Jordan tensed. Her prey was scared. Her whiskers twitched as she sniffed, inhaling the sweet fear. However, a new smell invaded her senses. She growled angrily and shifted back to her human self. "You scared away my prey" Jordan turned, only to see Pyrus' guilty face. "Sorry" he apologised. "I didn't know you were an Artic Fox, I would have thought you'd be a water animal, you know, because Jordan means flowing water." Jordan smiled grimly. "Last name, it means shadow" Pyrus clicked his tongue. "Of course, Japanese"

Jordan nodded. "So what are you doing here, and where's your friend Salix?" Pyrus looked slightly alarmed. "You haven't seen him? He was supposed to meet us here." Jordan sighed. "Hang on, I'll trace him" She shifted again. Fur sprouted from her skin. She pushed her feet deep into the earth as they changed into giant paws. "Beautiful" Pyrus breathed.

Jordan ignored him and sniff. White mist puffed from her mouth as she exhaled. It was very cold. She gave a planitive howl and shifted back. "Salix was here, so was Spencer and I smell Spencer's blood." Pyrus' eyes bulged. "But he wouldn't, he doesn't eat humans, not since....wait...." He gasped loudly. "Is her real name Spencer?" she asked urgently. Jordan would have laughed if it wasn't for the seriousness of this situation. "No, her real name is Maura Esprit" Pyrus shrank into himself.

"Then we must hurry, he may have already killed her" Jordan morphed and became Jaws, the fiercest shifter, more perilous than "The Cat". "She'd better be alive, for his sake" she growled.

Salix looked at Spencer saddly. His emotion changed to hate. "My weakness" he spat. "How I wish I could kill you" Spencer stirred. She was lying on a soft bed of grass. Salix softened. "I killed you before you know. That first time, they declared you a saint, fallen to a demon. When fear of god was still strong, they called you Maura, holder of the immortal grail, merciful and innocent.You were even known in the Nightworld as The Elusive. None of their assasins could touch you. None but me."

Flashback

Maura skipped down the cobblestone pathway. She hummed some music, composed by her grandfather. Her long brown locks shone under the moonlight and her green eyes sparked with what men called the Forever Fire. "Miss Spirit?" a soft voice asked. Maura turned and flashed a sweet smile. "Maya! Sister!" She flung her arms around her step sister. "When dear sister did you reach Glenbrocke and within the fortnight? I t'would think you're a ghost to fly so fast there and back." Maya's teeth lengthened. "Oh dear sister" she sneered. ":You know I'm no ghost, that's you" Maura's eyes widened. "Sister?" Maya patted Maura's hair.

"I'm not an assasin like the rest dear, but surely you knew about them? About us? You're the oldest sweet sister" Maya's grip on Maura's hair tightened. "But then you knew that too. But shall I tell you something that you don't know?" Maya yanked Maura closer. Maura cried, tears streaked her cheeks but she didn't say a word. "I took your soulmate before you did." Maura's face paled. "No" she whispered. Maya grinned. "Yes, Sister" she spat. "He's mine now." Maura shut her eyes and screamed in agnoy. "Mine!He was mine! The only thing that will ever be mine till the end!" Maya pulled Maura's neck closer. Her teeth wavered over her neck then suck them in.

But her teeth didn't sink into anything. Maura was intangiable. Nothing could hurt her at the moment. Maya hissed. "You may not let me kill you, but....maybe he will" Maya fled. Maura stayed still. She fell to her knees exhausted. She couldn't stay intangiable for very long. She heard footsteps. "So, you're Maura? Maya said you'd be easy prey" She felt him lunge for her neck.

She felt his teeth and then his hunger. She knew that this was him. Her soulmate. She knew he felt it too. But he still denied. Still he drank. Her body became flimsy. Her breath shallow.

'If I kill him, I kill my hope and happiness for the future.' she thought saddly. She struggled to breathe. "I'll see you again" she whispered into his ear. Then placed her head on his shoulder and died.

He pulled away. "Maura?" he frowned. Then the flashbacks happened. He saw his childhood, before Maya came. He lived in the tribe. There was a girl his age. Named Laura. She played and danced and showed him kindness. Then the enemy tribe attacked. Laura was killed. She took a single poisoned arrow to her shoulder and died 2 days later. Salix pulled at Maura's corset. Yes, it was there. The single star shape of that arrow. He felt sick. He'd killed her. "I'll wait" he whimpered to her. Then cried his first blood tears.

End Flashback

Salix brushed his memories aside. "Why'd you have to choose to take the form of a human? Why? When you could manifest yourself into anyone? A queen, a dragon a lamia!" He knelt down beside Spencer's small body. Her body flickered for a minute then started to convulse, sending bright beams of holy light out. It seemed to rise out of her and form something else.

"Hello, Salix" the light echoed. Salix watched transfixed. "Maura" he uttered in awe. The light beamed and started to glow fiercley. "Yes" It started to swirl creating the "true" Maura's face. Long brown curly hair and bright green eyes. "I have chosen this, I have chosen this person because she is my decendant,my blood. She's not just any mortal, she's special. I am her past, future and present, I am her and she is me. Beware, she's the key for the lock. If he gets her/us.......No Wild Power can save you"