Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren

Time-Frame: Set directly after Episode 3:02

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and mild nudity)

Summary: Set directly after Episode 3:02, following an AU storyline of our own creation.. Distinctly Bo/Lauren centric.

"Lauren and Bo resonate." Zoie Palmer speaking about Doccubus in an interview on AfterEllen.

*****BIGGEST SHOUT OUT IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD*****

To Robin and Lisa, the most wonderful and generous people in the world who have ensured that this and all our other stories will continue to be worked on and published by gifting us with a new laptop when they found out our old one had died and the tragic event was keeping us from updating.

~~~ Thank you Robin and Lisa ~~~

Heavenly Resonance. - Part Fifty-Four

By: The RainbowWriters

"So you were made the Guardian of the dagger back when it was created?" Lauren glanced at her majestic companion as it waited for her at the exit the Roost.

"Indeed such a weapon, along with it's siblings..." Erindal began.

"Siblings?" Lauren interrupted him, forgetting for a moment that she was talking with a massive ancient dragon.

"The other weapons forged at its creation, by its maker." Erindal replied as he turned his massive head and looked down the steep rocky cliff side into the basin of Tamwithril below. "All of them could not be left without guardians, their gifts too powerful too be wielded freely among Fae or men." The dragons voice seemed to grow a little slower as his gaze panned over the desolate landscape far below him. "My beloved Tamwithril." His voice became a mournful whisper. "How I have failed you."

"It's not that you failed, it's that you succeeded in another task. If you had let the Gemini dagger leave this place, fall into the hands of the one who looked to steal it, then..." Lauren frowned slightly. "Then everything I came here to do would have been for nothing and I couldn't..." She stopped herself not wanting to even think about the idea of having gone all this way only to discover that there was no dagger, no hope. "The land will live again." She looked at Erindal, her eyes still a vibrant shade of purple. "And there is no time like the present to begin the change." She encouraged him, unsure of exactly when she had become the kind of person that gave suggestions to a mythical Dragon.

Despite his obvious moment of melancholy a soft rumble of laughter erupted from Erindal's throat.

"Now that the die has been cast Echo, I see that you are eager to play your hand." He turned from the rock edge to look at her. "You will be needing a way down." He added a soft snort to the end of his sentence, swinging his large head back around to the vast abyss.

"Well I'm more than familiar now with the secret passage ways and miraculous staircases you have tucked away places." Lauren smiled back. "I can't say I'm looking forward to the decent but..."

"Oh I was thinking something far..." Erindal took one then another heavy footsteps towards her. "Faster and more direct." He lowered his head to the ground beside her feet.

"What?" Lauren looked down at the enormous head, blinking her eyes rapidly. "Oh no..." She shook her head and took a half step back as she realized what he was suggesting. "I don't think that would..."

"Do you think I would let harm come to you Echo?" Red eyes looked at her a little sorrowfully.

"No, no it's not that, it's me. I'm clumsy, and horribly uncoordinated at the worst of times." Lauren shook her head, her eyes travelling to the thick muscular neck that she would obviously be straddling if Erindal got his way. "I mean I can ride a horse one minute and fall off a bicycle the next." She pushed her hand up through her hair. "Perform surgery, but not eat and walk at the same time." She quirked her eyebrow.

"Luckily I am more like a horse then." The dragon's mouth curled into the closest thing Lauren could expect to be a smile. "Please Echo, you're companions grow very worried, I can feel it, especially the one the Dwarves call Cub."

Lauren drew in a deep breath and then let it out laughing as she let her head hang forward for a second.

"Why am I even blinking at this?" She shook her head and walked up to the side of Erindal's great head. "If Kenzi could see this even she would be impressed." Lauren smiled at herself brightly as she threw her leg over the wide muscular neck of the impressive Dragon and to her surprise, easily found a ridge in the bony fan like array of horns to hold onto.

"Perhaps one day when all is well on your side of the veil, I might meet this Kenzi you speak so highly of." Erindal let her get settled. "Are you ready?"

"Did you really just ask that?" Lauren replied with a light edge of humour in her voice. "I'm not sure I will ever be ready to be hoisted up into the air on the back of a dragon. It's out side of my 'readying' range." She admitted with a soft eye roll.

"This day will see you learn many things about what you are ready and capable of Echo." Erindal assured her as he stepped closer to the edge. "I have not been able to fly for so long." He commented as he spread out his wings to full length and then literally dove into the strong winds.

-x-

"DRAGON!" Sigba shouted the word as he grabbed his enormous hammer off the ground beside him and hastily assumed a ready position.

Raril tipped his head upwards into the darkening sky, his face falling into a dark frown as he immediately saw what his companion had.

"Cub, get Lobi down the stairs a way..." He barked to Dyson who, like the others had scrambled to his feet and had readied himself for attack. "Manlo, Dira to the wall, douse the torches if ya can."

Dyson glanced at Lobi who was already moving across the smooth obsidian to the top of the stairs, obviously not about to argue with Raril's instructions, all of them knowing that a butcher's knife was no weapon to wield against a dragon. The shifter ran to him and covered his retreat to the top step, using his taller form to shelter the small Dwarf from above, all the while aware that far above the Ring of Boen there did indeed seem to be a shadow circling, one that did in all ways resemble a dragon.

"Erindal be damned." Sigba cursed as he watched the shadow loom larger on the ground around them.

"It's drawing lower." Dyson moved out from the stairs, pulling forward towards Raril and Sigba, his voice tight and tense. "Either of you ever faced a dragon?" He glanced at them both quickly.

"Aye Cub, at least a half dozen or so." Sigba looked at him and rolled his dark eyes. "Ye be daft, no one has seen a dragon in a thousand years."

"Just checking for strategies or tips." The shifter put his hand up in apology looking up as this orbit the shadow seemed to completely eclipse the platform.

"Don't get eaten." Raril flashed him a smile and shifted his weapon from hand to hand for a moment. "I don't want to have to hand over bits of ya to the Echo and haf'ta explain." The Dwarven leader squinted up, in time to see a swoop of wings, belly scales and clawed feet.

"Lauren." The name passed the shifter's lips as his brain filled with the shocking idea that if indeed Erindal was flying around above their heads, the dragon must have crossed paths with the blonde. The question now was what had he done to her? At best was she hiding somewhere in the Roost or injured there with no one remotely able to reach her.

"Ha yes, the Echo flushed the devil out." Sigba barked out a laugh. "For us to finish it off."

"THE ECHO!" The cry came from Manlo, who was hugging the edge of the cliff wall, his arm pointing straight up into the sky. Everyone instantly turned their heads from the sky to the other dwarf who repeated the pointing motion this time with more fervour. "She's a-top the Beast!" He underlined gesticulating madly now.

"You are the Echo." Dyson sheathed his sword and let his eyes yellow so that his eyesight became all the more keen. He could see the blonde's hair trailing behind her, as she held onto the frill horns on its head as it circled the basin once more before starting a descent towards them. "Long live the Echo!" He put his fist up in a salute, as he felt Lobi brush by him to get a better view.

"She has tamed Erindal!" Lobi called pointing much like Manlo had been now, jumping slightly to reach higher towards her.

Staggering back slightly Sigba did little more than stare as Raril pressed him back against the rock side to give as much room as possible to the huge white beast that was coming in for a rapid, but as it happened, perfect landing on the large obsidian platform. The entire structure not even shaking when the enormous creature came to rest upon it.

"Echo." Lobi said the instant the dragon's feet were down on the stone. The fair haired Dwarf moving forward despite the fact the legendary 'horror' was in between him and the blonde.

"Lobi." Lauren gave the Dwarf a brilliant smile as she looked down from her perch. "Everyone." She added turning to look at them all. "Meet Erindal." She added quickly "The keeper of the land of Tamwithril, and the Guardian of the Gemini dagger."

"Keeper?" Raril frowned deeply looking between Lauren and the mighty beast that had remained silent and motionless since landing.

"Yes brave Dwarf, I am the Keeper of the land of Tamwithril, but injured I have laid in my Roost for all this time while the land withered in loneliness. Struck down by the Gemini Dagger so that only the healing touch of the Echo might save me and the land again." Erindal fixed Raril with red eyes.

"It's a long story." Lauren took a breath and shifted in her place a little. "That isn't over yet." She added looking around them all again. "But we were wondering..." A soft smirk spread across her features. "If you needed a lift down?"

"Of course we do." Dyson moved over closer and smiled up at her. "Don't we boys?"

-x-

Bo watched as her mother closed the door behind the guards removing Victoria's body, and leaned her head against one of the golden rungs of the cage the doomed human had once occupied.

"I can't do this." She whispered not even really meaning for her mother to hear, more out of desperation to make the point clearer to herself.

The older Succubus crossed the room and none too gently closed her hand around Bo's upper arm, pulling her around to look at her.

"You have too, do you hear me." She said, her voice almost harsh.

"Why? What does it change? He'll just keep on killing them, making me kill them..." Bo looked into her mother's eyes, her own filled with tears.

"She was dead already." Aoife released her grip shaking her head with a look of remorse in her eyes. "You are not." She stressed the simple resounding fact.

"Why do you want me to fight so hard? You're his Queen." Bo challenged her.

The older Succubus' eyes closed slowly as she drew in a deep breath and turned completely away from her daughter.

"I know that you have friends, good friends, strong friends who are coming to help you..." She said reaching out to hold onto one of the posts of Bo's bed. "Is it so wrong of me to want what I have always wanted? For you to be free of this? Of him?" She asked, keeping her face away from Bo.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean what I said." Bo took a slow breath and crossed over to her. "I'm just not used to being helpless." She admitted sitting on the bed next to the post so she was close to her mother. "But you're right." She blinked away her tears and looked at the older Succubus. "My friends are coming."

"Bo, listen to me." Aoife leaned down and sat on the very edge of the mattress, reaching out for her daughter's hands. "When your friends come, the important thing is that they get you away from here. Do not let thoughts of others cloud your mind, and yes darling daughter, I mean me." She reached out and stroked Bo's cheek.

"I'm not leaving you here with him, or Minette..." Bo began to list all the things she had decided in her head.

"We are tools." Aoife shook her head taking a quick breath her brow furrowing. "He knows your weaknesses Bo." Her voice softened again. "You're heart, your kindness."

"He doesn't know everything." Bo said the cryptic words wanting so badly to be able to tell her Mother the secret of the Resonance; that every time she'd lost consciousness she had been brought to a safe place created by Eliyana Frost and met with Lauren who was as they spoke searching for the one weapon that could kill her Father.

"So you've said." Aoife smiled softly at her daughter. "But neither do you." She shook her head, loosing her smile.

"I know, every time I turn around I'm learning something new about him, about how dangerous he is, how evil." Bo agreed with her easily.

"There is good and bad in us all Bo." Aoife frowned softly. "There are things..." She stopped and looked away, pushing up from off the bed. "You should rest and you should send the paper work directly to your father when you have finished with it." She took steps towards the door. "Try not to incur your father's ire." She advised her with a soft frown. "There is much you could learn, much that might help you." She looked away again towards the door.

"I'll send it soon, I've almost picked the number I need too." Bo nodded watching her walk away. "Though Mother..." She said the words softly to see if the other Succubus would turn, when dark eyes came around to look at her Bo's face was soft. "Thank you."

Aoife paused and crossed back towards the bed.

"Bo..." She stood against the side of the mattress. "I..." The older Fae's brow was pulled into a hard frown as if there was clearly something on her mind, something she wanted to say but couldn't. "There are things I have done that I..." She stopped and pulled away again. "Don't even think of it." She said walking back to the door.

"I love you." Bo spoke the words, needing with all that was happening around them to have them said.

"I should go." Aoife's voice fractured as she turned totally to face the door and walked to it but then she stopped and leaned against the closed wooden barrier for a moment before pushing herself back towards the bed. "I am so sorry I couldn't save you from this, couldn't keep you safe. A good mother would keep her baby safe." Aoife's voice trembled as she looked at Bo, her eyes filling with unshed tears. "I've never been a good mother." She reached out and placed trembling fingers on Bo's lips. "All I've ever done is hurt you."

"No." Bo shook her head lightly but didn't displace her mother's fingertips. "You saved me from him, saved me from having to grow up here in his shadow."

"Oh Bo, this place... this place wasn't like this when you were born here." Tears spilled onto Aoife's cheeks. "This was a place of laughter, a place of love." She traced the line of Bo's lips and cupped her cheek. "No matter what he might have told you about the past Sylviana Frost, she..." The older Fae took a staggered breath. "She was a mother who made me want you." She blinked more tears from her eyes as she looked at Bo. "She made me believe in the good that could come out of having a child, a family." The hand cupping Bo's cheek trembled more. "She had a daughter, a little girl, little Yarnie. I dreamed of you being just like her."

Bo looked deeply at her mother for a moment, her own emotions unreadable before she pushed up and pulled the slightly taller brunette into a tight hug.

"I hope I'm half the woman Eli survived to be." She whispered the words into Aoife's ear before pulling her face back to look into her mother's dark eyes to see if she understood.

For a moment Aoife's glossy eyes flared a little wider as her back straightened even in Bo's embrace, the look the pair shared lasting a long, long moment.

"Don't speak to me of such things." Aoife closed her eyes but then pulled Bo back into an even tighter hug, "My thoughts are not always my own, my will less so, but..." She brought her hand up to the back of Bo's head. "The peace in my heart for that moment, will linger forever." She whispered pressing a kiss to Bo's cheek.

"I don't blame you for what he makes you do, know that." Bo nodded as she reached up to touch where her mother's lips had touched.

"If you can... warn the wolf..." Aoife pulled back and drew her arms back to her own body as she collected herself once again.

"Of what?" Bo felt the more familiar feeling of confusion that had filled her since coming to this house.

"History Bo... There are things about your father... that make him what he is..." Aoife's words became more disjointed as the older Fae pushed off the bed, as if her thoughts were becoming that way too. "Things that he believes you may..." She stopped. "And I... the wolf is so strong..."

"If I can I'll warn Dyson." Bo watched the struggle her mother was having somewhat.

"I need to rest." Aoife reached out to lean on the wall on her way to the door.

-x-

"So yes I may have been off getting shitfaced and mindlessly having a good time before the world as we know it most probably comes to an end but..." Vex looked around at his audience, happy to see that at least they seemed somewhat captivated by what he had to tell them. "I did glean some valuable information in the process of this fine endeavour."

"There's nothing really fine about drinking yourself into a near coma." Eliyana looked at him with a semi-scowl. "What if you'd actually succeeded in over-dosing and not waking up, then any information you'd have gotten us wouldn't actually have gotten to us and you'd have just well, died." The young Geist pointed out, her eyebrow arched as slipped her arm around Kenzi and breathed out.

"Sharp as ever there I see." Vex eyed her for a second and then moved on. "Hate to point it out love but not all of us have a Master who can just order us to Keep Calm and Think of Fear or whatever you Geist's do."

"Vex for the love of Mac mascara, what did you learn?" Kenzi pushed him to avoid more back and forth between the Mesmer and her lover.

"Right yes well I learned that our dear old Dark King's Elementals are in fact a lot closer at hand, rather than further away, if you see what I mean. As in what I mean is, he keeps them here not there, that is they're not all the way in Frost land." The Mesmer passed on his piece of 'news' with a flourish of his hand.

"Wow, I was expecting you to spout some useless bullshit but that is actually good news." Tamsin gave him a very hearty slap on the back as she filled up his glass from her bottle.

"How did you find this out without giving away any details or idea of what we plan to do?" It was Trick that came in with the very serious question.

"Ah well now I'm glad you asked that question because I was actually rather cunning, and did it all by the power of drama and acting and the under used skill of spying." Vex replied with equal flourishes.

"Meaning?" Eliyana sighed, obviously a little tired with all the drama and flamboyance that was Vex.

"I pretended to pass out and eavesdropped on a couple of Dark Fae who were talking behind me." Vex explained with a shrug. "Which is just as valid and as it happens just as successful."

"And why were two random Dark Fae talking about Mikah's Elementals in a bar that you just happened to be frequenting last night to drown your sorrows in?" Trick again was the one to sow seeds of doubt into the Mesmer's convenient information.

"I didn't say it was a random bar, and I didn't say they were random Fae." Vex shook his head and leaned back in his seat. "They were a couple of guys that I knew from when Eysan was in town and hello I ran most of the bar scene for the Dark for a long time, I should know where to go to get the right type of information at the right time." He rolled his eyes.

"For the record if any of these Fae didn't buy your incredible dramatic performance of being passed out, I'm going to stick my spear in one palm, through both your arms and out the other." Tamsin slapped him on the back again. "Because either you just got taken or got great information."

"Knowing you'd feel that way I already did my own reconnaissance." Vex tossed a couple of photographs onto the bar top after pulling them from his jacket. "Now I don't know if you know this but after pulling out a grade A tsunami out your ass even an Elemental has to have a little nap, and these weird little freaks like doing it in caves." He leaned forward and poked the pictures.

"Bo would be so proud of you." Kenzi actually had to slip out of her seat and move over to hug him. "This is good news right?" She looked around to check. "One less horrible evil line of defence for Mikah."

"Well as it turned out Little Bit, I don't particularly want to die just yet so I decided I should put a little effort in." Vex hugged her back briefly and then looked up as Trick looked over the black and white shots of the grainy interior of a miscellaneous cave, with at least four visible 'people' huddled over in repose.

"It doesn't mean he can't call on them." Trick said, his voice fairly flat to begin with. "But it is possibly the best news we've had for a while." He looked up and over to Kenzi with a slight smile.

"Yes." Kenzi slapped her hand lightly on Vex's chest, her smile bright and happy.

"So what's this about a spear?" Vex turned and looked at Tamsin, his eyebrow quirked as he shifted his gaze a little to the large chest that was still in the middle of the floor.

-x-

"This part of the Basin was once known as the Garden of Peace." Erindal had landed in what had been more or less the centre of Tamwithril. Somehow managing to find a place to settle his enormous body without causing mass destruction or upheaval in the ragged landscape. "It was a place of such beauty." He continued as with care his companions eased down from their place upon his back. "To see it like this..." He paused and shook his head sadly.

Lauren stepped a little away and looked around at the hard rocky crags and barren ground that surrounded them and closed her eyes, sharing the moment of pain. Despite the size of the great Protector, she felt as if his emotions were so guttural and easy to read.

"Not that I'm questioning you or the Dragon Echo, but we'd be wise to remember the living rocks that nearly crushed us the last time we ventured into the valley." Raril stepped a little closer to Lauren, keeping his voice low, almost as if wanting only the blonde and not the Dragon to over hear what he was saying.

"You have nothing to fear brave warrior." Erindal turned his head to look at Raril. "No harm will come to you here in Tamwithril when you are with me."

"What happens now?" Lauren didn't mean her question to sound impetuous or short, but having the Gemini dagger braced in her belt and pressing against her side with every move she made just underlined to her that in essence, what she and Dyson had come there to do was done. She had the weapon that was supposed to give them the edge that they needed to beat Mikah, to win, to get Bo back and everything that got in the way now was just delaying her.

"Now you fulfil the prophecy." Erindal moved his eyes to look at Lauren. "You bring life back to Tamwithril." He lifted his front foot and motioned around them.

Lauren cleared her throat and panned her eyes around following the path of the massive clawed foot.

"Begging your pardon Sir..." Lobi shifted slightly in his place. "Not that I would ever doubt the power of the Echo, nor her gifts but..." He too looked around him at the desolate wasteland.

"Come..." Erindal kept his focus on Lauren as he walked forward slightly. "Draw your beloved's dagger." He instructed, his voice low.

Without thinking to question his instruction Lauren pulled Bo's dagger from its sheath on her thigh, holding it tightly in her right hand.

"Good." The Dragon encouraged her. "Now, drive it into the rock here." The great beast tapped the rocky ground with a claw.

Again with just a slight quirk in her brow the blonde crouched down onto her knees and brushed the surface debris away from the spot Erindal had marked. Despite the logical part of her brain telling her she was about to really hurt her arm as she tried to drive Bo's dagger into bed rock, Lauren pulled her right arm back and with as much power as she could she slammed the point of the sharp dagger down into the ground.

A bright red spark glinted off the rock at the initial contact of the blade, but then the flare disappeared and the tip of the blade sunk at least a centimetre into the dark stone.

"Good." Erindal's voice had that pleased tone to it that it had held back on the Roost. "Now move back slightly please."

As Lauren leaned back out of the way, the great dragon used his front foot and with amazing precision pressed down on the daggers hilt, driving the blade down into the rock deeper and deeper. When none of the blade was visible Erindal continued to push the knife down, until with a hiss and a rush of steam and hot air he had managed to use it to literally push a hole through the top crust through to the molten core beneath.

Pulling his foot up, Lauren stared at the hole that Bo's dagger had made, and at the fact that Bo's dagger was no longer there, but presumably lost and destroyed in the lava below.

"Now put your hand into the heart of the land and do what you do, what only you can do Echo." Erindal looked at Lauren his voice soft and reverent. "Heal Tamwithril." He gave a subtle nod.

"Heal Tamwithril..." Lauren turned to look at Erindal, blinking her still violet eyes. "I... I..." She shook her head.

"You are the Echo." Erindal answered all her doubt with the simple words. "Reach in, take hold of your Source and see what you can do."

Lauren hesitated, shaking her head as she kept her distance from the hole and the burning heat she could feel coming from within.

"You can do it." A hand clasped the blonde's shoulder as Dyson leaned in and whispered the words into her ear. "Look what is hanging from your belt." He added, his hand squeezing her shoulder tightly. "You and Bo, can and will change the world."

Forcing herself to swallow Lauren just closed her eyes and shuffled closer to the edge of the puncture hole, thrusting her hand inside the moment she was close enough before she could doubt herself any more than she already was. She was only partially surprised when almost immediately, even though it was swallowed by heat and liquid, her fingertips brushed against a familiar hilt. Somehow Bo's dagger had survived its introduction into the molten rock, just as her hand seemed to be warming up but not melting away as it should have.

Pushing down through the thick viscous sludge she solidified her grip and then just focused her thoughts on the things she always did when performing any of the healings she had so far. Creating images in her head of growth, renewal and rebirth. Focusing on the restoration of balance within the living thing that was the world around her just as she would focus on the balance within an individual.

For those outside of the process, it was rather like being part of a living time lapse photography experiment, or some very surreal drug trip. At first, from the small mostly circular hole Bo's dagger had created, a ripple or wave seem to begin, but one that effected the ground itself. Almost as if it were a blanket being shook out, to lie flat on a mattress. But at no point did any of the individuals stood on the ground so close to the point of origin feel in danger, feel as if they would fall or in any way be injured. With each roll and ripple, every crag of rock and outcrop of rubble seemed to recede or minimize a little, though again the process was silent. There was no cacophony of grating rock or rumbling debris. Just wave after rolling wave of levelling power, flattening the scarred and rugged ground back to its natural state.

Then almost like a painter was some how painting with broad strokes from a brush, again from the dagger hole outwards, the grey bedrock began disappearing. Replaced in thick swatches with either vibrant green grass, or the brilliant orange yellow stalks of grains, or the taller green stems of flowers.

Then within the rolling came a secondary shaking as everywhere around them, rocks began rising up from the flat ground adding landmarks and points in the distance. Dyson shook his head and stepped away from Lauren slightly, his mouth open in wonder as he just looked around in complete amazement as literally the valley was turned from a dead land to something so vibrant and alive.

Likewise the five Dwarves were gazing in astonishment, Sigba kneeling down in the thick green blades of grass that now filled the ground beneath his feet, pressing his large hands into them, a deep belly laugh coming from his throat.

With a loud hiss, the only real sound so far, a huge pool of bubbling lava that had made this area warmer than its surroundings, suddenly shifted, becoming a crystal blue pool of water, being fed from a strong waterfall that sprung from a point high up in the Ring of Boen. The perfect water rolling down the side of the ring to create a small area of whitewater where it merged with the pool.

As if being summoned by the roaring song of the water, the surface was broken by the appearance of the broad leaves of Lilly pads, that almost immediately became the landing points for brightly coloured frogs. The shimmering surface was further broken by the jump of large speckled fish and most everyone's faces looked upwards as the calls of song birds and the hum of insects began to add to the chorus of sound.

Within the tall grasses, as if conducted by the Echo, the stems of the growing flowers budded and then erupted into broad blooms. Every colour of the rainbow evident somewhere that had only moments before held nothing but the grey and black tones of rock and the burning red of lava. In every nook and cranny life sprung from the barren, the once blistering wind turning into warm breezes on which floral perfumes were carried.

"By the hand of the Echo and with the love of the Source the lands of Tamwithril are now healed and I, Erindal, vow to be protector and guardian of all life within that land." The great white Dragon moved around Lauren's knelled form to once again bow before her, his voice being the only reason she opened violet eyes and finally saw herself the change she had created. "My service to the Echo, now and forever."

"My service to the Echo, now and forever."

Lauren turned her head to see that behind her all of her companions were on one knee in supplication to her, repeating the vow of the great Dragon.

-x-

"Well this can't be good." Tamsin glanced up from the rim of her beer glass to Kenzi who had deliberately moved away from where Vex, Eliyana and Trick were all engaged in some deep conversation. "Let me guess you're still pissed about the bomb thing and feel the need to voice your anger again but this time in a more personal one on one way?" The blonde's voice was just as caustic as it usually was, but it had a tired tone to it, one that hinted that despite her words the last thing the Valkyrie actually wanted to do right now was verbally spar with Kenzi.

"Of course I'm still angry that you made some kind of last minute deal with my girlfriend to juice her up and turn her into the Fae equivalent of a nuclear bomb." Kenzi's voice was hushed but controlled. "That's not the kind of thing I just let go, but it's not what I want to talk about. I've also moved on from it for now, until after this is over. For the record I'm setting up a payback score sheet with your name on it." Bright blue eyes looked the Valkyrie up and down for a moment.

"Let me guess my beautifully placed right hook's on the list too." Tamsin rolled her eyes.

"It's on the top." Kenzi slid into side on the opposite side of the booth where the Valkyrie had positioned herself.

"So why are you here interrupting my solo beer." Tamsin looked down at the golden coloured liquid in her glass and swirled it around for a moment before taking a healthy swallow.

"Pandora." The young woman summed up with a word, a word that made the blonde lower the glass back to the table top with a heavy sigh.

"Uh-huh." She made the reply as cagy as possible, leaning back into the booth.

"Is she coming back? Is she one of us now?" Kenzi laid out her questions quickly, taking a quick breath before beginning to list more, but Tamsin held up her hand to stop her.

"She's not one of us." The blonde shook her head. "At least I don't think so... that is, I'm not one of you..." She frowned. "But yes she's coming back." The blonde pushed away her glass and ran her free hand through her hair. "Probably with a shit load of stuff which, all of which will help us at least to some extent."

"Yet you look like someone just kicked your puppy." Kenzi accurately pointed out the dichotomy that was the Valkyrie's demeanour right now.

"Because she shouldn't be here." Tamsin glanced at the young woman with a hard sigh. "This isn't her battle, isn't her war."

"Tamsin, we're fighting Mikah, the most evil Fae of evildom, it's everyone's war." Kenzi shook her head in disagreement.

"You don't get it." The blonde just sighed and pushed her beer further away.

For a moment Kenzi looked at Tamsin and examined the very real reaction she was having to the situation, before she reached out and moved the beer glass completely out of the way so that there was nothing between them. She fixed the Valkyrie with her bright blue eyes.

"You care." She said her voice a whisper. "About her, about this Pandora. Holy shit balls." Kenzi blinked and took a deep breath.

"Shut up." Tamsin narrowed her eyes as she glared across the table that separated them.

"You do don't you." Kenzi slapped her hand on the table top, shaking her head slightly. "Like really care." A look of mystified surprise filled blue eyes.

"You don't know what you're talking about and I really wish you'd stop, talking that is." Tamsin pulled her eyes away from Kenzi and looked at the floor.

"Not gonna happen." Kenzi leaned back and folded her arms across her chest. "So anyway. Eli guessed that she's an Ellefolk or something? Which means she can fight? I didn't get the details so I was hoping you would fill me in, it's not like we have the time to hit the books and do a full read up."

Tamsin let out a frustrated and bad tempered huff before she looked at the young woman opposite her.

"Yes she is an Ellefolk but no that doesn't mean she can fight." The Valkyrie contradicted. "She was always gifted when it came to bows, apparently since I knew her a long, long time ago she's extended that skill to include automatic weapons." An odd look crossed Tamsin's face that was unreadable. "But I'd like to bet her true abilities still lie with what she can do with a needle, thread and fabric and not a weapon."

"She's a designer?" Kenzi screwed up her nose.

"She's an armour adorner." Tamsin replied.

"A what now?" Blue eyes blinked in question.

"She makes fabric adornments for armour, or fabric armour for those who don't wear metal plate or chain-mail." Tamsin explained. "She has the ability to use imbued fabrics." Seeing Kenzi's eyebrow quirk again the blonde continued. "Special fabrics that have certain qualities, protections."

"Wow." Kenzi blinked her blue eyes. "Did she have your armour?"

"No." Tamsin looked away again, reminded suddenly of her sister, and the reality of what she had lost in reclaiming the suit that lay carefully prepared in the chest in the middle of the Dal. "But her father cleaned and mended it for me, he was the greatest metal smith in Mikah's court, personal armour-smith to the Valkyries, before Mikah blinded him and expelled him from his lands." Tamsin's voice became laden with heaviness. "He still is the only Fae I would trust to work my armour."

Kenzi looked down for a moment, feeling the reality of the burden of guilt that the blonde opposite her was carrying.

"She has plans to make you suitable armour when she returns." Tamsin glanced up at Kenzi appreciating the fact that the usually inappropriate young woman had chosen to remain silent.

"Me?" The surprise Kenzi felt at Tamsin's words were more than evident in her reply.

"You are going into this battle as a Geist Master Kenzi, not as Kenzi Bo's chatty sidekick..." The Valkyrie's eyes came up to look into bright blue. "She has some spell-weave cloth, and before you ask, back when the world was more about battle and war, and no army was complete without a contingent of Geists and their masters, all the masters would have armour made from spell-weave cloth." The Valkyrie explained. "It provides a similar protection against elemental magic as plate or mail does against sword or arrow."

"Oh." For once Kenzi was short of a come back. If she was honest more because suddenly the idea that all of this was real, they were soon going to step into possibly the most dangerous situation they had ever, would ever, could ever step into and they would need all the help they could get if they wanted to step out of it safely.

For a long moment an almost uncomfortable silence fell between the two of them before Kenzi managed to recover enough to sit up a little straighter in her place and slide Tamsin's beer back to the spot directly in front of the Valkyrie.

"Well it sounds to me like she's one of us." She summed up taking a breath. "Just like you." She let her eyes pan slowly up to Tamsin's face, deliberately letting them linger there until the blonde's came up just as slowly to meet them.

-x-

"Lauren, lay down." Dyson chuckled softly as he gently but firmly placed his hand on Lauren's shoulder to stop her from pushing up from the soft bottom layer of furs she was laid upon. The blonde's brown eyes were half closed, and her push to sit up was weak at best, but still she tried again the instant Dyson let any tension drop out of the muscles in his arm. "Echo." He said, the smile on his face even wider. "Don't you think you've done enough for the day?" He chuckled again. "The others will be in as soon as Erindal has finished with them."

"I can't sleep." The blonde shook her head. "Dyson did you see? My god it was..."

"Amazing... unbelievable...miraculous..." The wolf offered a few words. "It was all those things Lauren, but you need to rest. We'll return to Lethaon tomorrow and then back home.." He squeezed the hand on her shoulder. "You did it, you got the dagger." With his free hand he lifted the Gemini dagger from the furs beside Lauren's body, looking at it with the awe deserved by such a rare artifact.

"I am a little tired..." If Lauren was honest, her body was exhausted. She was a strange dichotomy at that moment, her mind and spirit totally wired and exhilarated, but after all the exertion of the day, physically, her muscles and bones hurt.

"Of course you are. I am and I didn't trek miles across a magical bridge, I just paced around worrying about you." Dyson gave her another warm smile as he laid the dagger back against her side. "I think Erindal is just give the Dwarves tasks now to wear them out so they will sleep." He admitted laughing again softly. "That and after so long I think he misses having the little guys to talk to."

"If Sigba heard you calling them 'little' you would never loose the title Cub, you know that right?" Lauren quirked an eyebrow at him as she turned onto her side and actually made an attempt to get comfortable.

"I've grown kind of attached to it anyhow." Dyson sat back a little and gave a shrug. "It suggests I've got room to grow." He gave her a charming smile. "You sleep." He pushed up from his crouch. "I have work to do for the Great Erindal." He dusted off his knees and checked the laces on his boots. "Expect Lobi any time, he asked to be your official guard. A role Raril all too happily granted him."

Lauren smiled more as she shifted under the warm fur, not that she needed such a thick covering, the ambient temperature of the entire valley was so much warmer, not to mention the whole night air was filled with a myriad of noises, that spoke to just how alive everything was.

Giving her a quick wink Dyson back tracked out of her 'room', only to immediately run into Lobi who was on his way in. The younger Dwarf beamed up at Dyson, who instantly noticed the arm full of flowers the Dwarf was carrying.

"Is the Echo asleep?" Lobi asked in a soft voice.

"Not yet." The wolf shook his head laughing to himself as he just pressed on through the carved out house towards the exit, to see what tasks Erindal had for him.

Lobi hurried the short distance through to Lauren's room, slowing down the instant he reached the doorway to see her head on the makeshift pillow and her eyes closed. More or less tip-toeing into the room itself, the fair haired Dwarf carefully began arranging the flowers he had collected around the edge of the fur bed.

As soon as he had finished the simple task, he silently eased into position on a flattened rock a little distance away from the bed and reached into the small pack at his waist. From it he took a roll of parchment and a quill and looked at Lauren, humming softly to himself for a moment.

"I sing of the Echo, with hair of Gold..." He began, his voice a whisper as he put words to his hum, pausing to eagerly scribble them down before he forgot them.

-x-

"Eve."

It had been less than an hour since Bo's mother had left, the Succubus hadn't even gotten herself together enough to double check the files she had sorted through or send them off to her Father, and so to have Mikah suddenly appear at her door threw her for more of a loop than she was already in. Trying hard not to let it show the brunette pushed off the bed on the side of the desk with the intention of going over to it and the files.

"Father." The word came out on instinct, which in itself shocked her. "I'm sorry I have the files..." She put her hand onto the desk, knocking over one of the piles that she did have separated.

"Eve please." Mikah crossed into the room more shaking his head. "I know you've been..." He paused. "Otherwise engaged." He smirked as he said the words. "I apologize by the way for allowing your little sister to come and bother you, I hadn't expected you to be so eager to enjoy your gift considering the animosity there has been between us, then again..." He walked into the room more. "You are a succubus and you have needs, so I should have known better, such a snack wouldn't have satisfied your mother." He barked out a short laugh. "In the future dear, there is no need to bother your mother about disposal as it were, I understand because of your... history..." He offered the word. "That you may be struggling with your own issues of guilt and so forth but..." He paused and looked across at her. "I can assure you everyone here at the house is more than familiar with dealing with trash quickly, efficiently and effectively. In the future all you need to do is call for your guard." He took a breath. "Speaking of which." He continued immediately not giving her a chance to come back with any kind of a reply, which was a good thing because at that moment all Bo really felt was sick. "I'd like you to formally meet the Fae I've chosen to take care of you."

This time Mikah did pause and turn to look towards the door, smiling as Göll, dressed now in a pair of dark dress pants and a dark green button down sauntered into the room.

"I am sure you remember Göll." His eyes went back to look at Bo, who still had her back to them both.

"Princess." The Sword Mother made her greeting in a low serious tone. It was this that made Bo turn from her place resting against the desk.

"From now on Göll will be at your disposal night and day. She has the room next to you, and there is a door that joins the two rooms here..." He moved to the wall and pushing one of the indented panels a 'hidden' door swung open showing the linked opening between the two. "Should you need anything, do not hesitate to ask her. She will arrange any feeding needs you have, and any extra pleasure you require." He gave Bo a slightly lecherous smile. "I do have a rule that we do not feed from the help darling..." He added, his tone a little harder than it had been so far in the conversation. "I know that this shouldn't be a problem and in case you missed her trinket..." Mikah leaned closer to Göll, slipping his hand into the neckline of her shirt to pull free a familiar looking pendant. "I just thought I would explain to you my protocols."

"I think I can stick to that." Bo didn't look either of them in the eye.

"Excellent." Mikah nodded. "Well as I said, Göll will be more than happy to look after any needs you might have. She's been with me a very long time, there isn't much that happens around here that she doesn't understand or know about." He stepped away from the Valkyrie and moved back towards the door. "Who knows the two of you might become friends." He added, giving Bo a parting smile as he turned.

"I would welcome the chance to befriend the Princess." Göll's tone didn't in any way match her words. "Is there any thing you need from me Mistress Eve?" She added to the end of her sentence, lingering near the doorway.

"No." Bo said quickly. "I have these files to work on."

"Very well, I'll be in my room, or in the Hall if you need me. My work schedule is posted on my door if you cannot find me and urgently need my assistance. There will always be another here for you when I am not." Göll gave a short bow and then slipped out, pulling the door closed as she left.

With a groan Bo sunk a little against the desk and closed her eyes. Although it was no doubt better than her father knowing the truth, the thought of him thinking that in some way she was 'coming around' to the whole lifestyle that he had set up here just made her nauseous, in a whole new way. And the addition of a personal guard or 'friend' to deal directly with her 'needs' just meant it would be harder to hide the fact that she didn't need to feed or to hurt any more people than was absolutely necessary.

Pulling out the chair at the desk, Bo slid herself onto the seat, determined at least to go through the files again before retreating to bed. After all the least she could do was try to think past the now, to what was going to happen when the gang came, when Lauren had the dagger and the fight came to the door. It was up to her to work whatever angle she could from the inside, while she could and if this was one way she could do that, she could at least succeed in that.

-x-

"I think I should make it clear to you before you start all this, I'm really not a robe person." Kenzi glanced at Pandora who, like Tamsin had predicted had returned to the Dal bringing with her copious amounts of material and cases full of who knows what, all of which the blonde Valkyrie had helped her move into the main room of the bar. Setting her up in the back corner with a set of full length mirrors and a long flat table, all of which were assembled out of one of the over sized trunks that the blonde had had to carry inside.

Only moments after setting up her area the slender brunette had asked for Kenzi to join her, asking her immediately to slip down to her underwear and hop up onto a small raised platform that she had centralized in the middle of the mirrors. Tamsin had hastily arranged a privacy screen to cut the section of the bar off mainly from Vex's prying eyes before the two could continue.

"Noted." The brunette smiled across at the blue eyed beauty from her seat as she collected a few things from a large ancient looking box that she had set on a chair beside her.

"Not too keen on loose flowing things in general really." Kenzi wasn't really sure what to do with her hands as she just stood there in her tiny black and pink striped boy shorts and black bra, her ankle socks matching her boy shorts perfectly.

"My corsets don't tend to..." Pandora paused with a smile. "Flow." She concluded.

"There a good word, corsets, I do corsets." Kenzi's eyes brightened and she immediately grew a little more comfortable.

"Do you prefer to lace them yourself or to be dressed?" Pandora asked as she got up from her place, nimbly tying her hair back into a twisted pony tail. "It changes where I put the lacing." She explained.

"I dress myself, I have never really been in a situation where anyone dressed me." The young brunette gave a soft laugh. "I mean to say I've only been around in modern times where we get taught to dress ourselves at about four or five and from then on it's our damn job." She snorted again.

"This is armour not day wear." Pandora arched her eyebrow at Kenzi as she walked over carrying with her a tape measure.

"Being honest I've never really had armour, metal or fabric." Kenzi gave a soft shrug. "I have some 'fight functional' leather jackets that are harder to cut through but that's about it."

"I see." Pandora frowned slightly and passed an appraising eye over Kenzi's form. "How long have you been a Master to your Geist?"

"Oh ages now, couple of weeks." Kenzi tried to watch the Fae who circled her.

Pandora paused and cleared her throat.

"A couple of weeks." She repeated. "You have been in charge of the last Frost for less than a month and we are taking you into battle with her?"

"Did Tamsin fail to mention Bo is my best friend?" Kenzi met Pandora's look of shock. "And it is probably important to point out that I'm not just the holder of Eli's frenum, I'm her girlfriend."

The Ellefolk paused and reached to put her measure on the long table beside her again.

"The Blood King failed to mention that in his... retelling of the story." She pointed out with a frown.

"The Trickster manages to forget to say a lot of important things." Kenzi agreed with her. "I guess it's really my responsibility to fill in the blanks he left. Like Eli is indeed the last Frost but she's been in hiding since Mikah had her brother Eysan murder all the other Frosts in a massive fire. She was living as a human, hiding from all the Fae until fate sorta put her and I in the same place and then well she gave me her frenum the night that Bo and Lauren finished their ritual to become Resonants. I didn't even know I had it for awhile."

Before answering Pandora took a soft breath and looked at Kenzi for a moment.

"So you are the human Master of a Geist who is more human than she is Fae?" The brunette beauty offered the summary.

"And whose frenum I hold out of love, not because I view it as a leash." Kenzi nodded seemingly happy that Pandora 'got it'. "Let's see... you should also know that Lauren, used to be a human slave to the Light after the Ash tricked her into service by cursing her ex-girlfriend."

"Well for my part know that I detest Mikah and wish for nothing more than to see an end to his reign. Though I am afraid I must also be honest with you and say that I cannot, with all heart, swear Fealty to his daughter." She shook her head and once more picked up her measure. "As you said you have lived only in modern times, I have the burden of living through times long past, and have the scars from those times." She paused as she looked at Kenzi.

"It's cool, Bo is usually not big on making people swear themselves into her service, if you're on her team she wants you to be there because you want to be." Kenzi gave a soft nod. "You've known Tamsin for along time eh?"

"Yes." A soft smile crossed Pandora's lips. "A very long time." She began measuring specific areas on Kenzi's body. "Tell me Kenzi..." She let her words stop though her actions didn't. "Do you believe in this war?"

"Yes, I want my best friend back home safe and Mikah stopped so he can't hurt anyone anymore." She gave her answer with an honest passion.

"Your friend, you believe in her, in her strength to fight against the hold he will have on her, not only as the master of the Dark, but as her father." Pandora frowned slightly.

"Yes." Kenzi held the other woman's eyes for a moment. "Bo can fight against anything she doesn't believe in and one thing my bestie doesn't believe in is being the ruler of the world. It's not her thing."

To Kenzi's surprise the Fae's frown only deepened at her answer.

"And her Resonant, are you as sure of her?"

"I used to have my doubts but no I believe in Lauren, more then all of that I believe in how much the two of them love each other." Kenzi watched Pandora's expressions a little confused. "I know this must be hard for you to get, I mean we are kinda the group who refuse to follow the Fae rules of norm, but I can tell you this wholeheartedly, Bo and Lauren are the real deal."

Pandora sighed and stepped back from the young woman for a moment.

"You are not the first, nor will you be the last group to buck against what did you call it the 'rules of norm'." The Fae began with a sad look at the ground. "Individual Fae, groups, even whole tribes have tried over the years to do just that. In this you are not unique." She shook her head. "That Valkyrie who sits out there, drinking away this life, she tried to fight what she was, what 'should' have been..." Pandora locked her jaw. "There is nothing new, nothing avaunt-garde about being a revolutionary." She closed her eyes briefly.

"But there is something pretty damn avaunt-garde about being on the side of the Resonants, and before that being just on Team Unaligned." Kenzi countered. "Look, I can tell just by the way you two interact, you have a thing for Tamsin, have had one for a long time but that doesn't mean this has to be your war if you don't feel it in your gut."

"You misunderstand me." Pandora shook her head her frown changing slightly, "Though for the record I don't have a..." She paused. "Thing, for Sin." The brunette took a breath. "I question more to understand your drive, to learn of your passion, your heart." The Ellefolk explained. "So many battles are won before they have begun, they are won in the hearts and minds of the main players before a blow has been struck. Your belief in those who fight is as important as your understanding of the battle itself." She looked at Kenzi her smile growing slightly. "Your faith, your belief in Mikah's daughter gives me great hope that she will be strong enough to fight him until we reach her. Your words about her Resonant..." She smiled a little more. "Make me question."

"Question?" Kenzi asked for the clarification.

"You had your doubts... your doubts about what I question, about her worth? About her strength?" Pandora willing explained.

"That was back awhile ago, back when it was really only Bo and I on our team and everyone else was playing a game we barely understood." Kenzi tried to qualify. "Even then I didn't question her strength, Lauren has survived through situations that any other human would have just gone crazy in, like loony tune crazy, but time and time again I've seen her risk herself and everything in order to help, in order to be a doctor. The only reason we beat the Garuda the other year was because of her."

"I see." Pandora smiled and nodded looking into blue eyes again. "Your cloak." The dark haired beauty switched tangents suddenly. "Will you be wanting the Frost clan insignia, or is the one that Sin got me to make for her the 'unaligned' official?"

"Tamsin got you to make an insignia? Can I see it?" Kenzi questioned immediately.

"Of course." Pandora crossed to the large chest that Tamsin had brought in early that now rested safely in the sectioned off area of the Dal with the seamstress. Opening it, she carefully removed the shining chest plate, pulling out the purple cloak beneath it, carrying it over to Kenzi before letting it unfurl, giving it a quick shake so it hung in all it's rich glory in front of the young woman.

Kenzi first blinked because, hello, Pandora was holding up a full length purple velvet cloak with bright white fur trim that hung to the floor from where the slender Fae held it up, then because of the intricate design that the Fae had obviously stitched into the centre of the cloth. Two hands, obviously coming from different sources wrapped around the hilt of a dagger, which itself was divided down the centre each side of it filled in with a different type of embroidery. The fingers of the hands entwined with each other as together they clasped the weapon. They were in turn framed in the centre of a shield crossed through with a spear and a long sword which effectively divided the shield into four. In the top quadrant was an outline of a crown, in the one to the left was a heart, the one to the right a howling wolf and at the bottom a caligraphied 'F'.

"You made this? In one night?" Kenzi reached her fingers out and then stopped short. "Am I allowed to touch the cape?"

"Yes, and Sin had the idea already mapped out I just finalized the design." Pandora nodded.

"It's amazing." Kenzi let a small portion of it run between her fingers. "Definitely this crest, it's about all of us, everyone who is team Bo."

"So it's not official then, I didn't think from the way Sin couldn't seem to 'recall' exactly what it looked like, that it was." Pandora chuckled slightly as she looked from Kenzi to the cloak in her hand. "I'm glad I managed to create something that you at least think is acceptable."

"You clearly have wicked mad skills." Kenzi grinned finally releasing the cloak. "Totally ready to see my outfit now, it's like being dressed up by a designer for the Oscars." She held her arms out for more measuring. "Oh and just because I didn't say it before, deny it all you want, you and her totally have a thing." She grinned looking at herself in the mirror.

-x-

"Hey sleepy head." Dyson's voice gently called Lauren to consciousness from the deep and refreshing sleep she was enjoying. "For a girl who didn't want to lay down, you're missing breakfast."

"Wh... wh... what?" Lauren blinked and raised her hand to rub across her eyes, displacing a pretty blue flower from her bedside as she did so. As more of her senses and body woke up she became aware of the wonderful smell filling the cave like dwelling they shared and the heat of morning light that filtered in through the windows.

"Good morning." Dyson's bright smile greeted her as she rubbed her eyes again this time getting them to focus on the wolf who was stood by the entrance to her room.

"You let me sleep this late?" The blonde pushed back the fur covering her body and stretched, watching as more flowers were pushed from their place. With a smile she reached to catch them before they slipped away or got trodden on by accident.

"We decided to leave you until you woke up, but I caved." Dyson admitted honestly. "There's so much to see, not to mention do." He wiggled his eyebrows for a second. "You ready for breakfast?" He asked watching as Lauren meticulously collected all of the blooms from around the bed. "You needn't bother, he picked you fresh ones this morning." The wolf added, his happy grin more or less constant.

Lauren looked across at Dyson with a smile and shook her head placing the collected flower in a neat pile on her bed before padding across to the doorway, in just her light shift and leggings, honestly not remembering when, since arriving in the Other, she had felt this comfortable or this warm.

"Here she is." It was Sigba that announced her arrival as the pair of them entered the kitchen area from the back where Lauren had been sleeping. "Good morning to you Echo." He got up off his small seating rock and patted it. Lauren crossed over to it and sat down with a nod of thanks.

"Fresh fruit?" Raril offered her a small plate with sliced up delicacies, the tough Dwarven leader's fingers already obviously sticky with sugary juices from the treats.

"Thank you, I do have to ask what are they?" She looked down at the fruit that in some ways matched ones that she knew from home but it seemed someone had mixed up the colours or the textures.

"I have nay clue but Erindal swears they're the finest thing to start off the morning." Raril laughed brightly and snatched up another from the plate.

"Word of a dragon, who am I to argue." Lauren leaned forward, picking up a slice of something that looked the texture of an apple but that had purple skin and lime coloured insides. When she took a bite from it her mouth was filled with a nectar so delicious she could barely believe the taste.

"Dyson caught breakfast." Sigba leaned against the external doorway pausing to munch on a haunch of meat.

"Dyson?" Lauren looked at the shifter and mouthed the name her eye brow arched high. The wolf shifter just grinned and winked in return.

"I'll have your tea in just a minute Echo." Lobi interrupted the look as he brought over a plate of food for Lauren. It was easily the most food they had seen since leaving the town, which both looked and smelled divine.

"Please don't rush yourself, when everyone else has theirs is fine." Lauren smiled at him. "And thank you for the flowers, my room smelled amazing this morning."

"Oh we've all eaten." Manlo chuckled as he dropped his mug into the large pot of water ready for cleaning. "We were just letting you rest." He turned to look at Lobi for a moment before continuing. "Why don't I fix the Echo's tea while you go show her what you've been dying to show her since sun up?" He encouraged the younger Dwarf with a nod towards the door.

For a moment Lobi hesitated, a soft blush rising to his cheeks.

"Go on brother Lobi." Sigba encouraged with a nod himself. "It's yours to do."

"Show me what?" Lauren looked between the three of them.

"It can wait till the Echo has finished her breakfast." Lobi shook his head.

"Now I'm intrigued." Lauren placed her plate down and stood up. "Please Lobi."

Looking at his feet for a moment the fair haired Dwarf moved back to Lauren's side and held out his hand to her. Almost instantly Lauren slipped hers into his and let him lead him out towards the opening of the structure.

It wasn't that Lauren had forgotten the events of the day before, it was just that the change was so dramatic that the sight of soft deep green grass covering the land right in front of the hill side structures immediately made the blonde do a double take. That and the fact that now, after what she assumed was a good few hours there were trees, not small little saplings but tall established looking trees dotting the landscape as far as she could see and the air was filled with the sounds of nature and life, it was almost too much for her to take in.

"Echo?" Lobi said gently. With a smile Lauren broke her trance and looked at him, moving willingly along with him as she led him a little way down the hill side to the lower lying flat lands that led up to the dwellings. Obviously someone, or something had worked hard during the night as there was a wide path in the lush green, made from even obsidian slabs, leading up towards the interior of the basin and down out through the gap in the ring of Boen and beyond. But that was not all, indeed as Lauren guessed that's not what Lobi had brought her there to see.

Over the path was a great archway held in place by two thick pillars, each carved in the shape of a Dwarven warrior. There was script carved into the broad swatch of obsidian that formed the arch, highlighted in brilliant white sand.

With his head high Lobi stood beside the arch and looked up, before looking at Lauren.

"What does it say?" Lauren asked impatiently.

"Chon's Byway. Safe Passage To All." The fair haired Dwarf's voice trembled slightly as he answered her.

"Lobi, it's perfect." Lauren immediately moved down and hugged him tightly, tears instantly filling her eyes as she felt the young Dwarf hold her back just as tightly.

"The Atronachs are servants of the land here." Lobi eased back after a moment. "Lord Erindal had them to work much of the night." He explained more. "If you'd like there's a memorial site in the valley..." He nodded down the path.

"Did Erindal pick the name or did you?" Lauren questioned standing up to begin to take steps down the path he indicated.

"T'was Erindal, I had spoken to him about Chon, about those lost over the years. He asked if he could honour my sons memory." Lobi's voice cracked again. "I did not expect this." He admitted. "T'is true when they tease me that I've been wanting ta show ya since sun-up." He admitted, blushing again.

"You should have woke me up." Lauren gave him another smile. "He is a very wise dragon, because if it wasn't for your son we'd have never known how close we were that evening to getting here to shelter."

"And he will continue to guide people safely home." Lobi agreed with a nod and then uncharacteristically clasped Lauren's hand. "Wait until you see what else Erindal has to show you today, would that I could take you and be the one to show you, but I don't have wings."

"More flying." Lauren face showed she was a little reluctant. "I'm not sure what else he could show me that would be more impressive then all of this." She looked around at all the 'life' in the valley.

"Only the Echo would grow tired of that which so many dream of after only one day." With a soft rolling laugh Erindal literally seemed to appear on the road behind them. "Is flying already so mundane?"

"Not mundane, just back to highlighting how clumsy I am." Lauren gave a soft laugh. "I managed both the flights yesterday without incident but..." She walked over closer to the majestic beast. "Good morning Erindal, thank you for naming Chon's passage." She pointed out the one thing this morning that had moved her so much already.

"By-way, far more regal than a passage." Again the Dragon chuckled slightly before looking at Lobi. "You kept your eagerness at bay until now, I commend you young Shalebeard." He nodded his enormous head a little. "How did your crew enjoy the fresh fruit I collected for them this morning?"

"They are loving it, the nibble I had was delicious." Lauren watched him move. "I needed to remember to check though, are you feeling okay? Is there any residual infection or discomfort?"

If Lauren believed it was possible she would have sworn Erindal arched his eyebrow at Lobi in a 'is she for real?' kind of query. Just for a second before he gave what could only really be described as a dog like body wide shake.

"I am feeling no kind of discomfort what so ever thank you Echo. A little hungry perhaps, but then there's no virgins in the area yet."

The comment made Lauren's eyes widen a little in surprise. It was Lobi whose laughter made Lauren turn from looking at Erindal towards him and back again.

"He's joking with you Echo." The fair haired Dwarf pointed out.

"I thought it was a safe one considering you're a resonant, and my good friend Lobi there is a father... Unless you were worried about your wolf shifter friend. I could understand were he one, a beard that size and all." Erindal's laughter came from deep in his throat.

Lauren gave a soft head shake and a laugh of her own at the idea that Dyson was a 'virgin'.

"Jokes mean I don't have to worry about you being in pain." She reached out and softly rested her hand on the Dragon's snout without thinking about the loving gesture. "Now where are we flying too? Maybe its a good thing I delayed my breakfast."`

-x-