Glad that I didn't bore too many readers with the wait. I know that the last chapter left at least one reader speechless.


Alex's interruption provided Eleni with a moment of much needed clarity. Her nimble fingers were wrapped around the hilt of her blade, and she had made a lunge for Pier from beneath Alex's arm.

The two older pages were surprised by the bold move. However, it was short lived. Eleni had not planned beyond her first aggressive attack, and Alex's blade was the only thing that separated the axe from her skull.

"I told you to stay out of it, Tirragen!" Pier's hands were shaking. It could have been because of anger, but Alex was sure that it was because she didn't want to fight him. "Move. Now," she growled out.

Straining under the weight of the battle axe, Alex stood his ground in front of Eleni. It took more effort than he would admit, but he managed to throw back Pier's weapon. She was shocked at his blatant refusal.

"This is ridiculous," he started. Hazarding a quick glance to Eleni, he saw the dark splotch on her shoulder. "I have no idea what sparked this, but this is not the way to resolve anything." His feet acted of their own accord and forced his body to block Eleni completely. "I won't let you hurt him."

A sinister cackle erupted from Pier's once delicate mouth. "You fool! You have no idea what that bastard is," she accused. She continued to deteriorate into her own madness as Alex slowly edged Eleni back.

Eleni didn't fight Alex's extended hand. She was just as eager to escape this battle, if only for different reasons. True, her arm was throbbing in pain, but that was the least of her worries. If Pier kept this up, her secrets would be exposed, and Eleni wasn't even sure which of her many secrets Pier knew. She wasn't willing to risk Alex finding out alongside her.

"When I give the signal, head for your horse," he instructed. His eyes hadn't left Pier, afraid that all she needed was a second of carelessness on his part. "Head back to the palace." Eleni made sound of protest at leaving him behind. "Don't worry, Myles, I'll be right behind you."

He seemed so sure of this. Eleni prayed that the gods would favor them for just one moment. So far, they had turned their back on all three of the pages in the clearing. Maybe, they were due for a change of luck.

"Go!"

Alex hadn't waited to see if Eleni obeyed his command. He didn't turn to look. No, he had other things to worry about, like the enraged page in front of him.

Feinting to the right, Pier tried to get around him. She was unresponsive to the new cut to her arm, uncaring of the blood that began to flow. Pier wanted blood on her axe blade, but not Tirragen blood.

Eleni had almost mounted Candy when she heard the screams. Thinking that either page had been fatally wounded, she turned back to the battle, one foot still on the stirrup. But both of the dueling pages were stilled, curiosity having frozen them in place.

If the sound hadn't come from them, then who else was being attacked? A second scream sounded, and then a third, before the forest was flooded with a discordant symphony of terror and agony.

Ignoring common sense and Alex's earlier command, Eleni fully mounted her horse and rode in the direction of the screams. As she urged Candy into a frantic gallop, other sounds drifted to her ears. It resembled the screech of a blade on grindstone, grating on her sensitive ears.

Above the forest was a flock of creatures, too unnatural to be mortal. Their horse-like bodies sported wings, but Eleni knew better than to confuse one of them for a Pegasus. Even from her vantage point so far below, the claws on their legs were clearly visible. As her focus went back to steering Candy, Eleni failed to see the red droplets falling from the sky. It wasn't until a few drops landed on her face that Eleni noticed it was blood that was raining. It only made her hurry.

She almost wished that she hadn't.

In what was once a green and pleasant meadow, there was now carnage.

Among the ravaged and bloodied corpses of what were once courtiers stood seven-foot tall monsters. Each of the four creatures had heads like bulls, human bodies, cloven hooves, and tails.

"Tauroses," Eleni whispered. They were some of the more disturbing immortals, created with one purpose: to rape and kill. "Mithros, help me."

The immortals had noticed Eleni at the edge of the clearing. Even with her disguise, there was no fooling their noses. To them, Eleni was female and nothing else. She could try to run, but they would have easily outrun Candy.

Her only other option was to fight them. It was foolish, but it was better than running and dying a coward's death. Eleni jumped down from Candy, giving the mare a firm smack on the rear. At least her horse would escape, and maybe someone would find her and come look for its owner.

Sword ready, Eleni charged, not giving the creatures to react. They might have had brute strength over Eleni, but Eleni was much smaller and faster. The reflexes that had saved her from Pier were proving useful once more. However, she could not keep up evasive tactics for much longer. She was growing tired, and the few times their talons had scratched her were only adding to her earlier blood loss.

The creatures were slow, incapable of thinking through their immediate movements. Once distracted, Eleni was offered precious moments of repose, but they didn't last long. Whenever they caught sight of her again, the chase would begin all over again. After a few minutes, she was quickly growing tired, and her arm muscles were practically seizing from exertion. Eleni was fine now, but she didn't think that she would be for much longer.

Eleni did well enough until she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. One of the tauroses grabbed her left shoulder, silver talons sinking into her shoulder blades. Eleni had taken a dagger from her belt and adroitly inserted it into the underside of the creature's forearm. She left the weapon embedded there and ran for the source of the movement. The other immortals had gathered around their wounded compatriot, and Eleni knew that they would be distracted for a few moments.

Just one of the many bodies in the clearing, Eleni had failed to notice that the girl was alive. Long, black hair, matted with blood covered up a pretty face with widened green eyes. Though shivering and obviously very scared, the girl was trying to shelter something smaller with her own body.

Eleni knew this girl. She knew her mother and father, her older and younger brothers. She had seen this girl before, and seeing her here, seeing her now, told her exactly who had been with the party. At the very least, some of the Queenscove children had been present, and the thought chilled her.

Knowing that she didn't have much time to waste, Eleni reached for Muiko. The girl refused to budge from her hunched over position, unwilling to uncover whatever she was shielding. Eleni, not caring if she was gentle or not, reached for Muiko's shoulder and ripped her off whatever was hidden.

Lieing in a growing pool of blood was one of the children she had been captured by a year ago. He was the little boy with blue eyes who had wanted to free her from her cage, and he was slowly bleeding out. If it hadn't been for the way his face kept twitching in pain, Eleni would have thought he was dead too. Muiko had been protecting him from further harm.

"Oh, Mithros." She didn't have time for tears, not if she wanted to save the little boy. "Muiko," she whispered, not wanting to draw the focus of the immortals. "Muiko," she said louder.

"They're gone." Her voice was so small that Eleni almost didn't hear it. "They're all gone." With all due respect to the dead, now was definitely not the moment to break down and mourn them.

"Muiko, can you heal? Can you heal like Sir Nealan?" Eleni needed her to be Gifted, needed the girl to help her save the little boy. Muiko nodded but couldn't bring herself to speak. "Good," Eleni whispered to herself. Bloodied hands glowing violet, Eleni tried to close the worst of the gaping wounds in the child's chest. There wasn't much strength left in her exhausted body, but Eleni healed as much as she could in such short time. "Muiko, I'm going to stop now. I need you to take over. Can you do that?" The girl didn't answer, but took over nonetheless. "Good girl."

Forcing herself off her knees, Eleni tightened her hold on her sword. The healing would be pointless if they were still trapped by these damned creatures. If it cost Eleni her life, it wouldn't matter. All that matter was giving those two a chance to escape, and that wasn't going to happen if five hulking immortals were blocking the path.


Like? No like? Tell me what you think, it helps the ideas flow!

Also, I'll answer one question that you might have about the story, the future plot, the characters. Just post your question in your review, and I'll answer it in the next chapter's bottom note.