Disclaimer: I do not own Magic: The Gathering, only my own characters.

CHAPTER 37-Banished

(A/N: The "M" rating kicks in towards the end of the chapter. It gets graphic; so if you feel queasy about such things, don't read.)

"Khell," said Arrathir "Do you think we could get some new clothes for Eva?"

Khell, who was currently talking to the elf chieftain, nodded and carried on with his conversation. Arrathir stood nervously behind him, trying to avoid the hateful gazes of the elves around them. Shortly after his return, the elves had come out of hiding and had begun collecting their dead. Arrathir was wracked with guilt and sorrow as he heard the laments on the families of the slain elves. He couldn't bear watching the mourners crying over the bodies. His anger towards himself and the demon was only increased by the sorrow and destruction they had caused.

Khell finished his conversation with the elf and turned to Arrathir, grim-faced.

"Arrathir," he said "The elves have banned you from the forest on penalty of death. The only reason they did not demand your execution is because you are a summoner. You have two days to leave Yavimaya."

"That's nowhere to what my punishment should be," said Arrathir "Did they say anything about clothes for Eva?"

"They'll bring some," said Khell "But what about you?"

"I'll be fine," said Arrathir "Is there someplace I could bathe?"

"I'm afraid there's no time for that now," said Khell "We have to leave as soon as possible. We'll surely find a river or something along the way."

"So you're coming with us?" asked Arrathir.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," said Khell "The Awakening is something I've been looking forwards to ever since Rin awoke."

"Just like old times," said Arrathir "So, where are we going to go?"

"Well, if we head south-east, we can reach the coast and find a ship to take us to Shiv."

"Why Shiv?"

"Since the Keeper of Red Mana is the only one left to awaken," explained Khell "They will have a natural affinity for mountains, so what better place to look for them than Shiv?"

"Makes sense," said Arrathir as an elf approached them and handed Khell some neatly folded clothes. He took them to Eva who thanked him and ducked behind a large tree to change.

"Master," said Halo "You cannot be serious about leaving! Yavimaya need you!"

"Halo," said Khell "This is where our paths separate. I must follow my own destiny while you pursue yours. I'm sure you can protect the forest just as well as I. You have grown powerful, my apprentice."

"Thank-you, Master."

Always two there are; a Khell and an apprentice.

Erik was not pleased at all when he found out they were planning to visit the land of dragons. However, he had little choice but to go along with the plan.

"I still say you're insane, Quinn," he said "Shiv is one of the last places I'd want to go in Dominaria."

"We're going to Shiv?" asked Eva, coming up from behind them. She was now wearing a light green long-sleeve shirt under a brown dress. "What?" she added, seeing the looks she was getting from the Keepers. "It's the dress, isn't it?"

"It looks, ah, good," said Charles.

"Yeah right," snorted Eva "I hate dresses; so impractical. Does anyone have a knife?" Khell wordlessly handed her a small dagger. Eva split the dress along both sides. "There," she said, handing the dagger back "Now I can move more freely."

"We should get moving," said Khell "The elves gave us some supplies. It should be enough to get us out of the forest." He hoisted one of the two packs the elves had brought. Arrathir grabbed the other one.

"Hang on," said Erik "We're walking? Why doesn't Halo just port us out?"

"It is too far," said Khell "He'd expend too much energy. Halo," he added, turning to his apprentice "Take care of the forest for me while I'm gone."

"Yes, Master," said Halo "Farewell."

"Good-bye, Halo," said Khell.

They set off into the forest, Khell leading the way. Arrathir could feel the hateful gazes of the elves in his back. He was glad they were leaving before anything happened.

They walked for about an hour before making a quick stop at a river to wash off. Arrathir wished he'd asked the elves for some fresh clothes, but it was a bit late for that now. When they reached a town, he'd have to buy new ones.

When night began to fall, they set up camp and dined on the dried meat the elves had given them. Arrathir volunteered to take the first watch, so the others lay down on the forest ground, wrapping themselves in the coarse blankets they had found in the packs. Arrathir wrapped his around his shoulders and sat in front of the dying fire, poking at the embers with a stick.

"Bee in your bonnet, Arrathir?" asked Khell, sitting down beside him.

"No, not really."

"Thinking about Eva?"

"All the time," admitted Arrathir.

"You really love her, don't you?"

"More than anything else," said Arrathir "But I don't think we'll ever be together."

"Why not?"

"Even if Eva told me she felt the same about me, we could never have a relationship," said Arrathir "If we ever tried to be intimate, she'd probably relive the trauma of the demon's actions, and I would never want to put her through that again. Before the demon, it would have been possible but now, it will never be. I don't want to hurt her any more."

Khell nodded comprehensively. "What are you going to do about your hand?" he asked, changing the subject.

Arrathir held up the mangled limb so Khell could examine it.

"It's partially healed," said Khell "However, the bones refused crookedly."

"Can you do anything?"

"Yes," said Khell "But it's going to hurt like a bitch. The only way to return you hand to normal is to re-break the bones and set them so they heal straight."

"Go ahead," said Arrathir "I deserve the pain."

"Are you sure?" Khell sighed. Arrathir nodded. "Fine. You'd better take this." He handed Arrathir a thick branch. Khell took another long branch and broke it into small segments. He tore a long strip of cloth off of Arrathir's blanket and tore it into small pieces. Arrathir bit down on the branch and braced himself for the coming pain.

Taking Arrathir's awkwardly bent thumb, Khell snapped it forwards, returning it to its proper position. Arrathir grimaced in pain and bit deeper into the branch. Khell made a quick splint for the thumb out of the branches, binding it with two strips of cloth.

"The splints should hold your fingers in place long enough for them to heal," he said.

Grabbing the index, Khell repeated the procedure. When his bone snapped, Arrathir whimpered in pain and clenched the branch tighter in his jaws. The pressure was too much for the branch and it snapped.

"That's enough," said Khell, finishing the splint "We'll do the rest tomorrow."

"No," growled Arrathir "I deserve this." Seeing Khell refused to go on, he reached over with his other hand and grabbed his three remaining fingers, snapping them back into place. The pain was so excruciating he passed out. He came to a few moments later to find Khell bent anxiously over him.

"Arrathir!"

"Just bind them up," grunted Arrathir, wincing as his hand throbbed with pain.

"Why did you do that?" asked Khell "Tomorrow, your other fingers would have been healed and you wouldn't have been in so much pain."

"I just wanted to get it over with," said Arrathir as Khell finished binding up his hand. "Thanks."

"Why don't you get some sleep," said Khell "You need it more."

"Yeah, sure," said Arrathir, yawning widely. "'Night, Khell."

"Good night."

Eva walked nervously into the darkness. It stretched all around her like an inky black cloud. The only sound she could hear was her footsteps and the beating of her heart.

"Hello?" she called nervously "Anybody here?"

A low, guttural laugh answered her. She spun around, seeking the source of the noise. Suddenly, she saw a figure approaching. An overwhelming sense of fear struck Eva as she saw it was Arrathir's demonic side. He smiled hungrily, flashing bloodstained teeth.

"Get away from me," said Eva firmly. Her voice sounded brave, but she was consumed by fear in the demon's presence.

"Why?" grinned the demon "You are my mate and I will do with you as I please."

"I am not you mate!" said Eva "Leave me alone!"

"Oh, but you are alone," laughed the demon "Just take a look."

Eva looked behind her and gasped in horror as she saw the freshly slaughtered bodies of Khell, Charles, Erik, and Arrathir staring at her through lifeless eyes. Eva recoiled, feeling the bile rising to her mouth as she struggled not to vomit.

"Now, nobody will interrupt us," growled the demon in her ear, encircling her waist with his arms.

Something snapped in Eva and she turned on the demon, fighting back like a trapped animal, trying to break free. The demon merely laughed as he took in the scratches and blows.

"You will learn to respect me, bitch," he said, grabbing her wrists in one hand. Pulling her close to him, he ran his tongue against her cheek, relishing the salty taste of her tears. Pushing her down the ground, the demon began stroking her thigh. Eva closed her eyes, trying to block out reality. She gasped sharply as the demon tore away her dress, exposing her bare skin to the cold air. The demon grinned, taking in her unprotected body with hungry eyes. Eva tried to push him off, but the demon was pinning her down by sitting on her legs.

"Help!" yelled Eva "Somebody! Help me!"

"There's no one here but us," said the demon, nuzzling her neck. He gently brushed his fangs against his mark, smiling as Eva whimpered in pain.

(This isn't real! He could never have killed all the Keepers!)

"I'm not your bitch," she growled as the demon began kissing her neck, moving downwards.

"At this point, I'd say you are," said the demon.

"I am not your bitch!" said Eva, more firmly.

"Shut up!" said the demon, slapping her "You will not speak unless spoken to!"

"I," said Eva "AM NOT YOUR BITCH!" She ripped her hands free of the demon's grasp and stabbed her thumbs into the demon's eyes. The demon howled in pain, rolling off Eva, who immediately got up and began running away into the darkness. She ran flat-out, her breath coming in short, panicky gasps. She could hear the demon yelling at her as he pursued her.

(I have to get out of here!)

As if her prayers had been answered, she suddenly felt the ground give way under her and before she knew it, she was freefalling through the darkness.

With a sickening jolt, Eva awoke. At first, she thought she had died when her body had impacted into the ground after her fall, but after noticing her dress was still intact, she realized it had all been a dream. She turned over, fresh tears welling up in her eyes as she recalled the nightmare. She felt like a small, frightened child, needing a reassuring hand to tell her everything was OK and she was safe.

Getting up, Eva saw the glow of the campfire. Wrapping her blanket around her, she approached the fire, source of heat, light, and reassurance. As she reached the fire, she saw Charles sitting on a log in front of the fire.

"Eva?" he said, noticing her "You OK?"

"Yeah," lied Eva "Can I sit down?"

"Oh, sure," said Charles "Just started my watch." As she sat down, he frowned. "Eva? What's wrong? Your mana is all screwed up."

"It was the demon," admitted Eva "I had a nightmare where he came and…and…" she broke down, sobbing into her blanket.

"Hey," said Charles, putting his arm around her "It's OK. It was just a dream."

"I-It felt so real!" whimpered Eva "Why won't he just leave me alone?"

"The trauma runs deep," said Charles "It will take a long time before you are able to put this behind you. Don't worry, you're going to get through this. I'm going to help you."

"Can you erase it from my memory?" asked Eva hopefully.

"No," admitted Charles "I'd thought of that, but Chiburuu told me the demon is too powerful to simply be erased from your mind. I'm still helping you through this."

"Thanks," said Eva, smiling a bit "I don't know to who I can turn. If I tell Arrathir he's going to blame himself even more, and I think he already feels sorry enough. I want to forgive him, Charles, I do! It's just for some reason, my mind won't let me! What can I do?"

"You have to be patient," sighed Charles "Trust is not something that is rebuilt easily. You can't expect to be able to forgive Arrathir immediately after what he did, even if you know it wasn't him."

Eva thought about this for a moment. "You're right," she said "I have to give this time. Charles, please don't tell Arrathir about this."

"I won't" said Charles "You can talk to me about it. Don't keep it bottled up inside."

"Thanks," said Eva "Um, do you think I could stay with you for a bit?"

"Sure," said Charles. He was caught aback as Eva leaned on his shoulder, but he said nothing. If she was comfortable, then so be it. "So, are you excited about visiting Shiv?" he asked, trying to lighten up the conversation. Eva didn't answer. Looking over, Charles saw she had fallen asleep on his shoulder. "Good night, Eva," he whispered.

To be continued…

Author's Note: So they're going to Shiv to awaken the Keeper of Red Mana. I decided on this to slow down the plot a bit. It's been going nonstop since Chapter 30.

On another note, the Academy of Magic is a stunning success. When I first had the idea, I figured we'd have ten to fifteen members, but only a week later, we have fifty! Lessons are well under way, so if you haven't joined yet, check my profile for the link, damnnit!

Until next week, legh SoH!

BB: Arrathir become a hybrid demon? Haven't thought of that yet.

SS: Well, yeah, it has bee a while since a new enemy has shown up, hasn't it?

Khell: She hasn't forgiven him completely, as you can see.

MTDL: OK, you know how in InuYasha Sesshomaru has a demon and human form? Well that's kind of what Khell can do. Also, the demonic traits emerge over time as the demon's power grows.

YM: Arrathir's suicidal thoughts were indeed inspired by you. Congrats, you have an influence on the story!

Tech: Yeah, Bon Jovi's pretty good too. I sympathize with you. My sister is all emo. She's into Blink, Greenday, Simple Plan, and all those other "Rock" bands.

OP: Well, since Rin's father was a full demon, he could have turned himself human and seduce some human woman. Hell, the Greek God Zeus did that all the time!

grayangle: Well, this chapter answers your question.

PC: Hence why I'm sending them to Shiv.

SOP: I'm working on the whole "card personalities" thing. Also, unless I suffer severe mental trauma or receive substantial bribes (it starts at hundreds, people), Phage will not be appearing in this story.