Wow, I can't believe how long it took me to update... Well, I guess it was all a mixture of an extra busy schedule, writer's block, and homework by the truckload.

Disclaimer- THE PLOT BELONGS TO NARM'S BOREAS! Lol there nb, I made up for not putting it in the first chapter :-)

I'm too lazy to type up responses to my reviewers individually, so I will just send one great big thank you to the VERY FEW reviewers of mine... hint hint lol thanks for the comments guys!

Now, I am sure you all would rather read the story than all of this other nonsense, so I will just cut to the chase...

Mortal Heroes

Chapter One

Rikash stared through the confines of his cage and sighed deeply. He knew that he should always expect the unexpected, but he never thought that his plans of escorting the two mortals would be intercepted. He didn't understand why he was so worried, because he had never been sentimentally attached to any other human but Maura before, but somehow, as he stared up at the twilight sky, he couldn't help but think that he betrayed the two people that trusted him for help.

"So mortal lover, you got us into this predicament, how do you plan to get us out of it?"

Rikash rolled his eyes. It was bad enough being caged, but being caged with the whole Stone Tree nation that thought every thing was his fault was even worse.

"It wasn't all his fault Zusha, and I think you know it," snapped Barzah, who had walked up behind the arguers. "And that goes for all of you! I don't want to hear anymore bickering between any of us! If we wish to get out of this squalor, than we had better learn to tolerate and support each other."

With that, the stormwing queen gave one more paint-stripping glare to all of her subjects and stalked back to the corner where her and her consort Hebakh were inhabiting.

Judging by the reaction of blank faces, the attempts of trying to hide snickers, and the occasional shifting of feet, the other stormwings were quite immune to Barzah's outbursts. Especially since as each day went by, her lectures were gradually increasing.

Rikash couldn't help but smirk. Barzah was getting even more irritated day by day than he was.

Looking back out towards the distant horizon, Rikash gave another vexed sigh, and started repeating the same statement over and over in his head. Ozorne was going to die a very long, and very painful death before the war was over. For Daine and Numair, for the Stone Tree Nation, and for himself. He could be sure of that.

Daine fidgeted in her bedroll, trying to get comfortable. No matter which way she moved, there was always a sharp ache somewhere in her body. Adding that to the fact that there were torrents of thoughts currently swimming in her head, it was amazing that she could still be lying down and not pacing all over the camp.

Turning onto her back, she looked up on the starlit sky. Seeing the array of bright twinkling gems in the vast heavens mixed with the crisp nighttime air and soft forest sounds made her smile a little. It was hard to believe that a place could be so peaceful and innocent right next to the most arid and tormenting desert in all of the realms.

Twisting onto her side, she closed her eyes and tried relaxing for what felt like the five hundredth time that night. Blocking out thoughts of what was to come in the near future, and forgetting her physical pain, she felt unconsciousness coming on, and welcomed it with open arms.

Numair was not having any more luck on the good night's rest than Daine was. Unfortunately for him, restlessness overpowered the desire to stay in his bedroll, so after three separate trips to the privy, he decided to take a walk.

Careful not to wake Daine, Numair snuck through the camp as silently as he could manage, and stepped out onto the packed down trail. Slowly meandering down the path, Numair took in his surroundings. In a way, he almost wished he could stay here longer and get to understand the divine realms more. But that wish was soon squashed. Both he and Daine were needed desperately for the war, and they were not doing any good here.

A deep squelching noise soon brought Numair back to his sensing. Looking down at his right foot, he made the clear observation that he was stuck up to his calf muscle in thick mud.

A hard tug, a stumble, and a couple of curse words later, Numair was once again back on the trail. Only this time, he decided that he should watch where he was going.

Daine, whose sleep had remained short lived, was starting to get a fire going and glanced up at Numair as he came into view. Smiling, she got up and walked over to him. All it took was one look at his bloodshot eyes and his muddy right leg and she knew that he hadn't had any sleep.

Before Numair could say anything, Daine gave him a long, hard kiss and backed away with a slight humorous look in her eye.

"Welcome back Master Mage. If you had come back any later, I would have started to think something would have happened to you."

Numair, still starstruck from the kiss, grinned and leaned towards her until his face wasn't more than two inches away from hers.

"Nothing is going to happen to either of us, especially not on my watch."

With that he grabbed Daine's waist and pulled her into a deep, passionate kiss. Daine, who was taken by the element of surprise, was startled but soon joined into the passion, throwing her arms around his neck and pushing him into a nearby tree so hard that an array of leaves and dew rained down on them.

So absorbed in each other, neither Daine nor Numair noticed the crunches of leaves beneath the hooves of a herd of bloodthirsty centaurs sneaking up into their camp. The two lovers didn't realize they had guests until it was a little too late. With Numair being drained, and Daine still exhausted, they were in no shape for any fight, especially not against a herd of centaurs that looked ready to rip their throats out.

"D-D-Daine, I think we should go. Now."

Daine slowly turned around and jumped at the sight of eight centaurs having a field day in their makeshift camp.

"You know Numair, I was just thinking the same thing."

With that, the two took off running, leaving their dignity of being the top two mages in Tortall behind, towards the only place that the centaurs would leave them alone. The Sea of Sand.

Well there you have it. Not the all time greatest piece of writing in the world, but hey what can I say? I've been a busy girl lately. I really need your input though, because I am not exactly sure where I am going to take this fic. So PLEASE review, and you will make me a very happy person :-) And I will try to update a little sooner next time lol. Oh and I apologize for the jumping to different POV and not having very good page breaks... blame it all on my computer

Sarah