Carolyn's Comments:

Mood: Calm

Rant: About to go to school. No time for rant.

"ARRRRRRRRRRGH!" The four of them screamed as the pain continued. Virus's eyes were cold. He showed no signs of stopping his attack.

Suddenly a voice rang out. "VIRUS! STOP THIS!" Jade had her ears covered and was stumbling towards Virus, who was completely focused on attacking them.

"Jade!" Tal managed to cry. Then the searing pain got to him again. He cried out in agony.

Jade stopped several inches in front of Virus. Suddenly she flung her arms tightly around him. "VIRUS! STOP! YOU'RE KILLING THEM!"

Virus stopped suddenly. His eyes were wide with shock. Suddenly the pain that had been wracking Tal's body was gone. He gasped with relief and sank to his knees. He could see Crow and Milla doing the same.

Virus stared at Jade for a moment; then he smiled a twisted smile. "I knew it."

"Knew what?" Jade demanded icily. Her cold attitude towards him had returned.

Virus smirked. "That you're still madly in love with me."

Jade's eyes widened in surprise. Those words seemed to hit home. Her face darkened. "I do NOT love you. I hate you. You disgust me!"

"Really?" His smiled widened, "And do your words match your thoughts?"

He didn't give her a chance to answer. Before she could speak, Virus grabbed her and kissed her squarely on the mouth. Jade's eyes snapped wide open in shock. Then her eyelids began to droop. Then her eyes closed completely and her whole body went limp in his arms. Virus pulled back and smiled coldly.

"Hmm…" He mused. "She seems to have fainted. I must be a better kisser than I first thought."

"You…FILTHY RAT!" Milla screamed suddenly. She ran at Virus with her sword drawn in anger. "TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF HER!"

Virus, still using a free arm to hold Jade to him, pulled out his sword with his free hand. He jabbed the tip of the blade into the surface of the ice. Suddenly the ground all around them exploded into huge shards of ice. Water burst up from the cracks in the ground. Tal felt the razor sharp fragments of frozen material slice through his skin. He felt himself being covered in them. He then heard Milla scream.

And then everything went black.

Tal's head pounded in pain. His eyes cracked open slowly. He found himself staring up at a blanket of microscopic ice shards. He sat up and brushed them off. He looked around. Crow was lying on the ground near him, covered in ice and blood. For a split second, Tal was sure his friend was dead. He scrambled over to Crow and shook him.

"CROW!" He yelled. "CROW IF YOU LIVE, SAY SOMETHING!"

"Aw five more minutes ma…" Crow mumbled. "I promise…"

"He's fine." Tal sighed. He swatted Crow across the face, causing the young Icecarl to jerk awake.

"Ow!" He moaned angrily rubbing his sore head. "What happened?"

"Well, first Virus showed up…" Tal said trying to recall the events that had lead up to him being knocked out. "He used some sort of spell that made us all feel some horrible kind of pain. Then Jade stopped him, and he kissed her…" Tal's eyes narrowed. "OH YEAH! NOW I REMEMBER! THAT SON-OF-A-BITCH! HOW DARE HE EVEN TOUCH JADE! I'LL KILL HIM! I'LL-"

Crow tapped him on the shoulder. Tal glared at him. "Okay, what?" He snarled.

"Don't you notice anything out of place here?" Crow asked so calm that Tal wanted to smack him.

"Like what?"

Crow angrily grabbed the front of his furs and jerked his face close to his. "I MEAN THAT BOTH JADE AND MILLA HAVE BEEN KIDNAPPED!" He screamed to his friend's face. The color drained from Tal's face as he realized Crow was right.

As the two boys sped in the direction of the castle, determination burned in Tal's heart. How dare Virus kidnap Jade, not to mention Milla? Why did he take Milla too? Was he just trying to torment Tal? He knew Jade was probably still alive, Virus wouldn't kill her. But he had no reason to keep Milla alive. He knew how much Tal cared about her; maybe he'd kill her just to make Tal mad.

"Damn that bastard, Virus!" Tal thought in fury. "He's gonna pay!"

As soon as they reached the castle, they were both confronted with a shocking sight. Spirit Shadows were everywhere. People were running all around as the creatures darted from place to place, attempting to pick off any Chosen that had fallen behind.

Tal saw a small boy from the Indigo Order running from a Spirit Shadow in the shape of a huge lion. Tal whipped out his sunstone and conjured up a quick spell. A burst of light struck the monster in the side. It gave a brief roar of pain, and then vanished.

The boy started to run off, but Crow darted forward and caught the back of his robes. "What's going on?!" The Icecarl demanded.

"A boy was here about an hour ago!" The child squeaked, "He had two girls with him. They looked like they were in a trance! He made some sort of black lightening appear in his hands, and suddenly the Spirit Shadows were here!"

"Virus." Crow growled. "Where did he go?!"

"Up towards the Violet Tower!" The boy cried. Crow released him and the youth sprinted off.

"How did Virus get all these Spirit Shadows here?" Tal asked shaking his head.

"He called himself a Dark Summoner. He must be able to summon creatures from Aenir as well as this world!"

"Well, whatever is going on, we had better get to the Violet Tower right away! I don't know what Virus is planning, but if he gets away with it, we're all screwed!"