Mozenrath calmed himself, concentrating on the world around him. It was becoming easier and easier to feel the way things reacted to his presence. If he remained very very still, he could sense the spirits inside of the forest come out to peek at him. He had looked back at them, marveling at their quasi-human forms and wild looks. It disturbed him though, that while a dryad or tree spirit would come right up to Iaine and whisper to her, they would not come within a few feet of his body. They would linger in the branches or peep out from behind flours, but never did they come close enough to touch.

"Why is that?" Mozenrath turned to Iaine in askance as she gave a small bowl of honey to a tree sprite. "Why do they avoid me?"

"You are still very new to them, and not of Erie. It will take time for them to come to trust you." Iaine said convincingly. It was true in part, the fey creatures were always a little apprehensive of new people. But the larger part of their avoidance, was Mozenrath's aura. The dark taint of his old necromantic ways still hovered in his body, marked by that skeletal hand. They could sense it beneath the simple gloves he wore at all times, and would not come too close. Iaine wished she could explain it too him better. Mozenrath seemed truly hurt that the little dark winged creatures would just barley come close enough to snatch the apples he had left for them, then fly away before he could touch them.

"Thank you." Iaine said quickly, hoping to distract him from his thoughts. Mozenrath looked back to her questioningly. "I wanted to thank you for helping to save me." Did she sound as nervous speaking out loud as she did in her head.

"I did not do much." Mozenrath said sheepishly.

"Yes you did. The work you did with the fogs, it was brilliant. Simple, but just what was needed to turn the tides in our favor." There, that sounded better. "It was quite admirable. And besides…you did come to aid me personally."

Mozenrath smiled a little. Unsure if she was teasing him or not. Well, if she was, he didn't mind it as much as he used to. "I was very unsure of that casting I did. I'm surprised it worked to be honest."

"Ah but you're a capable man Mozenrath." Iaine smiled at him, a little more flirtatiously than she'd intended. "If that had failed, you would have figured something out." She lifted her fingers and a hamadryad reached out to entwine her branches around it, taking the caramelized nuts and munching on them quietly. This was their last chance before the snow set in to gather all the nutrition they could. Iaine's gifts were quite welcome. Besides, they enjoyed spending time with her, they could not speak in the same tongue, indeed a forest spirits voice was more like winds through the branches than any human speech known. Suddenly the forest spirit balked, jerking back away into the trees.

Iaine turned to see that Mozenrath had moved closer to her. She gulped, feeling the heat radiate off his body. Iaine could not help but notice that he was greatly changed from the pale, skinny sorcerer who hand landed at the mountain bottom. He would always be wiry, she suspected, but over the too thin frame, hard work, and hiking had made hard, tight muscles across his body. His skin tone seemed almost normal now, though he would never be as darkly tanned as some of the farmers and bondsmen. Oh there was no denying it, Mozenrath was quite handsome.

Mozenrath too, was taking careful notice of Iaine's reaction to him. He had never really paid attention before, too distracted by her incessant teasing and annoyed by the way her eyes could control him. Her eyes, even with the sharp light of magic gone they were amazing. The irises were the color of dark molasses, flecks of rich emerald green dotting around the pupil. Her face was strong and proud, made in such a way that it reflected her emotion precisely. Iaine's mouth was open, showing white even teeth and a small pink tongue. She seemed…frightened? No, apprehensive about his approach. He kind of liked that feeling, seeing her shy and even a little subdued. It aroused a deep, primal male instinct to conquer and protect. Without waiting, he pushed his hand behind her head and slammed his lips onto hers…

Just as suddenly, Mozenrath found himself laying face down in a pile of dirt, wondering what had happened. He turned over just in time to see Iaine ball up her fist and aim for his head. "Wait…!" he ducked, avoiding her hand by just inches. He stumbled away and stood, truly confused. Iaine let out a sound much akin to a growl and began to stalk off, muttering to herself. "Wait…Iaine wait…!"

"Oh now I am to wait for my rescuers call?" She said mockingly. "Yes please brave shining night, what would you have your maiden wait for?"

Poor Mozenrath, The twists and curves of a females mind eluded him. "Well…I thought…"

"You thought what?" Iaine snapped, her teeth grit and her beautiful eyes blazing with anger unparalleled.

Mozenrath suddenly barked back, standing his ground to cross his arms. "I thought you wanted to thank me."

Poor choice of words.

The crunching sound echoed in the forest glade, the tree spirits giggling in amusement. Mozenrath clutched his nose, blood dripping from between his fingers. He let out a long, low groan, eyes tearing up. Iaine nodded curtly, as if satisfied and wiped the blood off her knuckled. "Serves you right." She snarled and ran off through the woods, just as the first flakes of snow began to fell.