah, probably because there was something hungry inside of it.

I eyed the lava pooling about twenty feet from the side of the cave, making a note not to get too close. The heat from that pool would be enough to cause some pretty good damage, even at a distance.

How could a beautiful crystal rose exist in an empty, dead land like this?

I could hear conversation start up between Arcon and Aani again; apparently she wasn't doing so well with the whole Sight thing. Go figure.

I wanted to get the hell out of here as fast as I could, so, doing the obviously stupid thing, I started walking toward the cave.

It pissed me the crap off that neither Aani nor Arcon noticed that I had began walking away; they were too busy playing touchy touchy with their minds. Feh.

The closer I got to the cave, the more freaked out I became. I swear the cave opening, which was also adorned with chain, was shaped like an evil, smiling mouth, hungering to cause pain and suffering.

Whoever the hell was in charge of naming land and things totally needed to give it a creepy name like, the Cave of Sadistic Glee, or something.

It took about five minutes before I actually got to the cave, not that I had been walking all that fast, and both Elf and Venomancer still had no effing clue I was gone. How lovely.

I stared at the entrance, wondering what I had been intending to do now. Tentatively I took a few steps until I was at a distance where I could read out and touch the rock. I squinted; was it just me, or was there some sorta weird, glowy, red air stuff hanging around the entrance? It reminded me of the portal Aani created to enter Twilight Temple. I glanced back over my shoulder, just able to see the faint glow from Arcon's fingertips as he healed Aani's mind, or whatever, then took a deep breath and stepped inside.

Hmm, bad idea? Probably.

A long hallway stretched before me, and, seeing as there was an idiot theme to everything I was doing today, I began to follow it.

It wasn't long before my breath caught in my throat and I froze in disbelief.

There, poking out of the cracked floor where some dirt had found its way to freedom, was a small rose-shaped flower, that looked less like a flower then it did a statue carved from crystal.

"No way," I whispered to myself. That had been way too friggin' easy, and my common sense told me that if something was too easy, it was probably a trap.

But there it was, and I suppose had we touched down in a different location far from this cave, I wouldn't have considered this spot to be easy. It was a damn lucky coincidence though, but I'd take what little luck life offered me.

A few slow, tentative steps and I was able to crouch down before it, taking in it's beauty. The crystal form that it took reflected the small amount of light shining from the entryway, where that odd glowing red air stuff was swirling around. The reflected light sparkled off the flower in a dazzling array of reds, oranges, pinks, and yellows. I looked closer and noted that, although it appeared otherwise, the rose-shaped head of the flower was only comprised of three petals, like Arcon had said, and unlike in Aani's odd vision earlier, there were no thorns, only small raised bumps in locations where thorns should be, if the flower had been a true flower.

Unsure of how to go about doing so, I reached forward to pluck the flower from the ground, pausing with my hand around the stem. It was warm to the touch, not cold like crystal should be, and as I grasped the Blood Rose in my hand, I felt the surge of power that prickled into my skin; this truly was created by a drop of Pan Gu's own blood.

With a slow, nervous exhale, I pulled the stem smoothly free of the ground and stood, gripping the flower delicately with both hands.

I wanted to kiss its beauty and power and warmth and hope and magick.

"Congratulations, Xeria."

I froze.

"Now be a dear and hand me that, will you?"

Holding the flower against my chest, I slowly turned to face the man behind me as he seemed to melt from the shadows into view. He was dressed from head to toe in armor, holding the hilt of a sword in one hand and letting the tip drag along the rocky ground. His face was masked in a light-weight metal helmet, which seemed to cover his face in shadows more then it did with metal.

"Who are you?" I asked, trying not to let my voice shake. I was blocking the rose pressed against my chest with my hands, but it had to look odd.

He laughed, then extended his hand, "The Blood Rose in your hands, Xeria, if you will."

My eyebrows narrowed, "How do you know my name?"

"Oh, I know much about you."

Dul? No. Was it? I bit my lip.

"I have known much about you ever since you were a little child."

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about."

The man shrugged, still with hand outwards, awaiting the flower, "As long as you hand that to me, it won't matter what I'm talking about."

I glanced to my chest, knowing it was pointless to try and hide the Rose, "Why do you want this?"

He tilted his head, "Why do you want it?"

"I won't give it to you." I was pretty sure he could take it from me if he tried, but I was doing my best to stall in case Aani locked onto its location...or if they actually realized I was gone.

I doubted the latter.

He laughed again, "Well, if I must say, you don't have much of a choice. I can just as easily kill you and take it, although, I must admit, I was planning on killing you once you handed it over, anyway. As well as your little Elf and Venomancer bodyguards waiting out there."

I gasped; somehow he already knew about Arcon and Aani. Had he already fought with them?

"If you don't mind, Xeria, I really don't have all day."

I shoved the Rose in my pocket, knowing that it was too tough to break in there, and tried to run for it. Yet another stupid action of the day.

With a flip, the man was in front of me, blocking my path. Fear stricken, I managed to shoot myself backwards, smack into the wall on the other side of the hallway.

Before I could think of what to do next, the man was running for me, hands wrapped around his sword hilt. I pushed to my feet as he lifted in preparation to swing down at me, and somehow managed to tumble out of the way, barely. He laughed, as though he was merely playing with me, and readied himself for the next move.

Facing him, I raised my palms next to each other, sparking them.

"Come on," I muttered to myself as he was upon me, but the fire never came, and so I found myself using earth to help me quickly move out of the way.

There was no water down here to fight with, but there was earth, and the lava outside should help a bit with my fire casting, so I tried again. This time I managed to shoot a stream of flame from my fingertips, but he nimbly flipped out of the way, running a few steps up the wall in order to re-route his route back to me.

"Shit, shit, shit!" I managed to jut a jagged strip of rock in front of me just as his blade was about to make contact with my head, but he was still stronger then my magick. The blade cut through the rock, tumbling the crappy shield I had made back to the floor. Luckily, it had given me some running away time, and I was hurdling myself towards the exit.

I heard laughter from behind me, "Where you goin', babe?"

I was hit with a slice of heavy air; it spun my feet from the ground and tossed me into the wall in the original entry-room. The man was there seconds later, swung his sword in a large arc, and another gust hit me, tossing me further from the exit.

Not good, not good. His magick was better then mine.

Suddenly an idea hit me, and I ran at him. He laughed, raising his sword to strike, but I never got near enough. I vanished a foot before coming into his range, feeling the concentrated earth around me, the rush of air as the path in my vision rushed forward in super-speed, tossing me onto the crappy ground where I had left Aani and Arcon. I pushed myself shakily to my feet; even this distance shrink had fatigued me, and I had only traveled five minutes' worth.

I looked around as panic sunk in; Aani and Arcon weren't here. And much to my horror, I could see the masked man making his way quickly, but confidently, toward me, sword dragging tip-down.

Where the friggin' hell had they gone?

"What did you do with them?" I called.

His response was perfectly within earshot by this point, "Me? Why I did nothing. Why should I soil my hands with their worthless deaths? It's bad enough I must lift a finger to kill you. But alas, I am here for that Blood Rose, and I suppose you being here is just making my life easier in the long run."

I glared at him.

"After all, wait, what was that Human saying? Never look a gift-horse in the mouth? Well, I suppose it's of no concern now." He readied his sword.

"I won't let you," I threw my hands up, "I won't fucking let you take this!"

The earth cracked and shifted beneath my feet, threateningly, but I held it at bay, letting my energy and magick store up so I would be ready to send one, fully powered blast at him, because one was probably all I would be able to manage, and I wanted it to be worth it.

He laughed, lowering his blade, "It feels like such a short while ago that you and I were butting heads in a different way. But, who would think what happened last would go array and here you would stand, alive and free, all too annoyingly when I had hoped you were done in."

My grasp on earth almost faltered, "Dul?" I asked accusingly, nervously, about to lose it.

His amused laughter ceased immediately, "How dare you insult me with such an accusation. Dul is, I will admit, a powerful leader, and he certainly has his uses, but he is what he is, merely a pawn in a much wider scheme of things. Prophecies are strange in how they are interpreted; what may seem one way might truly be another, and so he believes he will be ruling many a person, but he already has by being Elder. I suppose he misunderstood and assumed the Oracle was speaking of much, much more, but alas, he was mislead. The greater leadership and control belong to me, regardless of how much Dul believes himself to be at the top of things."

I took a shaky step back, "What do you mean?"

"I suppose I could go into further detail with you on the matter, explain to you the intentions of the Black Thorn, but what would be the point? After all, I plan on killing you. Speaking of which, I really should be getting to it now, don't you think? Enough stalling, Xeria," he reached up to his shadowy helmet, slipping his thumb underneath, "it rather irritates me to speak to you and I'm beginning to be bored," he slid the helmet smoothly from his head, letting it drop to the ground at his feet, "Let's get on with your death so I can claim the Blood Rose and move on with my life." And as the shadows cleared from his face I gasped in horror; a wave of fear, anger, and deep sadness and betrayal ripped through my chest.

And then, as I stood there, frozen in shock, Edrow lifted his sword and charged towards me.