**DISCLAIMER: The concept of the Night World belong to L.J. Smith, not me. But my characters, namely Elise, the Morgan twins, and Sinael are mine. Please don't steal them.**

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"In love the paradox occurs that two beings become one and yet remain two."

~Erich Fromm~

10

The next weekend came, golden and peaceful, and Saturday's sunshine was like liquid honey painted over the town. Despite being well into autumn, the air still smelled fresh and summery, and it seemed an ideal day for anything.

Except for one thing. The idea drifted indecisively through Elise's mind, refusing to fade away despite its stupidity. She stared out the window, finding it difficult to believe how her life had changed. Although neither Xander nor Leilani actually said it, she felt that she was now in a battle for her life. If they were right about her heritage, Sinael would definitely want her out of the way.

But why did she need this power so much? It had to be something special, if such a power-mad witch was after it. They were trying to fight her going on nothing but guesses.

Elise sighed restively and fingered a small pillow of pine needles from Leilani. At least, it smelled like pine, but Leilani had said it would help protect her.

After a moment of hesitation, Elise decided to put it to the test with her idea. They had nothing to go on; Sinael had all the power. Besides, from her manner during her little appearance, it seemed as though terrorizing but not harming—at least for now—was her favorite pastime. Except Mr. Hamilton, a small voice whispered, but she ignored it.

Tucking the fragrant, and hopefully protective, pillow into her pocket, Elise slipped out of the house, careful not to disturb the sleeping dhole.

As she walked down the sidewalk, she thought again how foolish she was being and what Xander would say if he where there. She almost turned back, but she remembered the crazed look in Sinael's silvery eyes and headed onward with a tense face.

Taking a deep gulp, she plunged into the ominous forest. She had no clue to Sinael's whereabouts other than the clearing she'd first met her.

She reached what seemed to be the same clearing and looked around. There was no sign of Sinael, that hired witch, or her feline familiar.

"Oh no you don't," she muttered aloud. Taking a deep breath, she yelled at the top of her lungs, "Sinael! I want to talk to you! Where are you?"

As the birds chirped in response, she tried yelling again, "Sinael!"

"You rang?"

That soft serpentine voice came from just behind her. She spun around, hair whipping her face.

Keeping her voice steady, Elise said, "I want information. You mentioned this as a 'game.' All right, let's play a little. After all, what's the use of getting more power if there's no fun involved?" she asked with a careless shrug. "So let's make it a little more interesting for you. Tell me what you know. Give yourself challenge. Be a sport." Elise's voice became hard and unforgiving as ice; she did not enjoy being toyed with.

Soft sinuous laughter. "You're good for a human. Clever. Almost had me manipulated there. And simply to show I'm a sport I'll tell you anyway. After all, part of the fun is the . . . hunt."

Elise clenched her fist. "Go ahead."

"My, my. Who knew such cuddly creatures could have such cold depths? All right. I'm actually not that much older than you. Just a few years, believe it or not. And when I was just a little girl, my mother took me everywhere. And my mother's love hunting was passed on to me, especially after that one particularly magnificent hunt. Yes, I was there. That infamous Hunt seventeen years ago. Oh, it was simply glorious reveling in the fear and the challenge of the opposing sorcery. It was like a drug; you could become intoxicated with that feeling. But, despite the glory of it, it wasn't very well put together. No one ever realized or even suspected that your parents had left you and the object of the hunt in this little hovel of a town. But I realized. Oh, yes, I figured it out. And now I'm back to finish off the hunt."

Dissatisfied, Elise responded, "Great story. And you know nothing more, like for example what the object is?"

Before she could react, the witch was standing before her. Strange, Elise had never noticed her diminutive height. It didn't seem to matter; even glaring upward cast the woman in a sinister light. Sinael's hand snaked up to stroke her golden hair. Elise scarcely restrained herself from slapping the offending hand away; she did not want to touch her.

"You're very pretty, Elise. That's short for Elizabeth, isn't it, Liz? Would you like to know secret, Beth? Tell your little boyfriend that the hunt was nothing in legend compared to its object. That's all for now, Libby. Can't give everything away. That would take out all the fun." She paused her stroking. "It's been fun chatting. By the way Betsy—oh, I do think that's my favorite—I could hurt you very easily, despite that flimsy protection spell that that female gave you. I wouldn't recommend summoning me again. Ta." With claws that had appeared while they were talking, she swatted at Elise's arm like a cat that can't be bothered to really put in that much effort and dissolved into the air.

Elise fell to her knees, weak in Sinael's wake. She clutched at her arm, where the witch had left four angry red abrasions. Thankfully, she had not drawn blood. She stared down at her shaking hands and then frowned, as some fluffy, gray substance floated down and landed on her palm. She reached up and found small clumps of gray in her hair that disintegrated when her fingers brushed them. She looked up at the clearing.

At first, she couldn't quite understand what she was seeing. Then, her eyes recognized what had happened. While the two had been talking, Sinael had burnt the clearing.

The trees were skeletal and black, pieces of charcoal still crumbling. The grass was equally crisp and black. It was like standing in another world, one of pain and desolation. Except for a circle of green where the two had been standing, talking, the entire clearing was blackened and morbid. I'm in a fairy ring, she thought, skin tingling faintly. The ashes of the once-living leaves continued to drift down around her, more catching in her hair and brushing her skin. With a shudder, she stood and left the clearing, resolutely refusing to even glance back at the blackened blemish in the verdant forest.

* * *

"You little idiot," he whispered fiercely, hugging her so tightly, she felt fit to pop. "You had no idea whether or not she would hurt you!" Elise had not told them about the scratches.

Leilani giggled. "Oh, I wish I could have seen her face when you asked her to be a 'sport'!" she managed to blurt out before dissolving into laughter again.

Xander gave his twin a venomous glare and said through clenched teeth, "You're not helping." Leilani's face contorted as she attempted to swallow her laughter and ended up with a sort of wet, sputtering choke before she finally managed to get herself under control.

"Xander," Elise interjected. "I know it was stupid, but I did find out some important stuff. She said that whatever power is here is even more mythical than that hunt you mentioned. Any ideas?"

Xander immediately shook his head

Hesitantly, Leilani said, "I have an idea. It could be one of the Three Talismans." She scowled at Xander's muffled snort and said, "Oh come on. If Elise can accept that witches are real, we could accept the Talismans are or at least that Sinael thinks they are."

Elise waved her hand at Leilani. "Like I said earlier. Human. I have no idea what you're talking about."

"According to legend, the Three Talismans were created many millennia ago as sort of a trio of powerful objects. No one knows anything about what they do actually. Let's see. I think their names are the Amulet of Artemis, the Charm of Selene, and the Periapt of Hecate. The names actually don't have anything to do with them directly; they just sort of fit. Artemis was a three-fold goddess. She was Artemis on Earth, Selene in the sky, and Hecate below in the land of Darkness and during nights when it's a new moon. So considering the coloring of the objects and their coming in three, the name sort of stuck.

"Anyway, I think Sinael was probably just messing with you and trying to get us off track. Xander's right. Saying that one of those things is here is like saying Excalibur is here."

"Yeah," Elise said doubtfully. "Maybe I should use some of that dream-thistle stuff again."

Leilani immediately responded, "No, not again so soon after the first time. Later this week maybe."

* * *

"I'm sorry, Xander."

He glanced at her, breath warming her face. Leilani had to stay after school to plant some herbs to protect the students, so it was just Xander and Elise.

"I mean, I didn't want to endanger myself. I just feel like we're getting nowhere. Things are happening. I overheard a student talking about a black cat that tried to bite him. And another one about a woman who disappeared before her eyes. She's not careless; she's too dangerous to just be careless. She's getting ready."

"I know; I just don't want anything to happen to you."

They kissed goodnight and Xander watched her enter home. With a sigh, he turned around towards his home.