"Wake up, you guys!", a voice resounded in the early morning. Silver hesitantly opened her eyes to find that it wasn't even dawn yet. But what surprised her even more, was Hawk, sitting at the table undisguised and ready to lead them to the Fire Elemental.

"Oh, Hawk, let us sleep some more…", Angela said woozily before she shrieked and sat up, clutching the sheets. "Hawk! I-I'm not… I mean, I haven't… Aaaaah!"

"Nice to see you too, Ange. Silver, you've sure improved! I mean - wow!", the thief spoke as he saw Silver come out of the bathroom fully dressed. "Where did all those curves come from?"

"Oh, shut up! …You look nice yourself.", she retorted when she saw the changes his choice for Dark had brought him. "I can't see any curves, but I'd imagine you wouldn't want me to, eh?" Hawk turned beet red at that remark, taken aback a bit by her odd humour. Lucky for him, Duran woke up just then, saving the day.

"Oh, Hawk, you're here! …Hey, what's the deal?!", he said as he saw Hawk's blush and Silver's satisfied smirk.

"Oh, nothing. Mister I'm-too-damn-sexy-to-be-bothered-by-any-taunts has finally gotten that healthy red color on his face because I made a remark about curves. No, really Hawk…" She rolled her eyes. "You look really hot." That comment made it to Angela's ears, who just came out of the bathroom fully dressed. Ignoring her friend's fits of laughter, Silver continued: "But why did you come here at the crack of dawn?"

"I saw a group of ninjas exit the Fortress. Isabella was with them." Hawk paused briefly, turning his back to the three. "And so was Jess. I've gotta go stop Isabella from killing her!"

"Correction: WE've gotta go stop Isabella from killing her!", Silver said as she walked up to Hawk, putting her hand on his shoulder. Duran and Angela followed suit, and within moments, the four of them were on their way, surprising sleeping Cockatrices and Bulettes while heading after the ninja warlock. Aided by Hawk, whose new skills gave them an extra advantage against the desert creatures, they quickly progressed.

"Hawk, where to now?", Silver asked as she gave a Bulette the final blow. "Can you still -" She stopped in mid-sentence, shaking uncontrollably. Duran saw, and he rushed past Angela.

"Are you allright, Silver?", he asked once the shaking had stopped. She nodded, shakily, but then spoke up so they could hear her clearly.

"Have any of you noticed that we are able to attack even fiercer - if we concentrate a bit longer, that is - by means of an attack charm?"

"An attack charm?", the others asked her.

"Yes, it's like an incantation, but only not using magic. It's a way to focus your physical energy into a better form of attacking. Shade told me. Use whatever phrase you would like and let your energy flow into it - that attack charm, once chosen, will stick in your mind and give you a unique attack! Now, Hawk, where to? Where have they gone to?"

"They followed the southernmost route.", Hawk said, knowing that said route would lead them to a confrontation eventually. And indeed, after two bends in the road, the four stood face to face with Isabella again.

"Oh, how nice of you to come and search your own deaths…", she said in a soft, almost sensual voice. Hawk stepped forward and spoke through clenched teeth.

"Let Jessica go." He took another step forward, but was stopped by Bill and Ben rushing in front of their new mistress.

"Hawk! Hawk, save me!", Jessica tried to yell, but she got no further than a monotonous half-whisper. Isabella turned to her, and looked at her a moment, disgust literally showing on her face, before slapping the poor girl. Angela gasped, and Silver tensed, knowing that she could have killed the slender warlock where she stood only for that one hit.

"You could at least look alive for the last moments you still are alive!" Then, remembering who stood in front of her: "Bill, Ben, take care of them. And I will not accept another failure!" She disappeared, dragging the poor desert princess with her. Hawk once more tried to go after the two, but Bill and Ben blocked his path. Silver watched them start the fusing incantation again and went to Hawk.

"Hawk, we could use your aid in this battle. Do you think you can?"

"I only care for Jessica's life.", the ninja said, and Silver nodded, understanding that his radical change of mind was due to his class change. She gave Angela and Duran a signal and braced herself for the fight that was to come. The hoarse shout the ninja - a combination of two beings - gave, was her signal to attack, alongside Duran and Hawk. Angela stood in the back, chanting Evil Gate while trying to forget the shouts that surrounded her.

"Duran, duck!", Silver shouted both mentally and out loud as she saw the combination ninja prepare to lunge at the other warrior. This drew its attention to her, however, and she barely managed to dodge one of his daggers, faintly noticing the other one scraping her arm a bit. She hit the ninja full on the face with the flat side of her sword, causing it to step back a bit, giving her time to gather her energy.

"Allright, attack charm time… Power of the true fighter, bound by the blood of the enemy on my sword, come to me now and aid me. Deceive the opponent, trick him into my trap. Let the trap close around him, a flurry of steel and blood… Aid me, Duran, let me be as strong as you…" Without saying a word, she felt the energy surge through her, a primal force that sent her reeling into the sky, making her disappear for the enemy. The ninja blinked, surprised its superior senses were failing him - and then he was hit by Silver. Again, and again, not being able to recover. Silver then descended upon him, landing sword first onto the ninja, causing it to split into two single ninjas again. One of the ninjas went after Silver, while the other seemed to gather its energy as well.

"Be careful, it's going to throw…", Hawk shouted, and before he was finished, he was hit by three shuriken, as were Silver and Angela. Duran, having hidden behind the other ninja, got lucky - the shuriken meant for him lodged into his enemy, causing the ninja to step back, nearly impaling himself on the Knight's sword. Silver watched Hawk step back as well, obviously following her example and gathering energy. But then, she saw something was wrong.

She didn't remember if it was Angela's scream, or the fact that she suddenly felt her friend's concentration falter, that made her turn around, but she saw Duran was in trouble. The ninja that was hit by his ally's attack had Duran trapped in a corner. Duran was on the verge of collapsing, she could easily tell, and the ninja was moving closer…

"NO!", she said, leaping up, using every bit of energy she had left for another attack. Her sword dug into the head of the man that was once a friend of Hawk's, causing blood to spray onto her arms and shoulders. She got up, looking at Duran before putting her hands on his forehead and healing him, leaving no wound open and no energy reserve empty. Then, knowing she had saved him, she sat down herself and watched her friends finish off the other ninja. She didn't care about the blood, or about the fact that she had just killed a human being in cold blood: her worries were of her own.

Duran, I nearly failed you. I nearly let you be killed. I would have jumped in and taken the hit for you. I would, and I will when it is necessary. She knew he was listening, and his answer made her smile.

"I know you will. I hope it is never necessary, and I hope I'm dead before I see you die again." She felt a wave of energy heal her, but it was the hand that Duran extended to her that mattered to her. Hawk raised an eyebrow upon seeing how much closer the two fighters had become in four days, and turned to Angela as the two of them were standing out of their range.

"What happened there?"

"Don't ask. Those two are in love with each other, but they seem to have a bit of difficulty to deal with it. …Especially Duran. You haven't seen the way they looked at each other when we had just class changed!"

"Hmm…", Hawk said as he looked at the two again, seeing Duran hand Silver something to wipe the blood off her with. "Looks like they get along much better than anyone else."

"I'm not complaining, but…", Angela started, but Hawk cut her off.

"You're their friend, they'd never stop caring for you. But you've got to understand that they can't stop what they feel because of you. Oh…", he said as he saw Silver and Duran approach them again. "Don't forget that, eh Angela?", he said with a wink. Then, noticing that Silver was looking cross, he asked her what was wrong.

"Look!", Silver said, showing him her satchel, which had a hole in it. She took out her nightgown - the fabric was torn to pieces, totally useless. "What am I gonna wear at night?!", she cried out, exasperated.

"Don't worry, if we rescue Jess, I'll buy you ten new ones!"

"WHEN we rescue Jessica, Hawk. I won't fail.", Silver said, her words sounding harsh but her face bearing a smile. "Now, if we don't get going, there won't be any "when…", so let's get moving!"

Another update for you, my readers...

I will warn you again, lest you forget and send me angry e-mails that I won't read anyway. My exams are coming up, and I will probably not update again for more than a month. Maybe I will, between exams, but that would be an exception. Please don't hate me for it, and those angry e-mails may be sent when I haven't updated before, say, half February.

Greetings for now, and enjoy reading this new chapter...