Aether Winds

Chapter twenty-three- The Phoenix and the Gryphon

By- IceWind

A/N:

This is my first fanfic for The Protector of the Small books by Tamora Pierce. The names, places, things, ect, all are credited to her. The word Aether goes to Juliet E. McKenna, but the way I use it and the gem idea is all mine. This fanfic is set in an alternate universe. I.E: Joren is NOT dead, Cleon and Kel are not together (hehe), and other incidents that have I messed up on and don't feel like making it exactly like the book. Please REVIEW *grins* and as long as its not flames on how Kel and Cleon should be together or something of that trivial nature, flames are fine. This story is PG-13 for anything that might come up lol.

IceWind: *smiles and waves* Hey again!

Raen: *looks around and wags his tail* Yup, chapters coming out slow huh Icey?

IceWind: *sweatdrops* Well ya… but I'm kinda working on 2 other stories as well… No excuse, I know *sighs and hangs head* Oh well, might as well go to the story now.

Larzdinn: *large sweatdrop* I'm really sorry if you thought that the story was actually done, I was commenting on the chapter being done. *mock pouts* I don't make you guys wait that long for chapters do I? If you think about it, Kel is bonded to Raen, and then to Joren, so in a roundabout way, Raen is bonded to Joren. Does that make any sense at all? O.o;; Later on that might be important *smirks* So'k if you write long reviews, I like that heh. I agree about Cleon, I was going to put down clown, but then I thought… wait a minute, do they have CLOWNS in Tortall? So I settled upon the word jester because they had to have those lol.

Princess Sanidaylene: *cackles* Irrational? NO PERFECTLY SANE! *blinks at the strange looks she's receiving* eh heh… ^^;; Yup, I can pretty much throw anything in the story and have it make sense, *rather smug look* fun. Owen as my backup… well, ^_^;; yes, not very safe.

Keita: *shrieks* AHH! THAT'S NO FAIR! YOU CANT! *wails and sobs while pointing an accusing finger at her* She has lady knight! …Just oneeeee itty question: do Cleon and Kel stay together *crosses fingers and wishes they wouldn't* lol, and your suggestion… I don't know if Kel would be that glib, but hell, if I can make it fit I will.

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Kel woke up slowly as sunlight streamed through her window and the familiar chirping of sparrows filled her ears. She yawned and stretched lazily, hitting something with her right arm, wha? She blinked once and turned to face a used-to-be-sleeping-but-was-hit-awake Joren with slight confusion in her eyes, did I miss something again?

"Just the arrival back to Tortall," came the drowsy answer from Joren, who was currently stretching like a lithe feline. He blinked blearily in the sunlight and sat up, rubbing his ice blue eyes lightly, his light blond hair tousled from sleep.

She looked at him, hazel brown eyes widening slightly with realization, before she gave a slight shrug, "Figures this happens on top of everything else… don't read my mind Joren, isn't polite." She gave him a small smirk of her own, flicking pieces of mahogany hair from her eyes. Suddenly realization dawned on her and she looked wildly around her room, "I can't believe we're finally back… we weren't gone long, but it felt like forever to me."

-I agree, not that we missed anything- Joren smirked in amusement as he got up from the bed, getting ready for the probable tedious task of facing everyone in court. He began to throw on clean clothes, shoving Raen with a foot to wake him up.

Don't do that boy! Raen jerked awake, blinking his eyes blearily. He must have been exhausted to not have heard Joren and Kel awaken before him. Raen parted his jowls as he yawned, flicking his ears over to Kel and Joren, Shall we go to the humans then? Next to him, Jump woke up and jumped on Kel's bed, giving her a light lick in greeting.

As she chuckled to herself, Kel pushed the dog off of the bed and began to change as well, rubbing her head lightly, "Well, I feel better I suppose. How was everyone last night anyway? Did you explain anything Joren?"

Joren shook his head as he smoothed down his tunic, looking at himself critically in a mirror as he gave her a slow smirk, "I decided to leave before they got on my nerves, I didn't tell them anything. So we may as well and go to the king now." He tilted his head and suddenly spoke once again, "Arctic Wind and Demon Wind are quite happy with the accommodations as well, so that's fine. Shall we go?" Inwardly he ignored his thoughts on how strange this was playing out.

Tilting her head slightly, Kel gave a nod, yawning as she opened the door, and gaped in surprise as three boys (namely Neal, Cleon, and the unfortunate Owen who had been smashed on the bottom) came tumbling over one another. "What in Goddess name are you three doing here?!" She gaped at them for a few moments longer before smoothing over her face.

"Eh, heh…" Owen at least had the decency to look slightly embarrassed, while he tried to shove the older two boys off of him, "Well… we… err…"

Neal piped in quickly, "We came to save you from Stone's clutches!" Apparently he didn't know how much of an idiot he was acting. He got up quickly and smoothed down his clothes like this was an every day experience. His eyes glared into Joren's cool ones as he growled out, "What did you do to her Stone?"

"Yeah!" Suddenly Cleon's attention switched to Kel and he picked up one of her hands, kissing the back at it as he stared into her eyes, "My dewdrop, light of my life, how are you feeling?"

"Err…" Kel seemed to be at a lose of words as she stared at Cleon for a moment, and there once was a time I didn't really mind greatly, but this is a little… bit much. She tried as gently as she could to yank her hand out of his grasp, but Cleon didn't seem to be letting go. "Cleon, it's… errr, nice to see you again, but could you please let go of my hand?"

In a fit of annoyance, Joren stepped over to Kel and yanked her hand out of Cleon's grasp, glaring at him, while ignoring Neal as he growled out, "What the fuck are you three doing here?" Animosity sparkled in his eyes, as he swept a gaze over all three boys.

"This isn't your room! This is Kel's! I could ask you the same thing!" Apparently Neal had more guts then he showed, or he was just suicidal. He fixed a narrow glare at Joren as he stepped closer to him, "I know you're up to something!"

Before Joren could retaliate, with either fists or words, Raen suddenly gave a low, vicious snarl, I suggest you three leave and find out with the rest of the humans what happened when my Mistress and the boy wasn't here… He advanced slowly, his steps purposeful, ivory canines gleaming in the light.

Owen gave the softest of 'eeps' and grabbed both boys frantically, trying to drag them out of the room before the hizar would start attacking. Surprising what fear does to the body, giving it boosted strength for a short time was one of the things it could do.

"Let go Owen! I'm not afraid of some overgrown cat!" Neal struggled as Cleon began to curse in a semi-loud voice, his expression irate.

Ignoring them both, Owen stalked over to the council room, dodging any punches that might be 'accidentally' thrown his way. Their forms disappeared down the corridor, though their voices were still heard.

"Well… that was strange," Kel looked at Raen and Joren and made one of the most profound comments of her life, "You've done this before haven't you?"

~

As they arrived into the council room, Kel nearly gaped at the amount of important people who had congregated there, even her hero, Alanna, was there. She gripped the edge of her tunic in nervousness as she strove to put her 'lump' face on. Finally she looked towards Jonathan and Thayet, wondering what she should do next as she gave them a bow, Joren following suit soon after her.

You know you don't have to bow to them Mistress Raen held his head regally, glaring coolly at the occupants in the room, especially the three mussed up looking knights in the corner of the room.

Ignoring the hizar's comment, which had caused some unsettlement in the room once again, she looked towards the monarchs and straightened, speaking in what she hoped was a confident voice, "King Jonathan, we come with important news." She was well aware at the gazes riveted on her form and she self-consciously tucked back a strand of hair away from her eyes.

Suddenly Numair broke the tenseness of the room by calling out, "How did you get from into the castle like that?" Interest sparkled in his dark eyes as Daine gave an audible sigh next to him. His long black hair seemed a little mussed up, eyes a little bloodshot, most probably from the research he had been conducting throughout most of the night on how the group had appeared. Apparently, he had yet to find out.

Amusement shone in Jonathan's sapphire eyes as he inclined his head slightly to let Kel answer Numair's question.

Kel seemed to be at a loss for words, not really knowing how to explain it. So Joren smoothly stepped forwards and began to explain for her, "Magic of course, the only way to get in like that." He gave the mage a cool smirk, eyes fixed on his form, "And we shall explain further if you let us talk."

"Us? Don't drag Kel into it!" Cleon spoke up angrily, looking as if he'd storm over -if only Owen did not have a grip on his clothes- and battle it out with the other knight. "And you shouldn't talk to Numair like that you…"

He was cut off by Kel's curt voice, "Let us talk Cleon and please be quiet." She looked at Numair's stunned face, he had probably not been talked to, like Joren did to him, in a long time… must be disconcerting for the black robed mage. She offered him and Daine an apologetic smile as she looked at the King and Queen.

"I agree, we need to find out what they learned," Alanna's voice rang out clearly, her strange purple eyes looking at each person in turn before looking back on Kel, Joren, and Raen.

Finally King Jonathan spoke, his eyes disregarding the previous amusement and taking on a aura of seriousness, "Tell me Lady Keladry, what did you find out that made you and Sir Joren come back to Tortall without my summons? And may I ask what is that creature by your side?"

Kel began to speak as Joren calmly looked around the room, "That's Raen, a hizar… he's bonded to me," at the confused looks that mirrored the room, Kel fully dove into the telling of their strange tale. She spoke from the start, telling everything that she could about Scanra and how things weren't how they seemed, about their arrest, and about the people in Scanra. As she stopped to take a slight breath, Joren spoke up and continued talking, going on to how they arrived in Medea, Raen, the elves, the gems, and the Great Evil that was in their world now. What they both avoided, or just forgot to mention, was Kel's connection to the elves.

Silence followed their words, until Neal spoke up tentatively, "Uh, Kel… are you sure you both weren't… poisoned?"

At his words, Owen hit Neal in the back of his head in exasperation, saying in a slightly annoyed expression, "If they were, they'd be dead remember? Maybe you meant… drugs that produce hallucinations." He tilted his head, saying contemplatively, "Though that wouldn't explain why they have that," he pointed at Raen who growled at being called a 'that', "and how they arrived like they did."

Joren snapped out, his temper cut short from the scene the other knights made in Kel's rooms, "We did not take any drugs, nor are we hallucinating." He suddenly grasped his ice blue gem and gave a dangerous smirk, "Care to try out your theories and see if they are correct?" He seemed to love the idea because his hand started to glow a pale blue color.

That of course, caused some panic amongst the trio of knights Joren was focusing on… okay, only Owen was panicking, while Neal and Cleon started shouting out challenges. Alanna was striding forward with Numair, both getting ready for Goddess knows what, while the rest of the people in the room seemed frozen in place as they watched in fascination.

Kel grumbled softly under her breath and laid an arm on Joren's hand, looking at him with a slightly irate expression, "Oh, yeah, that'll put give us proof, but you might kill some of them in the meantime." He shot her an annoyed look, but his hand stopped glowing and he lowered it from the gem.

Alanna stopped moving forward and looked at them with a thoughtful look in her purple eyes, "Well… why don't we just go outside for a demonstration then?" She smiled faintly and looked around at the King, "Well Jonathan?"

While slightly surprised with the casual way Alanna said the king's name, Kel was more worried with what to show the others as Jonathan smiled and nodded, and they moved out into the practice yards.

~

"Show us what you both…" at Raen's audible growl, King Jonathan amended, "three of you can do." They had moved into a secluded practice yard, having made everyone there move to a different one or go back to their rooms, there were advantages to being a king.

Numair seemed to be barely able to control his excitement, while Daine was chuckling softly at all his excited comments. Sky Song perched herself on the fence and trilled encouragements to the trio in the ring, nearly bouncing along with Numair's energy. Alanna stood by Jonathan and Thayet, conversing with them quietly, while keeping her eyes on Kel. Neal, Owen, and Cleon were watching with something akin to sullen on their faces -Neal and Cleon anyway- while the rest of the people milled around.

-Let's make this into a show shall we?- Joren smirked in Kel's direction as he faced her, his hands glowing a light blue, -create some damage, and make them regret having to ask for proof-

For some reason the spectators did not know, Kel suddenly emitted a soft chuckle and a slight nod in agreement, Raen standing calmly by her side, -I never knew you had this side to you Joren- She calmed herself and gathered energy in slow trickles to mask it's presence.

-I'm tired of morons and their platitudes, mind you Kel, I'm not going to let you win- and with that statement… unheard by the spectators of course, Joren suddenly lashed out with ice shards that spiraled towards Kel. His ice blue eyes narrowed slightly as they reached Kel… and Raen had erected a barrier in front of her that made the attack splinter off to the sides. "Damn you cat," he growled out at Raen, "Stay out of this."

Raen bristled at Joren, his silver gem glowing clearly as his power effectively deflected the attack,I-

He was cut off by Kel who spoke with a small smile, "I can take care of this Raen, go wait by Sky Song or something will you? The dragon kit." That done, she glared at Joren and gathered energy quickly, white color swirled around her as it collected into a ball in front of her. Smiling placidly, she waited until it was the size of a grapefruit and threw it at him.

Joren lazily side stepped the attack, -is that all you can do Kel?- and gave her a brief smirk, getting ready to fire more attacks at her. He lifted a brow at the smug look on her face and shrugged to himself when the ball suddenly slammed into his back and he fell to the ground, tucking his head, and rolling in a controlled tumble. "Fuck! That hurt Mindelan!"

-Did you think I'd roll over and let you win?- She chuckled softly at his fate and barely dodged a torrent of ice that suddenly came rushing at her, retaliating with vines that sprung from seemingly nowhere. The vines started twirling around Joren's ankles, creeping upwards at a fast pace.

He let loose a soft curse and fire sparkled around his being, his ice blue gem now shining fiercely with red swirls in it. The fire burned the vines, but had no effect on him. Joren tossed Kel a calm look and sent a wave of fire in the shape of a giant bird -a phoenix- towards her, too big for her to dodge around. A red aura sparkled around him, eyes narrowed slightly in concentration.

Suddenly Kel's white gem broke off of her necklace and floated in front of her, she put her hands to the side of it as the fire raged towards her. Light flared between her hands as a wave of light blue energy, in the form of a gryphon, flared out and crashed into the phoenix, both creatures striving for supremacy over the other.

Delight sparkled in Kel's eyes as she continued to pour out energy, this was the first time she could let loose with the power like this. It was an even fight, for she was still recovering from the teleportation, and so, it was equal between the two knights. Suddenly both energy animals seemed to rear back and slam into one of another, exploding in a burst of powerful energy. Because of the blast, both Joren and Kel were knocked backwards and fell down, while a section of the fence was ripped up from the ground and scorched.

"Ow…" Kel muttered softly, rubbing her head and then her back. Her gem floated in front of her and then flew back onto the silver necklace, reattaching itself to it. -That… was not fun, maybe we should wait for next time when we're both not drained?-

Joren got up shakily and gave her a light nod, "Fine, too much energy too early on I suppose," he heaved a light sigh, ignoring the confused looks the spectators were tossing among themselves… well the confused mixed with awed looks anyway.

"Umm… who are you talking to Stone?" Owen gave the knight a confused look; Neal and Cleon beside him were too busy gaping at Kel to add anything.

"Kel of course you idiot…" Realization dawned in his pale eyes and he muttered gruffly, "We've a mind link, I just answered one of her questions." He dusted off his clothes as if nothing had changed, looking at it with a slightly critical eye.

"WHAT?!" Neal burst out of his shocked shell and resumed his all time-favored activity, badmouthing Joren, "I knew you did something to her you-"

"Neal!" Kel sighed in exasperation, "Really, neither of us had a choice in it okay? You shouldn't blame it all on Joren." She got up from the ground languidly, ignoring the dust and dirt on her clothes. Finally she fixed her gaze upon Jonathan and Thayet, asking softly, "Do you believe us now?"

Jonathan looked at her for a moment, while Alanna answered for him, "I do," she gave the annoyed king a smug look before turning towards Kel and Joren, her eyes thoughtful, "You'll be useful then against this 'Great Evil' thing…"

"Right, right, now what I want to know," Numair gave a roughish smile towards Kel, "Is if I or any of the other mages could perform magic like you can. Can you teach us?" He gave her his most winning smile, wincing slightly at the elbow Daine shoved into his side and muttering to the wild mage, "Magelet, really, no need for jealousy now."

Daine fixed Numair a frosty look and Sky Song chortled in amusement, "I'm not jealous Numair, what if Kel and Joren don't want to teach you or the other mages?"

Before they could continue on bickering like a married couple, Joren interrupted smoothly, "No, you can't learn this type of magic, it's elf magic. The only reason why I have it is because I'm bonded to Kel." He gave a slight smirk in the mage's direction.

Numair looked away from Daine and rested his eyes on Joren, asking inquisitively, "How did the two of you learn so quickly? And why can Keladry of Mindelan learn this type of magic, but not us?" Bafflement was apparent in the inflection in his voice.

Raen trotted over to Kel's side with long flowing strides, an arrogant tilt to his head. His dark blue gaze swept over the group of people; Did you not hear me when I spoke before? Humans and their short attention spans…

Hizars and their arrogance, they wouldn't be recognized without it

Joren for some reason had quirked his lips in amusement, feeling slightly gratified for a horse with a similar sense of humor as he, even though others couldn't hear Demon. He leaned against the fence lazily, feeling Kel's embarrassment emanating off her.

Numair fixed the hizar a cool gaze, speaking calmly, "I'm sorry for being only human, bur your 'Mistress' is as well you know."

My Mistress is approximately 50% elfin and 50% human, and I prefer to think that she acts more like an elf then a human… however annoying elves are Raen's mind voice sounded smug, Didn't any of you humans hear me before when I called my Mistress the princess of the Lorynthian elves?

An audible grown was heard escaping from Kel's mouth and she smacked her hand to her forehead, muttering things under her breath about 'murder' and 'hizars'. She didn't have to look up to imagine the shock looks that liberally covered each person's faces.

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IceWind: Yay! Finally done with chapter 23! *suddenly sobs* School is starting on Wednesday, that sucks sooo much!

Kaori: *sneers at her and snickers* Rabblites don't go to school! HAHA!

IceWind: *leaps on Kaori and starts to choke her*

Raen: *large sweatdrop, and looks towards the audience* Err… yeah. By the way, most of Icey's website is put up! Yay! Hehe. Right, don't worry people, we're getting to action soon (is getting mighty bored of writing explanations) and I know that the magic scene was a little cheesy.

IceWind: *growls out while strangling Kaori* It was not CHEESY!

Raen: *ignores her and continues* But it's better then nothing! … well, that's all I have to say, bye!

~

Facts:

Seibutsu Bond: A bond between a creature and a humanoid. It is less powerful then a life-bond yet it is strong none the less. The bonded can thought-speak to one another and they also feel the others emotions. If one of the bonded dies, the other feels a deep and wrenching pain in themselves, but they don't die also.

Seibutsu Items: These are the items that Raen and Kel got when the bonding was over. Kel had gotten a dagger and Raen a chain. If one of them breaks it symbolizes that one of the bonded has died.

Hizar: A highly intelligent species who are organized like wolf packs with a dominant male and female. All hizar are black and look like large cats, panther sized. They are lithe and graceful, all of them agile and fast. Each one has their own type of magic and that type, and power, is shown by the color of the gems on their forehead. When using their power the hizar's eyes turn that color. The types of gems are fire, water, earth, air, light, dark, ice, lightening, psy, and a silver unknown color. The alpha males must have the silver kinds of gems to lead; the alpha females can have any kind and are chosen by the males.

Jerogil: A type of creature in the world of Medea. They are usually peaceful animals and tend to stay away from others except their own kind. Their color range from black to a muddy gray and they have large eyes for seeing at night. Their tails are curved like a monkey's and can pick things up in that fashion. All over their body they have hard plates for armor, something not easily dented or broken through. Running along their backs is a series of sharp spikes.

Elves: They are tall human like creatures with pointed ears. They all live extremely long lives and each one has magic gems, such as the ones the hizars have, only their powers are stronger. They are a peace-loving race, but they will fight if they have to. They have one king and one queen, both who watch over their lands justly.

Soul Mates: Soul mates are extremely rare in any type of creature. Two people share one soul, literally. They can feel their beloved's emotions and in some occasions, talk to each other mind-to-mind. If one dies, the other dies also because half of their soul just died. You do not know you have a soul bond until you and another acknowledge your feelings for one another, you may go through your entire life without knowing that you have a soul bond. As soon as you acknowledge it, your souls connect and you cannot stay away from the other in a great distance for very long or else you get weak and might even die after an extended period.

Kalyrath Horses: These are extremely intelligent living beings with high stamina and running speed. These horses all have blue eyes, in varying shades, but it is all blue to symbol their purity. They chose their rider, and only one person is allowed to ride the kalyrath horse that is bonded to you unless you are soul mated to a person. Occasionally, there pops up a human/humanoid that can talk to their kalyrath horse, and the horse can talk to any of its kind up to a certain distance. Kalyrath horses are in-tune with their rider and it's rare for any none elf to bond with one since they usually only dwell in Elfin land. They are adept at fighting with their chosen and can be extremely protective depending upon their nature. It is said that they were a gift from the great mother goddess of the elves and they cannot be subvert by any dark magic for that reason.

Aether: The last element, the other nine elements are- fire, water, air, earth, psy, lightening, ice, dark and light. This element is the strongest by far and rare for hizars, extremely rare for elves. It controls all of the elements and its color is always silver for hizars and either a silver or white for elves. White is the most powerful, but none knows why. Aether is not an element known too much about, especially for the elves, all they could discern is that it has something to do with stars… The last elf to have this kind of gem died in a great battle, saving the world of Medea from certain doom.

~

My e-mail address is flyby311@hotmail.com and put Aether Winds, so I know what the e-mail is about. Anything you want to add/criticize/comment/whatever you guys just review it… please? Thanks for listening to me ramble for that you get a pumpkin pie. *hands person a pumpkin pie*

Raen and Kaori (hizar and rabblite) are MINE! GET IT? MINE!!! *they sweatdrop in the background* no stealing or else I'll blow you up! MWAHAHAHA! Also any other made up characters in the story are mine to, if you want to use any of them please ask before doing so, same goes for Raen and Kaori. ALSO, the poems that appear in the story are also mine (duh) I'll tell you if I use any that aren't. BYE NOW!