A/N – So, here we are. Another Chapter done, another 17 or so pages. Urk. Long Chapter…(would you believe me if I said that I had intended it to go on for longer…? No…? Aww…^_^)

Anyway – apologies for the delay in getting it up – Real Life is such a constraint (hehehe).

Appreciate any reviews, as per normal. But hey, who doesn't? Reviews are funnn. I'm particularly fond of this chapter for some reason, so hopefully you'll like it too. Expect the next one up sooner than it took to get this one done.

Salek.

***

Luck.

Huh. Luck was important. One might be forgiven for thinking that a Shang scoffed at luck; that 'one's skill is the only thing dividing victory and death' – but Shang was also realistic. Granted, skill and ability was paramount, but one also has to recognise that any fight can be determined by a single chance event. Luck played its' part, Alanna knew, and so she was thankful for Jonathan's wishes. Especially since she'd not trained with a sword for some time, her rebellious mind reminded her.

She focused; there wasn't anything she could do about that now, anyway. Cursing again at the incredibly uncomfortable padding she was wearing, she stopped before Alex; stonily staring at his cocky smirk. He was getting to her, she could feel it, but she had to ignore it. Rise above it, be calm…and just thrash him with her blunt practice sword.

"So, Mistress Falcon." Alex asked casually as he tightened the straps of his padded armour. "Are we ready to begin?"

Pursing her lips, Alanna gave the man a slight nod. "Ready when you are," she intoned, flexing her grip on the swords hilt. She stepped into position, exhaling sharply as she prepared herself for the fight to come. With a smooth movement, Alex mimicked her position, bringing his own sword up into contact with hers. They ritually clacked the flat of the blades together, then dipped the tips towards the ground.

Alanna mentally counted to three; expecting an attack on the second beat. She was ready for it if it came, however – she had been taught many of the regular sword patterns used by Tortallan knights, for the simple reason that the Shang respected them. Well, some of them, those who were highly skilled in the art of swordplay. Those, she realised as Alex ducked towards her lithely at the exact moment she had expected, like the one in front of her.

He brought up from its' previous position, the tip dancing forward and up with almost impossibly fast vertical slash. She casually stepped to the side, bringing her own blade around the knights extended arm. Alex was too skilled for such a simple trick, however, and had already reversed his sword strike, parrying her blade with his own descending blow. The jarring shock that accompanied such defences reverberated up Alanna's arm, but she took no notice of it. She couldn't, if she was to survive countless other such blows in the coming exercise. Dropping the strength from her sword arm for the moment, the blade falling away from her opponent's sword, she danced in towards him, pulling the sword behind her. Obviously confused by the move, Alex stumbled back slightly, his sword swinging in a wide circle in front of him to fend off any potential attack. She leant backwards as he did so, avoiding any possible injury from his flailing blade, and swung the sword in from her right. With a curse at her speed, Alex sucked in his gut and attempted to get out of the way, her sword passing inches away from his belly.

She had to give him credit, he knew when there was no point in attempting to use the sword. She had been told that Knights often failed to recognise that the body still played an important part in sword fights. Indeed, as her Masters had so often pointed out, if they cannot hit your body, then they have no chance of victory. Alex was aware of this, it seemed, which made him all the more of a dangerous opponent.

They continued to fight, the two of them dancing the forms with a grace that astonished many of the gathered onlookers. Onlookers which had swelled considerably in number. It seemed that a servant had caught sight of Sir Alex fetching his sword; an occurrence which signified a coming fight. Something which was cause to assemble a gallery, or so it appeared. At the moment, however, Alanna was too engrossed in the fight to notice. For long minutes the two of them parried and struck, blades flashing as they sought out weak points in the defences of the opponent; the twisting torso's and dancing feet of the two duelists allowing both to keep relatively unharmed, although Alanna had lain a few blows along Alex's ribs, while she had herself taken a knock to the shoulder. It didn't slow her down, however, although by now she was sweating profusely. A fact, she noted with some dismay during a brief respite from watching for the next blow, which could cause her some problems, especially in this restrictive leather padding.

She intended the bout to be over before it would become a factor, however.

She ducked a wild swing, flashing her own sword into Alex's side again. The blow lacked any real strength though, and he barely even registered the fact that he'd been hit at all. Instead he leant into the blow, making it somewhat awkward for her to rise from her almost-crouch. He brought down the hilt of his sword, and she rolled to the side. It still just managed to catch her on the side of the head, making her slightly wince in pain. As she rolled to her feet, her head swam, forcing her off balance slightly, and she threw herself to the side in an attempt to ensure Alex wasn't able to capitalize. She shook her head to clear it as she rose again, and she caught sight of Alex moving towards her, presumably annoyed at himself for allowing her to get away from him. He probably wasn't used to an opponent who was quite as athletic as she was. It was now or never, she decided, as she brought her sword up horizontally in front of her.

As she did so, Alex lithely moved to his right. She knew this maneuver, she realised; it had been one that she had been taught the Tortallan's sometimes used. The fact that Alex was slipping back into recognizable patterns meant he was probably tiring, something which she could have taken advantage of if she wasn't quite as tired herself. She noted him taking the first steps of it, and waited till he had obviously committed himself to the move, his right arm swinging around in an oblique arc as he twisted the top of his torso. It was designed, she knew, to catch the opponent in an awkward position, and then to capitalize on that. But she knew how to defeat it, to turn it back against the user, and as soon as she realised Alex wasn't going to be able to stop the swords movement, she acted.

Stepping smoothy to her left, she pulled her head back out of the swords path, swapping her sword over to her left hand as she went. She wasn't quite as proficient with her left as with her right hand, but ambidexterity was promoted under Shang, and she was thankful for it at the moment. As Alex cursed as his sword swept past her, she brought her own down on his blade, before leaning in over it. Her weight, slight as it was, was enough to prevent her opponent retrieving his weapon easily, and she grinned as she realised that she had won. With a twist of her wrist, she jarred the blade loose from Alex's hand, and with a slight application of pressure…

There! The sword dropped from Alex's grasp, and she wasted no time in dragging her own sword up to the Knights throat. She gave him a level look along the blade, the grin showing her white teeth as she allowed herself to relax slightly.

"I yield." He stated, loudly, his voice echoing across the room. Rapturous applause followed suddenly, and with wide eye's she looked around, finally seeing the assembled crowd. "Well fought, Mistress Shang." Alex whispered. She snapped her head back around to him, grin returning as she noticed his smile. She dropped the sword from his neck.

"You too, Sir Alex. I could not have asked for a more worthy opponent. Although" she added, with a slightly abashed look around the room, "I could have done without the audience."

Alex's smile widened. "You'll have to get used to such sights, I'll wager." He told her, "We don't often get warriors as highly skilled as yourself and Master Arune coming to court."

She beamed at the compliment, before frowning slightly over his subsequent words. "Oh, I'm not staying in court."

"Aren't you?" he gave her a quizzical look. "But where are you staying then? I know you've been here for a few days already, but Master Arune said that you'd probably be staying at the palace."

"I've been here for a few weeks actually," she told him, before shaking her head. "But this isn't the place for this. Is there somewhere I can, uhh, stretch? In private, I mean." Alex nodded, and placing a hand on her arm attempted to steer her towards a door. Arune, Raoul and Gary caught up with them although, as she noted with a small pang of dismay, Jonathan had apparently left.

"Marvelous!" Gary was telling her, "You were amazing!"

"Brilliant! Certainly showed Alex, maybe now he'll be a little less inflated, eh?" Raoul joked, sharing a laugh with Gary. The two of them looked like overly excited children, wide grins and sparkling eyes. Arune merely caught her eyes and nodded to her, a slight grin creeping onto his face as he noticed her worriedly looking around the assembled crowd.

"Thanks," she told the two knights, quietly. "I'm pretty good with the sword. I hope you never see me at wrestling though."

"I'm sure you could beat Rauol, slow oaf that he is." Alex noted, digging back at the larger man. Gary rolled his eyes good-naturedly at the two of them, before clapping Alanna on the back.

"I apologise for what I said earlier, Alanna." He said, earnestly.

She just smiled at him, "Apology accepted, Sir Gareth. Don't worry yourself over it." And neither should she, she realised with a groan, as she had more pressing matters to attend to. Like the press of nobles and servants in front of her, for one. Paling slightly, she indicated the gathering of people in front of her before hesitantly asking  "Are they going to want to talk to me too?"

"Huh? Oh, why of course!" Gary told her, suppressing a smile, "They'll all want to congratulate you and shake your hand. Some of them might even want to invite you to parties, the ladies will want to trade gossip with you, and the servants will want to snatch a keepsake from you."

She glared at him. "For some reason I now have an overwhelming desire to hit you."

Gary grinned, continuing in a conspiratorial whisper; "Maybe the Lords will ask for a kiss!"

"That's done it." She said, punching him softly in the side. He exhaled loudly, the 'Oof!' sound making her and the other three men laugh. As she stopped laughing, noting Gary's smiling face; thankfully taking it all in good fun, she realised just how much she liked these guys. They were fun, and they made her laugh. She hoped that the five of them could stay in touch. Five. Frowning slightly, she turned to Raoul. "Did Jonathan have to go somewhere?"

The burly man nodded. "He had some business to attend to, he said. He told us to 'convey his apologies', or something." He shrugged, obviously he hadn't been paying much attention. Alanna felt somewhat…disappointed? No, not quite that extreme, she told herself. Sad. Just sad that He hadn't seen her victory. She scrunched her nose up as she realised how that sounded.

"It is somewhat strange." Alex mused. "I mean, first he spends all week raving about her-" she hurriedly looked down, blood rushing to her cheeks. He hadn't really been so fixated on her, had he? "-and then he ducks out before we finish. Must have been important."

"He didn't have anything scheduled for this afternoon, which is why he wanted Master Arune to bring her today." Gary frowned. "It must have been very urgent, too. Maybe I should go find out where he went." Alanna was confused – why would Jonathan have anything scheduled? She guessed that it must have been some noble thing that she couldn't imagine; that she couldn't remember, she reminded herself.

Shrugging it off, she turned her attention to more pressing matters. "How can I avoid all of them?" she whispered, again indicating the gathered crowd.

Arune grasped her shoulder, grinning, "Ahh, the true test of a Shang's abilities. Avoiding nobility." Winking an eye at the four of them, he stepped quickly away – seemingly disappearing among the crowd.

Alex shook his head. "He hasn't done a particularly good job so far, has he? Not really." He whispered.

Alanna frowned slightly at that, before grunting at the place where Arune had disappeared into "Great. So he's run off, leaving me to face my terrible fate. Thanks, oh wise and powerful Shang Master."

"Come on, Alanna. We're not that bad." Gary said.

"Not you, no." she replied, "It's just that I want to get out of this uncomfortable padding, and I really don't feel like having to be courteous, or whatever."

Roul nodded at her, "I know what you mean." He pursed his lips, "Tell you what, we can go out that door-" he pointed to one behind them, a smaller door that Alanna hadn't really noticed before "-which leads to the quarters, and I'll let you change in my room, alright? Then we can put the padding back later."

She turned to him excitedly. "Oh, thank you Raoul!" she gushed. "That would be perfect. And then I can slip out the front gate, or whatever." She nodded gratefully at him, and the large man began to lead the way. She followed on his heels, and grinned when she heard the cries of disappointment from the crowd behind her. She couldn't quite find it within her to be ashamed, however. All she wanted at the moment was to get out of the padding and back out into the city. Throwing a glance behind her, she noticed Gary and Alex hanging back in the room, talking to some of the nobles and the like. The smile slid off her face; she hoped she'd be able to say goodbye to them before she left. She did like them; well, for all they were nobles, anyway. She bounded forward to besides Raoul, "Are Alex and Gary going to meet up at your rooms?" she asked.

He shrugged, a strange look when he was walking as quickly as he was. She noted with some aggravation that it probably wasn't fast for him; he was just so much taller than she was. "I don't know. Why?"

It was her turn to shrug, "Oh, I just wanted to say goodbye to them. Thank Alex for the match, that kind of thing."

"I'll go back and fetch them before you leave."

"Thanks, Raoul."

***

Raoul had led her for a few moments through the stone hallways of the palace. She was amazed that for such endless stretches of stone, it all seemed to be etched in some fashion. Intricate designs or just simple shapes, not a single section seemed to be roughly hewn. It was incredible. He finally stopped in front of a doorway, one of many in this particular hall, and swung it open.

"Here you go," he told her. "Just come on out when you're done."

She grinned at him again, thanking him for his kindness, before stepping into the room. Almost as soon as the door closed, she began to strip off the padding. She had worn such protection before, and so she knew what to expect when it got sweaty. Sure enough, the exercise involved a fair amount of her naked flesh showing as the padding stuck to her clothing. It was for this reason that she had not wanted to attempt it in a room filled with dozens of strangers, let alone with just her newfound Knightly friends. As she tried to roll the padding down her legs, she lost her balance and fell on the floor.

"Oof!"

Most ungainly.

Luckily for her it appeared that Raoul had gone to fetch Alex and Gary, as he had said he would, so no-one seemed to catch the rather un-Shang like sounds coming from Sir Raoul's rooms. She giggled to herself as she lay on the floor, enjoying the horizontal nature of it. It was surprisingly comfortable, actually, for a stone floor. She turned her head to the side, and caught sight of a scrunched up scrap of parchment located just under Raoul's bed. She thought for a while, before reaching out and taking hold of it. Raoul seemed to be the strong and silent type, and they all seemed to know about her, so why shouldn't she? Besides, it had probably just fallen down there, so it couldn't have been all that important. With the padding still stuck around her ankles, she uncreased the parchment, before reading the page;

Lady Yves;

I most enjoyed our evening spent together, and I hope we can meet again at some point. I will not pretend to be a man of wisdom or – as my friends would say – sound mind, and I will probably embarrass myself while doing so, but I have written this in memory of you;

Your beauty surpasses the most brilliant sunrise,

And the most wondrous gems that are your eyes,

Hold me captive; they are two sapphires that shine

As I pray that they will for the rest of time.

Your soul is so kind, gentle and warm; beautiful.

You are, and I cannot be more truthful.

Alanna knew she should probably stop reading, but she couldn't take her eyes away from it. She felt a smile creep onto her face; it wasn't a particularly good poem, but she would have felt nice if it had been sent to her. Not, she noted, because she felt that way about Raoul, but because it simply was truthful. She turned the page over, and almost burst out laughing as she noticed that Raoul had drawn a picture of what – she assumed – was this 'Lady Yves' (And why, she wondered, did that name sound so familiar?). She wasn't sure if it was Lady Yves, she giggled, because it was somewhat hard to get the details from a stick figure. At least it was wearing a dress – that should count for something.

Placing the paper onto his bed, she set back to the task at hand. Wriggling out of the padding was proving to be more strenuous than she had expected, and her hair was escaping the leather thong, strands beginning to frame her face. As she stood up out of the padding, giving a smug sigh as she did so, she noticed that some of the strands were beginning to lighten somewhat. She groaned, as she realised that she would have to find some way of colouring it again somehow. She didn't mind her original hair colour, far from it, but it made her far too distinctive; something she wasn't particularly fond of. Especially, she noted as she picked up the padding, for what she was currently attempting to do. She knew it would be harder for her if everyone in the city knew she was looking for information about Thom's death, which was why she'd gone through George. With a last glance around the room to make sure she'd not forgotten anything, she settled her rather crumpled shirt and breeches about her body before opening the door.

Raoul had returned with Alex and Gary, and the three of them seemed to be in some kind of animated argument. Apparently Gary and Raoul were showing Alex where he went wrong in the fight, making mention of the fact that he should have gone left when he went right, and vice versa. Alex seemed to be rather unimpressed with the lecture, but he obviously wasn't one to let his temper control him. Catching sight of her, they hastily cut off whatever maneuver they were discussing.

"Ah, Alanna!" Gary gushed, "Nice to see you again."

"Yes, because who knows what kind of mishaps could have happened in Raoul's room." She had intended it to sound more as a lighthearted jest, but soon realised just how forward it actually came out like. Raoul had apparently caught on, too, as a deep choking sound accompanied his wide-open eyes. "Ah, what I mean to say is that I hadn't been gone very long." She corrected, blushing slightly as Alex and Gary laughed out loud at her. Raoul just continued looked shocked.

"Well, nice to see that Mistress Falcon isn't quite excellent at everything," Alex remarked after he'd stopped laughing, "Although it's unfortunate Jon couldn't have seen it. "

"Yeah, we'll probably get more 'She's amazing!' commentary tonight." Gary snorted.

Alanna narrowed her eyes at him. "As ah, embarrassing as that may be," she really didn't want to admit to them that it made her…warm inside, "I am still standing here. Can't belittling me wait until after I've left?" The two of them mumbled their apologies; Gary at least having the dignity to look like he was sorry. Alex just gave her that smirk of his. "Now, do you want to walk me to the gate, or do I have to find my own way down there?"

The four of them set out, striding through hallways that, to Alanna, all looked the same. She had no idea of where they were going, though she once managed to catch a glimpse out of a window; the sun was fairly low in the sky, and it seemed as if it would be dark soon. A brief look of annoyance flashed across her face – she didn't relish the idea of walking back through Corus after dark. Not that she couldn't defend herself, of course, just that she really didn't want to be bothered if something did happen.

"Anything wrong?" Raoul asked her, and she turned her attention back to the hallway. Alex and Gary were ahead of them, chatting about the latest court lady, it seemed.

"Huh? Oh, no. Not really. Just didn't think it was quite this late."

Raoul nodded, "I guess it gets darker here a little earlier than it did in Shang."

"I suppose so, though I never really thought about it. You're worked from sunrise to sunset, usually." She shrugged, "Never really had any opportunity to measure the amount of time I'd spent outside. You just know that it's been a long day when you're almost passing out from exhaustion by the time training ends."

"Was it really that hard?" Raoul asked. "I mean, we were allowed days off from training."

She winced. "Lucky. I don't think I left Shang for more than a few weeks in my whole time there."

"How long were you there for?"

"A shade over seven years."

He shook his head in disbelief, "And you were only out of Shang for a few weeks? In all that time?" he gave an appreciative whistle. "I think I've discovered a newfound love of the training regime we went through."

She laughed along with him, before a comfortable silence set in. After a while, she turned back to him. "Did Jonathan really say all that stuff about me?" she blushed slightly as he raised an eyebrow at her. "The whole, uh. What Gary was saying."

Raoul gave her a wide smile. "Well, yes and no. He was certainly talking about you a lot, but Gary was probably making it sound a little more overwrought than it was." He chortled, "Though I do remember him saying something about your eyes."

She blushed like the sun at that. Why did he affect her so, she wondered? "Well, that's, uh, interesting."

His eyebrow crept up again. "If I may inquire, Mistress Falcon, why do you care so much about what Sir Jonathan thinks of you?"

"That's none of your business, Sir Raoul." She tried to keep a straight face, but his mocking tone was forcing a smile onto her face.

"Why so defensive? Could it be that you're harbouring some secret desire for the man?"

The smile on her face somewhat negated the impact her narrowed eyes were having on him. But at least she had something up her sleeve. "I'll trust you not to say anything more on the matter," she threatened, "or I'll be forced to recite your attempts at poetry to all the court ladies."

He paled, "I-I-I don't know what you're talking about." He stuttered.

"Your beauty surpasses the most brilliant sunrise…" she softly whispered, her smile turning evil as the mans eyes bugged out of his head.

"You little…!"

"Now now, don't say anything you may regret." She cackled while waving a finger in his face. "Shoes on the other foot now, isn't it Sir Raoul?" It was his turn to glare at her, before he began to smile too. Her own smile turned kindly then, and she leant across to him. "I thought it was a very good poem," she told him. "Lady Yves will love it."

"Really?" he asked, somewhat nervously.

She nodded. "Though I'd suggest leaving off the drawing of her. It's not particularly flattering."

"Good advice." He smiled. "Thanks. I'd been wondering whether to send it to her or not, but I think I will now."

"With some flowers?"

He pursed his lips. "I hadn't considered that; another good idea." He laughingly added "The Romantic Shang Falcon, eh?"

She punched his arm. "It's just something women understand." She told him. Which was true, she guessed. She hadn't really had the most feminine of upbringings – and there had been only a half dozen or so other female Shang-in-training, but she just knew some things. That women liked flowers, and that compliments made one feel very warm inside. "Flowers and a sappy poem will do you good with her, if that's your intention."

"It is." He told her. "I like her a lot."

"Love?"

He just shrugged. "I don't know yet. Maybe." He sighed softly, before turning to look at her. "And what about you, Alanna-" she smiled when he said her name; at least Gary and Raoul were doing that now. "-? Any strong Shang man in your life?"

"Shang? No. Not a Shang." She blushed as she remembered Jonathan – and then George. She did like George, after all, but things would never work between them. Of course, that didn't mean she could still look at him, and the Rogue was attractive. "But I don't really have time for romance, I have things to do here."

"Really?" Raoul asked, "What's that?"

She waved the question away. She hadn't intended to reveal that; although, she realised with a start, it might be good to question as many nobles as she could about Thom. This Johnny George knew was a definite one she wanted to talk to, but Raoul, Gary, Alex and Jonathan…Jonathan – Johnny? She frowned, the question slipping out before she could stop it. "Do you know George Cooper?"

Raoul stopped dead in the hallway. She continued forwards a few steps, almost walking into Gary and Alex, who had also stopped. All of them were staring at her, a wary look in their eyes. "Do you?" Gary asked.

"So you do?" she retorted.

Alex looked around quickly, looking somewhat relieved when he realised the four of them were alone. "Yes." He said simply, "We do. The question now is how you know him."

"I'm a friend of his," she said ambiguously. "How do you know him?"

"We're friends of his too." Alex replied, suspiciously.

"This is getting ridiculous," Raoul said. "C'mon." he grabbed her by the arm, and began moving forward again. The other two got the hint, and began moving again. "You do know what George is, don't you?" He whispered to her.

"Of course I do."

"So you'll realise that some people here wouldn't exactly approve of any connection we might have with him." Alex pointed out.

"Ah." She realised, lamely. "Good point."

Raoul looked down a side passage when they passed it, before turning back to the others. "We're almost at the gate by now. Do you want to talk about this later, or we can go somewhere now?"

"Although I've got to be back at the Council in an hour or so." Gary noted.

Alanna nodded. "That's alright. We can talk about it later; its' not that I don't trust you or anything." She smiled, "In fact, if you're friends of George, I probably trust you more."

"I swear, that man is a bad influence." Raoul muttered. "First Jon and now this."

"So, should we meet up again tomorrow?" Alex asked. "I've got nothing going." The other two knights nodded, and Alanna smiled.

"Fine by me."

"We probably shouldn't meet here," Gary mused. "Where are you staying, Alanna?"

"You know the 'Dove?"

"You-!" Raoul cut off a shout. "You're staying there!?" He asked a touch more softly. She nodded, and he just shook his head.

"We'll meet you there tomorrow, mid afternoon." Gary continued after a beat. It seemed that he'd been thrown by her lodging as well. "That alright with you?" She nodded again, and they continued on for a moment in silence, before Raoul turned a corner, the gloom of the stone hallways giving over to the last light of day. Orange bathed the open courtyard before her, and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the sudden light.

"Well I believe this is goodbye for the moment." She said, giving the three men a smile. "I'll say this, it's been great to meet you all."

"Of course it has." Alex gave her that smirk again, and she rolled her eyes.

"Oh, apart from you Alex," she joked. "You were really boring. I had to force myself to talk to you."

"You won't be saying that the next time we fight, because I'm going to beat you."

She was startled for a moment; she hadn't even considered that he'd want another bout. She supposed it was appropriate, though. Their code of Chivalry wouldn't let him get over the slight to his honour very easily. "We'll see about that," she answered, simply. "Anyway, i'll see you tomorrow, then?" They nodded, and with a few final words and a wave, she was walking out of the gates.

Well, that was certainly easier than I'd expected.

***

She had remembered her earlier conversation with Eleni when her and the Knights had been discussing George in the castle, and so she had taken a round-a-bout route through the city, managing to find her way to Mistress Cooper's residence just as the last light of the sun disappeared over the roofs of the city. She wasn't actually sure what she was going to talk about with the older woman; she had asked to talk to her earlier about the dreams – a way to block them. But now…now. Could she tell Eleni about the dreams now that she knew that they had some basis – however tenuous! – in reality?

Of course, they were still just dreams. Amazingly disturbing and realistic dreams, but dreams nonetheless. It would do no good for her to have them ruin her sleep every night as they had done for he last week and a half – she needed to find a way to stop them. Her preferred option would have been to stop the disturbing quality of them, of course, but she had no idea of how to do that. Best to stop dreaming altogether in that case. Which is where Eleni came in, obviously. She knew of herbs, knew of their properties, but she had never heard of a herb that could prevent dreaming. She was just hoping Eleni would.

She knocked on the door, hoping that Eleni hadn't gone to sleep. She had asked the woman to wait for her, but her rather general 'later' could be interpreted in many ways. Thankfully, the woman wasn't asleep, and she opened the door to her. Warmth flooded out, and Alanna almost basked in the sensation. The nights weren't chilly yet, but they were certainly cooling down.

"Ah, Alanna." Eleni said. "I was worried you'd not be coming around."

"Sorry about that," Alanna affected an abashed look. "I was caught up in the Palace."

"Oh, how so?" Eleni asked, stepping inside and motioning for Alanna to follow. She graciously moved into the warm house, a contented smile spreading across her race.

"I dueled with one of the knights." She said simply. "Took a little longer than I had anticipated."

"Ahh, so that's why your clothes are so wrinkled, I presume."

Alanna laughed at the woman's priorities. "Yes, the padding wasn't particularly clothes-friendly, it seems."

The older woman nodded to herself. "You've got a small cut on you forehead," she said. "I'll get something to put on it."

"No, that's ok-" Alanna tried to protest, but the woman had already moved off to get some supplies. Sighing softly, she made her way over to the dining table. As she lowered herself into the seat, she heard the other woman trudging up some stairs. Stairs, she noted with a wistful thought, that she had descended a few days previously in a dress. It had been a beautiful thing, to her. Her memory of it was somewhat tinged, what with what seemed to come about as a result of her wearing it, but she thought that it had looked good on her. She hadn't liked it at the time, of course, but she'd snuck a few looks at it as it hung in her room over the past few days, feeling more and more like she wanted to try it on again. If she didn't know any better, she thought snidely to herself, one might think she was turning into a girl.

Of course, the very idea was ridiculous. Alanna laughed softly to herself as she thought of the idea; her dressed in some gown, with her hair – and she remembered to ask Eleni about dying it again – piled onto her head, or something.

"What are you laughing about, girl?" Eleni had come into the room, carrying a tray loaded with small jars and bowls, without her even noticing. Obviously the art of stealth was strong in the Cooper family.

"Nothing. Just thinking of something funny."

"Hum, well." Eleni said, "Just pull your hair out of the way. Lean back." She continued to give Alanna directions, which she carried out automatically. She felt slight stabs of pain as the herbal poultice Eleni had created was lathered onto her forehead, but it wasn't something she'd never faced before. She forced herself to remain resolute, not to flinch, and Eleni had soon finished. "There we go. I'd have used my Gift on you, but I don't think this really requires that. Besides, from what I know of you Shang types, the Gift is frowned upon."

Alanna thought about that for a moment, before agreeing softly. "Yes. Not looked upon kindly at all. Though we'll gratefully accept it when we're badly injured, of course."

"Ah, alright." With a last flick of a small piece of cloth, Eleni wiped away the last blob of excess poultice. "There we go, all set."

"Thank you." Alanna replied, still somewhat out of it.

"Now," Eleni continued after a moment. "What is it that you wanted to talk to me about, earlier?"

Alanna sighed heavily. "Ok, but first I'll just say that I've never been particularly good at expressing myself, so. Uh, just bear that in mind." Eleni nodded, and Alanna continued. "Firstly, I just have to say that I'm sorry for whatever hurt your son has gone through because of me. I know that I should apologise to him, not yourself, and I have done so. And I will again, truth be told. But I just wanted you to know that."

"That's…" Eleni trailed off, looking out the window for a while. "When he first told me about you, a week or so ago, I could tell that you'd captured his heart. No, don't blush dearie, accept that men look at you and like what they see. When he came around the other day, and told me about what had happened after you left here, he-" she shook her head, "I've never really seen him like that. I mean, I'm not blind – I know that he's had other women. But I don't think he'd ever loved someone before, and it just really hurt him. I know that I should have gotten your side of the story, but-"

"No," Alanna cut in. "George is your son. You've got the right to judge those who he associates with before you get to know them." Eleni laughed at that, causing a large smile to come onto Alanna's face. "And I have to say that I do, uh, feel for George. It's just…"

"What?"

"I don't know. Not enough. He can't accept a part of me, a part of what makes me who I am, and so I don't think we'd ever truly work out together."

"That may be so, Alanna," Eleni softly stated, "But you've not even given him – it – a chance. But-" she held up a hand as Alanna opened her mouth, "-It's your life. I can't make you do anything. I just think you'd be good for George, and he for you."

"Maybe," Alanna blushed. "Anyway, there were another two things I wanted to talk to you about. Secondly, uh." She had no idea of how this was going to sound; "I've been having, uh, dreams, lately. Very vivid ones, that look, well, real."

"What are they about?" Eleni asked when Alanna was silent for a while.

"Just- See, that's the thing. They've changed. They used to be about, uh-" And how on earth was she going to put this?! "-well, a man."

"Ah, one of those dreams." Eleni said, with what looked like a lewd smile. Alanna didn't really want to think about that much.

"Well, uh, I guess." She shrugged. "Anyway, they used to be, you know, nice. But recently two things have happened. One," she held up a finger, "the situations changed. Where before what happened in the dream were just, uh, the two of us having a picnic, or whatever, it suddenly became that something awful and painful would happen to me."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know, really. Just that what was once something really enjoyable has become something that I…" she trailed off for a moment, before admitting; "Well, fear."

"And the other thing?"

"Ah, well." Alanna cleared her throat. "That's even more of a recent occurrence. Like, today recent. You see, it turns out that this man that I've been dreaming about for the past month or so – he's real. I met him today. I don't think he knows me like I know him, but it was Him. I know it was. So what I'm wondering now what this whole dream thing is about. Is it supposed to be pointing me to this man? Why have they changed?"

Eleni sat in silence for a moment, contemplating what Alanna had told her. "Well, I don't really have any answers for you, Alanna." She said after a while. "Just follow your feelings, I suppose. I don't pretend to know the plans of the Gods, and it sounds to me like they're touching you somehow."

Of course, that made Alanna remember her meeting with the Goddess – the meeting which was at the same time as the first of the dreams started. She had never really believed the woman when she had said that the dreams were not her doing, but she hadn't really dwelt on the issue very much. After all, they were fun at the time. But why would the Goddess make them so…painful? She didn't know, and she sighed to prove it. "Thank you for listening, anyway. It was nice to get it off my chest. Anyway, I did ask for a reason. These newly painful ones, they're really disturbing my life, and I was wondering whether you knew a herb or something that would block them. Prevent me from dreaming."

"Hmm," Eleni mused. "I might have something, I-" she began rooting through the tray in front of her. "It's, uhm, primarily something to ease the pain, but I heard someone tell me once that it put them to a dreamless sleep for a while. I'm not sure how long it will – Aha! Here we go." She extracted an impossibly plain looking root. It was grey, and dirty, and really not something that Alanna wanted to crush and put in her mouth. But if it would stop the dreams…

"So this could work?" she asked Eleni.

"Could, yes. I won't say that it will, because it might not. It worked for this other person, but it might not for you. Just crush it up and put it into some tea."

"Thank you." Alanna replied. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome." Eleni said with a warm smile. "Now, you said there were three things."

"Oh, yes." Alanna tucked the root into her shirt, before looking down at the table. "Yeah, uh. Well, I've been thinking recently that I haven't had the most…" she searched for the right word, waving her hands about. "Educational of childhoods. I was wondering if you'd help me fix that."

"How, exactly."

"I was wondering if you'd help me learn to, uhm. Act like a woman."

"What do you mean?" Eleni asked. "You're not a man, are you? Or a horse? Alanna, you are already a woman."

"Maybe so," Alanna replied, "But you saw me the other day wearing that dress. I had no idea of how to act! How to walk, sit, stand or even act. I just-" she swallowed, "-I just want some people to recognise me as a woman, rather than just as a Shang."

"So, you want me to teach you about what, precisely?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Dresses and stuff." Eleni laughed. "See? That's what I need you to help me with. I don't even know what I should be learning!"

"Ok, child." Eleni told her, "Dresses and 'stuff'. Like your hair? And cosmetics? And jewelry?" Alanna nodded, "Very well. Come around one day and we'll measure you up."

Alanna grinned. "I never really thought that it would be fun, doing that. I always hated the normal 'female' things I was required to do when I was younger. But, I don't know."

"It's different now, isn't it?"

"Yeah." She smiled.

"It wouldn't have anything at all to do with suddenly meeting, well, the man of your dreams?"

Blushing, Alanna affected a shocked look. "Of course not! I had been wondering about this for days!" Eleni gave her a skeptical look. "Well, ok. A little bit. Actually," she added, remembering something  "that reminds me of another thing. Do you know any place where I can darken my hair?"

Eleni gave a slow smile. "I thought you had coloured it, yes. What colour is it naturally?"

"Red."

"Really? What a distinctive look you would have had, with the eyes as well."

"Exactly." Alanna replied, "That's why I colour it. Besides, I like it black. I've gotten used to it."

"Hmm, I do know a place, yes. We could go there when you come over later."

"That would be perfect," she said. "Could we get together in two days or so, or is that not good for you?"

"No, no." Eleni replied. "That sounds fine. Now are you rushing off again, or do you have time to share a pot of tea with me?"

She really should be getting back to the Dove, she thought to herself. But she couldn't refuse the older woman. Picking up her cup, she sighed dramatically. "Oh, I suppose I could bear it."

***

It was very dark by now, and she wasn't enjoying the walk back to the Dove. Eleni had given her some fairly detailed directions, but it was a bit hard to keep an eye out for 'Old man Branson's red house' when at times you couldn't see more than five feet in front of you. There were also an increasing number of people keeping an eye on her. She was aching a little from her bout with Alex earlier in the day, she certainly didn't want to have to flex those muscles again if she didn't have to.

Hopefully she'd be able to recognise one of them, or they her. She'd been seen with George a few times, after all, so perhaps they'd consider her off limits. Belonging to the Rogue, or something, though she wasn't sure how she felt about that.

Luckily enough, it seemed that looking was all they were going to do, as she eventually made her way back to the Dancing Dove with no problems, bar a stubbed toe from walking into wall a while back. Thankfully, the dark worked for her as well. She cracked open the door, noting that it obviously wasn't all that late, as the inn was still as crowded as it would have been around dinner time. The smell of food was strong in the air, and her mouth watered. She'd had some biscuits and the like at Eleni's, but she needed some proper food in her.

"'Lanna!" turning at the voice, she saw Riven motioning to her from a table. "'Ere!" She smiled, and made her way over to her friend. The table was strangely empty, only two other men sat around it, playing cards with the youth. Pulling a chair across, she sat down at the table, motioning to Nelly as she did so. "What are y'doing?"

"I want some food." She told him offhand.

"Oh." He watched her for a moment, waving her arms around frantically. "You'll never get anything like that." He told her.

"Well, what do you suggest then?"

He gave her a wink, before he reached under the table. She frowned – what could he have under there? – her mouth dropping open as Riven brought his hand back out, clutching Olly by the shirt.

"'Ello Alanna." The boy gushed.

"What-?"

"Aw, dun worry 'Lanna." Riven said "'E was just, ahh…" he blushed as he jerked his head at the other men sitting around the table. "Y'know, giving me an 'elping 'and."

"Helping you cheat, you mean."

"I prefer t'think of it as an unbalanced advan'age." He grinned, before turning to the younger boy. "Now, Olly, go tell Nelly that Alanna wants something t'eat, right?"

"Right, Riven." And the boy scampered off, dodging under the bodies of the other occupants of the room.

Alanna laughed. "Unbalanced advantage; you're just like George."

"Who's just like George?" she turned, spotting the Rogue himself coming up towards them. She studied him intently for a short moment as he did so; he was smiling, which was always a good sign, but his eyes were still somewhat haunted, she thought. Maybe it was just here, though. "You can't be talking about Riven 'ere, because 'e gets caught all the time. And I never get caught."

"Come on, George." The youth whined, "It was only once!"

"Once is all it takes, lad." George said solemnly, before sitting himself besides Alanna. "Now, why dun you go and 'elp Olly get some food."

"'Ey? But Olly's fine to-." Riven cut off, looking at the two of them – in particular George's glare, and stood up. "Oh. Yes, I'll go do that."

Once he'd disappeared into the crush, Alanna turned to her friend, giving him a warm smile. "You look good, George."

"Then I'm a very good actor." He hoarsely whispered. The smile slipped off her face, and she put her hand on his. He took it in his hand, and gave it a squeeze. "Look, lass. I can't say that I agree with what you said, not all o' it. But I'll accept it, if that's 'ow you feel."

She nodded softly, "Thank you."

"I want y'to know something, though." He whispered, turning to her. "That I'll still love you. If you ever-"

"I know, George." She told him, "I know."

He nodded, before quickly pressing his lips to hers. She let him do it; she probably shouldn't, but it did feel nice. She wasn't strong enough to refuse him this, anyway. His eyes were bright as he pulled away from her, and he let go of her hand with a sigh, moving a little further away from her and looking down at the table. "Johnny came around this afternoon," he told her. "'E waited 'ere for a while, before 'e 'ad to leave. Said that 'e was waiting for you." She couldn't help a small smile come onto her face at the mention of 'Johnny', before realizing just how awkward the situation really was. George loved her, and she did care for him. She also cared a lot, she thought, for this Jonathan, who was also good friends with George. That dulled her smile, which was probably quite fortuitous, as George turned towards her. "'E said that 'e'd probably come around tomorrow morning, though. I know you've been meaning to catch up with 'im."

"Thanks George, I'll look forward to that." And she would, though not just for the potential to talk to 'Johnny' about Thom. Suddenly angry at herself, she forced the pleasant thought down; she was sitting in front of a man whose heart she had badly bruised today (if not broken!) and she was thinking of spending the morning with another! "Any news that I should know about?"

He pursed his lips. "Aye, maybe. I thought y'should know that I sent off 'Fingers and Bors to Trebond this morning." She smiled at that, it would be good to find out what had been going on there. "There's also talk o' a new Guild on the streets, though I wouldn't want to drag y'into it."

"New Guild, what do you mean?"

George shrugged. "I dun know. Marek said he caught wind o' some men talking about pulling a job or two on the Palace; a job 'for 'im' or something, which dun make too much sense. I guess we'd better keep our ears open."

"If you need any help or anything…?"

"Aye, thanks lass, but we should be alright." A small smile spread across his lips, the first she'd seen him wear tonight, and he rose as he noticed something over her shoulder. Turning, she noticed Riven and Olly coming towards them with a large tray held between them. "Well, that'll be my cue to go, I think. I'll see y'in the morning, lass?" he asked.

"Sure. And George, thank you. Again. For everything."

He just nodded silently and moved off, presumably to talk things over with some of his lieutenants. She watched him for a moment, as he set his shoulder's before walking into the mass of people. Obviously he had a lot on his mind, a lot of which, she thought to herself, she had put there. She had to find a way to soothe her friends mind.

"'Ere we go! Straight from Cook." Riven and Olly plonked the tray down in front of her, and she didn't have much problem diverting her attention to it. Ripping into a bread roll with her hands, she began to stuff her face with the food. Riven looked on distastefully. "And you accuse Arune o' eating like a dog."

"Hey," she pouted as she swallowed some meat, "I'm hungry! I've been busy all day. Besides, he does eat like a dog."

"Ah yes, how did the trip to the palace turn out?" Riven grinned, "Get to practice your manners?"

"Actually, no." she gave him a haughty look, "I didn't in the end. I just met some nice knights-" she thought that sounded strange, but didn't particularly care, "and fought a duel, that's all."

"A duel, eh? Can't go past a challenge?"

"I can. I just didn't want to at this particular time."

"Ah, o' course, 'ow silly of me. Did you win, at least?"

"Yup." She took another bite of the meat, "Fisisrllgut"

"'Ey?"

She swallowed, "This is really good."

"Oh, right. Well, that's me ma for you." He rubbed the back of his neck. "So this duel, d'ya use swords, or what?"

She nodded, "Yeah, practice swords. Very dull."

"I guess you'd think so, Mighty Miss Shang, but not all o' us go around 'aving adventures every week. A duel is very exciting for us common folk."

"I meant the edge of the blade, idiot. It's blunt."

"Oh." He blushed, "Ignore what I just said then."

"Don't I always?" she retorted, with a saccharine smile.

"Very funny. Look at me laughing."

She grinned; bantering with Riven was always a lot of fun. "I'm just going to get a drink, you going to be here when I get back?"

"Where else would I be?" he replied, spreading his arms wide.

She thought about that for a moment; "As a matter of fact, do you actually ever leave this place?"

He just shrugged. "Not recently. Ma's been coming down 'eavily on me; mainly for a certain, ahh, mistake o' mine." And he winked at her. She shook her head in disbelief, and set off to the kitchen. She might have a word with Nelly, actually. It wasn't good for the boy to be cooped up in here all the time. Especially, she realised, when the sorts of people who came through here were the type that Nelly obviously didn't want Riven turning into. Still, that could probably wait till later. She reached the door to the kitchen, and motioned to one of the aides there that she wanted a drink. The girl, Alanna vaguely remembered her, though not her name, nodded and filled a mug for her.

"Thanks." She offered as the girl passed the mug to her. Alanna fished a coin out and gave it to the girl, who smiled and tucked the coin away. Taking a long draught of the liquid, she realised that it was a little bit stronger than she'd anticipated, the liquid burning down her throat. Spluttering, she decided that she'd firstly have to take small sips, and secondly certainly refrain from ordering another. She could almost already feel it going to her head. Admittedly the feeling wasn't bad, it was quite nice, a warming numbness, but she'd been taught to always be on her guard. And being somewhat tipsy might make that a little harder than she'd like. Still, she'd only had a little of it so far, and she would make damn sure that she wasn't going to have any more of it. Though it did taste quite nice, maybe…? No. One mug, that's all.

***

Three mugs later, and Alanna was quite drunk. She'd never really drunk a lot of liquor before, and now she realised why that was, probably. Her size meant that she could probably get drunk on a few thimblefuls of ale. Something that, for some odd reason, currently struck her as being incredibly funny.

"And then, for some reason," she slurred to Riven, who was matching every one of her mugs with two of his own, "I ran down to the well, pulled up the bucket, and poured the water down my breeches!"

"Why?" he asked, laughing his head off.

"To get rid of the mice, of course!" she laughed too, leaning back as she did so. "It's not like it was my fault!" she continued, leaning back too far and falling off her chair. This seemed to make her laugh even harder for some reason, and her body refused to move. "Help!" she gasped, still laughing, "I can't get up!"

"Ah, Mistress Shang is 'uman then, eh?" Riven laughed, before he sidled around to her side of the table and pulled her up. She tried to stop laughing, tried to regain her dignity. At the moment that involved sitting up very straight and adjusting her clothes. She'd seen noble Ladies do that in the past, so it must be a dignified thing to do. "'Ow the mighty have fallen."

Alanna tried to keep a straight face, before erupting into laughter once more. "That was awful!" she giggled.

"I know, but you laughed at it!"

"So?"

"So that makes you awful!" Riven laughed, pointing his finger at her.

"I am not!" She said, an outraged look on her face. "I'm just laughing at you!", and she punched his shoulder.

Riven rubbed his arm, "Ow! You punch 'ard, 'Lanna. Now I need a drink." He took another gulp of his drink, and she followed suit. "So, any other embarrassing stories to share? I've said all mine so far."

Alanna put a finger to her lips, rocking her brain. "Uhm, there's these dreams or something that I've been having; they're pretty funny."

"Dreams are boring."

"No, not these ones!" she whispered to him, "These are special dreams! They come true!"

"'Ey?"

She put on a smug look, "Told you they were interesting."

"What 'appens?" he asked. "In t'dreams I mean."

"Well, there's this man in them. A very, very handsome man."

"Ah," It was Riven who leant back in his chair this time, putting his hands behind his head, "It's one of those dreams."

She blushed, "Sort of. They're very romantic and stuff."

"Whose this guy?"

"Well see that's the thing, I thought he was just a dream, but I met him recently." She thought hard for a moment, "I don't know if he has had dreams too, but I don't think he has." She noticed Riven giving her a smug smile, "What?"

"I was wondering 'ow long it would take you to come around." He said, "Couldn't resist my charms, eh?"

"Huh?"

"It's alright Alanna, I know you love me."

Alanna just burst out laughing. After a moment, Riven joined her; two youths drunkenly laughing in the small hours of the morning. She noticed someone out of the corner of her eye, and she turned to face them. Her head lurched for a bit, but she fought down the sickness; "George! Hey, it's George!" She reached her arm out at him.

Riven joined in. "George!"

"George!" He looked at them, saw the two of them, saw the mugs lying around, and shook his head. He moved over to the two of them. "George!" she reached her other arm out now, and he took her hands into his own.

"Alright, what 'ave you two been up to?" he said softly, rubbing circles on her hands with his thumbs.

"Nothing!" Riven exclaimed, "We ain't been doing anything, 'ave we 'Lanna?"

"Nope!" she affirmed, grinning up at George.

"Aye? And so why all the mugs?"

Alanna put on a very serious expression, "I've developed a sudden interest in pottery." She told him. Riven snorted in laughter, and her own lip trembled with the effort of not laughing.

George just rolled his eyes. Alanna thought she heard him mutter something about the Crooked God and 'Why me?'. "Alright, Lass." He said, pulling her softly to her feet. "You're going to bed, now."

"No!" she pouted, "I want to stay here!"

"Yeah, George!" Riven added, "Let her stay here with me. She loves me! She said so herself!"

"No I didn't!" she exclaimed, shocked. "You said that! I don't love you!"

"Aye? Anyway, come on lass, we're going." George began to help her walk across the room, an arm around her waist keeping her steady. Alanna felt nice here, she leant against his shoulder and began to doze off. "No, lass. Not yet. We've still got t'get you up the stairs. Come on."

"Mm? Oh yes. Stairs." She nodded, seriously. "I can do stairs."

"I 'ope so, or else you'll have t'stay down 'ere with Lover-boy."

"I don't love him!" she stated again, "I don't!"

"Aye, I believe you lass. Watch your step there."

She smiled. "You take good care of me." She put her head on his shoulder again.

George sighed, again she caught a 'why me?' "Aye, that's right. And I'll keep taking good care of you. But you've got t'work with me 'ere, lass."

"Ok." She concentrated very hard, and with George's able support, was able to make it up the stairs without injuring herself. Once she reached the top of the stairs, she almost fell into George's grip. He just managed to catch her, slinging her between his legs as she fell. Without his arms around her, her back would fall to the ground. She burst into giggles, and simply lay there.

"Lass, c'mon. Stand up."

"Why? It's so comfortable here." And she relaxed even further. George just looked at her for a moment, before he softly put her down onto the ground. She gave a contented sigh, before smiling up at him. "See? Very nice."

"Aye?" he asked, shaking his head as he leant down towards her again. "Wouldn't it be better in y'bed?"

She furrowed her brow. "Good point, George." She reached her arms up, and he grabbed them, pulling her to her feet. Her momentum carried her into his arms, and she snuggled into him. "Mmm, comfortable here too."

"Alanna."

"Hmm?" she asked, innocently. With a sigh, George scooped her into his arms, and made his way towards her room. "Thanks."

"You're quite welcome, Lady Shang." He whispered to her, "Though I dun think you'll be thanking anyone in t'morning."

"Oh, I'll be alright." George just grunted, prodding open her door with his foot. He managed to get it open, and with a bit of contortion was able to get the two of them into the room too. He made his way over to her bed, and lay her down on it. "Mm, you were right. Much more comfortable here."

"Aye." He whispered to her. His face hovered close to hers, and she smiled. She looked at him intently for a while, before he grinned back at her. "What?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Nothing, really. Just that you're very handsome."

"Nice of you t'say so."

"I don't love him, you know."

"Who, Riven?" She nodded, and he chuckled softly. "I never thought y'did, lass."

"Good, I didn't want anyone to be confused." She yawned, closing her weary eyes. "I love you, though." She said, sleepily. "I do. But I don't know what I feel for him yet."

George was silent for a while, stroking her hair softly. "Him? Who's him?" he asked.

"Him is him." She mumbled, nonsensically, before yawning again. "I've had a long day."

"That y'have, Alanna."

"G'night George." She whispered, falling asleep.

"G'night, m'love." He whispered back, though she never heard it.

***

Neither would she know that George had spent the next hour or so watching her, before ghosting a kiss onto her and leaving her room.

***

Unfortunately, her drunkenness also had another unforeseen consequence; her forgetting about the root Eleni had given her. As Alanna drifted in a fugue, the dreams came to her again.

"No!" She shouted, seeing Him sitting on a large throne. He was utterly pale, gaunt, and sunken into the back of the chair. He was gripping the arms as if they were his only lifeline. But it was not his appearance that shocked her, though it certainly did affect her somewhat, but it was more the dark shadow beside him that caused her to cry out. The shadow loomed over the top of the chair, tendrils whipping out to attach themselves to Him, pulsing with energy as they seemed to drain it away from Him – from Jonathan. "Get away from him!"

She struck out at the shadows, for all it was worth. Her fury doubled as her fists simply passed through the shadows, not altering anything. She screamed in rage, throwing herself into the shadow, hoping to barrel it to the ground. Anything to get it away from Jonathan!

A voice – she couldn't locate the source of it – whispered in her ear. "You'll never defeat it like that…"

With a gasp she awoke. That last voice – Thom?