A REVIEW!!! Ladies and Gentlemen and Orcs and Trolls, Demons and Knights and everyone else who falls under a different category, may I present Lady Bevier, author of ScotEnium (Hilarious! READ IT! I also recommend "There's an Elf in My Kitchen" by Ariandir) and a bunch of funny "incidents" between characters (sorry Lady Bevier, I don't remember what the second story is about. o_O Just the content). Ummmm, on with the story? Good deal! :) Enjoy school everyone!*Evil, malicious laugh. Remembers my own classes coming and starts wailing.* Oh yeah, Noel=mine, Elenium=David Eddings.

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Everyone was up early the next morning. Kalten fixed breakfast. Oddly, no one was surprised by this, although there was a bit of grumbling over the less than scrumptious meal. Everyone stared sideways at their new comrade. Except for Sephrenia and Aphrael. They seemed to take the girl's presence as a matter of course. "Uh, Sephrenia?" Sparhawk asked, watching the girl.

"Yes, dear one?" She was absently staring into space, sipping her tea.

"What are we supposed to do with the girl? I mean, we can't abandon her here, obviously, but she can't come with us. It's too dangerous."

Sephrenia set her tea cup down and stared at him levelly. "Sparhawk, didn't you see her yesterday?"

Sparhawk blinked. "Oh yeah..."

"We have a long way to go. You had better get the other's ready," Sephrenia continued calmly, finishing her tea.

It didn't take long for the rest to prepare to leave. Only Kalten was hungry enough to eat more of what he had made, and they had all packed up before breakfast was ready. They were just mounting up when the girl came striding out of the forest. She put her fists on her hips, eyed them each challengingly and appraisingly, then marched over to Tynian. "Well?" she demanded.

Tynian stared at her blankly. "Well what?" he asked.

"Ugh!" She threw her hands up in the air and turned to Flute. "You talk to him! People of this Plane are impossible to deal with!" Flute blew a half mocking, half reprimanding trill at her. "What do you mean you're not speaking to them?" Flute played a somewhat long, complicated tune. "Oh, I see." The girl sighed. "Sephrenia, are you going to introduce me? Apparently there aren't any telepaths here."

Sephrenia shook her head. "Be patient with them. They may not have powers of the mind, but they more than make up for this lack." She then turned to the no thoroughly confused knights. "Gentlemen, this is Noel. She's going to be helping us in our quest for Bhelliom."

Noel nodded to each in turn. A smile tugged at her lips when she saw Talen, but she turned back to Tynian. "All right then, lets get on with this. Are you going to help me up or not? I have no intention of walking to our next destination," she told him rather matter of factly. Tynian gaped at her, then cleared his foot from the stirrup and reached down his hand. Noel placed her bare foot in the stirrup, grabbed his hand, and with his help, boosted up behind him. "Now that our riding arrangements are settled, where are we going?" she asked cheerfully, holding Tynian at the waist. She wrinkled her nose. "And did you plan on wearing this armor" she rapped the back of his breastplate with her fist "the whole way? Because you really smell."



They had been riding for half an hour when Sephrenia pulled up beside them. "I notice that you're in a better mood," she said to Noel. Tynian tried to pretend that he wasn't there.

Noel shrugged. "It's bound to happen. I could either be miserable and pout the whole way, or I could enjoy the trip." She looked around the countryside for a moment, thoughtfully. Then gazed even more thoughtfully at her group of companions. "It's been a long time Sephrenia. I'm not used to having people around," she said softly.

Sephrenia reached out and patted her shoulder. "You get used to it after a while. Before long, you'll wonder how you ever made it alone." Sephrenia smiled slightly. "Especially with this group."

Noel smiled back. Sephrenia nodded to her, then pulled ahead to speak with Sparhawk. "Which reminds me..." she muttered to herself. She tapped Tynian on the shoulder. "You can stop pretending like you're not listening now," she said archly.

Tynian drew himself up in the saddle. "Of course, lady," he said somewhat nervously.

"Um, I'm not used to doing this, so bear with me..." She sighed. "I'm sorry I hit you so hard. I didn't mean to knock you out, but you were in my way."

Tynian twisted in his saddle. "May I ask you a question, lady?"

"On two conditions," she responded. He lifted his eyebrows. "Okay, three. One, don't call me lady anymore. My name is Noel. It's an easy name, use it. Two, you'll forgive me. And three, if you tell me your name."

Tynian stared at her a moment. "You're not nearly as dangerous as you pretend to be, are you?"

Noel laughed. "That depends on what kind of a creature you are. If you're a demon, I'll kill you so fast that you'll forget you existed. My job isn't to kill people, though. Just demons. So, I guess I'm not as dangerous as you seem to think. Only to demons," she concluded. "Was that your question?"

Tynian shook his head. "No, it just sort of came out." He smiled wryly. "I have a tendency to speak before I think. By the way, in keeping with your 'deal,' my name is Tynian. Sir Tynian to those who don't know me," he said laughing.

Noel looked at him skeptically. "Was that supposed to be funny?"

Tynian's laughter cut off with a choke and he gaped at her. Ulath, who happened to be riding close enough to hear, suddenly developed a wracking cough. Tynian glared at him. "The blonde giant with respiratory distress over there is Ulath. My question for you, however, is 'where did you come from?'"

Noel looked gravely at Tynian. "I'm sorry, but I don't think we should go there. I'd rather not have my companions any more afraid of me than they already are." She smiled slightly at their startled look. "What, you didn't think I noticed last night?" She chuckled and patted Tynian's shoulder. "Is everyone in your world so gullible? Don't worry, I can't hurt you."

She received a rather odd look from both of them, but they remained silent.