Jessi: Please, please do not post a reveiw telling me about Tiamat. I am aware of that goddess. For purposes of the story the dragon pantheon has been changed so please be patient and all will be explained.

Chel's eyes opened and immediently he threw his hand over his face. Sunlight shone down onto him, seeming far brighter than normal...

Sunlight?

The pale elf shot up. He'd just risen from a bed of long grass, slightly flattened from where he'd been lying down. From his position he was looking down a gently sloping hillside which flattened out at the shores of a crystal lake. Mountain ranges ran in two curving lines before merging at the other end of the valley. Chel knew that they formed an indentical area behind him. The golden light of late afternoon hung over the entire scene and the smells of summer filled the air.

He knew this place, he knew this hillside and he knew the vast forest that completely filled the valley. When Vale had left this, the place of her birth, he had followed...

But...

He remembered the cave... the sharp contours of that ghoulish mask... the voice that had whispered pretty slut.

His fingers touched his mouth where the Dark Lady's teeth had bitten through. There was no trace of blood, nor a healing wound. His lips were whole. On his back were his white, seraphic wings and he wore his robes once again.

"What is this? Did I finally go mad?" he put his head in his hands.

There was a rustling in the grass and a slight figure rose from a similar green bed,

"Hmm... What was that?"

Chel lifted his head and started. Sitting beside him was...

"Vale?"

It was her. There was no other like the little elf that Chel had fallen in love with. Her hair was loose and there was a wisp of grass trapped in the strands. Her eyes were half-closed against the sunlight. She wore a light kaftan of a pale blue colour and her sandels were lying abandoned in the grass. A lazy smile formed on her face,

"Of course. Who else would it be?"

The winged elf leant forward and touched her face gently. Vale took his hand in her own,

"Are you all right? I heard you when you were sleeping... that must have been a terrible dream."

"A dream... That's all it was?" Chel's eyes closed and he fell back onto the grass, "Thank Tiamet." A sigh of relief escaped him. When he opened his eyes again, Vale had moved beside him,

"I just glad that you're fine," a shy smile crept onto her face, "I don't know what I'd do without you."

Chel extended his hand towards her, when she took it he pulled her into a warm embrace.

"I love you."

The moon had risen, shedding its light over the entire scene. Each individual feather in the male elf's wings had been turned into silver and his flesh glowed softly. His eyes had darkened, the slit pupils widening until the iris was just a thin ring of colour.

Vale shivered slightly in the cool night air and from the pile of their discarded clothing Chel brought out his cloak and wrapped it around her bare shoulders.

She smiled gratefully and lifted her head to his ear. The pale elf did not see the wicked smile that flickered across her face and cocked his head to one side to hear better,

"See... I told you there was no point."

"What?" Chel's brow furrowed slightly and he turned to look at the blond elf. He could see her eyes shining... eyes that were now green, "Vale?"

The female smiled wickedly and the grin froze becoming a part of a dark, demonic mask. Chel's back and lips suddenly were alight with pain as wounds returned.

"I told you I had methods to get to what I want," the Dark Lady smoothly slid off the bed and threw a robe over her nude body. She glanced back at the pale elf, smiling, "Little slut."

As she left the room Chel fell back onto the covers trembling. Despite telling himself to resist he had failed anyway. And with what? A cheap illusion of his dead love? In his mind he saw Vale's face, wet with tears, her eyes angry at him for betraying her memory.

"Vale... I'm... so... so sorry," Chel looked up at the ceiling, a pathetic naked figure, blood drying on his back and face. He opened his mouth and screamed.