'Come away! O, Human Child!
To the woods and waters wild,
With a fairy hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than
You can understand.'
W.B. Yeats

Present Day, Eastern Middle Earth

The sound of crashing foilage could be heard throughout the forest, along with pants of breath and the barest sound of feet touching the ground. She didn't know the exact direction they were in, but she knew she had to find her. The messenger's head swirled with the information she had received; one more urgent than the other. She had to warn her. With that thought in mind and the evergrowing fear of Orcs lurking around in the forest, waiting to pray on lone Faeries, Diana put on a burst of speed; hopping over logs, narrowly missing trees and blocking foilage and stray leaves with her arms, however scratched up they should get.

"Almost there, almost there," she chanted, her voice jagged from the effort of running four miles flat out. If she hadn't forgotten her horse at the stable in her haste, she wouldn't be in this position, or worrying about any Orcs. And she would've been there by now.

The wind blew south, and her lavender locks blinded her temporarily, before she pulled them back behind her ears again. She could hear shouts in the distance, and the clanging of metal on metal; someone's bloodcurdling scream. A break in the trees up ahead, and she knew she was in the right place.' Just a little further!'

"Where are they all coming from, Peony?" a raven haired warrior asked in growling frustration. She notched another arrow and hit the throat of an Orc threatening one of the younger, greener Fae warriors.

Peony's laughter was honest, and she spared a glance and a grin at the other."From the bowls of hell, my dear Nevada. Where else?"

"There's no end to them!"

"Oh, we'll fix that problem." The ever cheerful Faerie gave a wink to the brooding commander before turning back to the task at hand; ridding Middle Earth of Mordor's creations. Peony narrowly missed a chance at having her ear sliced off by a random Orc, and recoiled with a roundhouse kick to its stomach. Her tied back blonde hair was streaked with caked blood, like red dye, and her tan face was grimy with dirt and cuts. Nevada was right; there seemed to be no end to them." Where's the princesses?"

Nevada barely caught her question in the heat of the battle. When it cooled off and they had taken the upper hand, she edged herself closer to the other warrior."They're not too far from here," she answered, throwing back her long black hair away from her face."Fighting even harder than we are, I presume."

"They should be okay, right?" Peony allowed a sliver of concern to get past her sunny demeanor.

Nevada snorted." Tatyana and her country will be fine with Liana to protect her."

"That's not what I meant-"

"I know. I know Liana, too; she'll make damn sure Tatyana and Charon make it out of this unscathed."

Peony smiled. And she knew Nevada wouldn't let it happen, either. Peony had never fought next to more valiant warriors than these; she swelled with pride at their fighting skills, and felt privileged to share the battlefield with them. They had a couple thousand years on her 1,250, and for that reason she was content to let them call the shots in battle. She couldn't imagine having the weight of the fate of a country on her back, like Tatyana and Liana did. Plus she didn't want to screw up in front of Nevada, a commander from Deimos and someone she respected highly for her fighting skills. Someday, when all of this either ended or at least died down, she wanted to be trained by raven-haired warrior in the art of combat, something she excelled at.

"Peony! Duck!"

The girl ducked without question, and felt the breeze on the top of her head from the arrow that flew by. Looking up she watched, bewildered, as an Orc went down from the arrow protruding from his neck; the one she had not seen."Nice shot!" she blurted before she could help herself, turning in appreciation to her savior. She recognized the other blonde Faerie as Alexia, one of Liana's seasoned warriors. The older woman nodded at her, and focused on taking out more Orcs as the monsters advanced from a hundred or so feet away.

"Nice shot hell, you would have been killed if she hadn't of been there," Nevada barked at the younger warrior, catching her by surprise."Use your eyes, greenling. You're no good to anyone dead, and we won't always be here to cover you. Got that?" She watched as the tips of Peony's ears turned red with embarrassment, and exchanged a glance with Alexia that was filled with amused affection. Peony nodded, head down, and notched an arrow, continuing the fight without looking at the commander. The girl fought hard for being fairly new to the battlefield, and Nevada had a soft spot for her. Peony was loyal and very humorous, even in the heat of battle; a joy to have around.

"Keep your eyes and ears open," Alexia relented, giving her some useful advice. Her cool, silver blue eyes spoke volumes to the younger girl."While you're fighting one, keep your eye on all the others; you can't be sure they won't try and attack you, too. They fight without morals, Peony, remember that. They're not like us."

She nodded wholeheartedly, and couldn't stop the smile that graced her face when Nevada ruffled her hair fondly. She wasn't so bad; Peony hoped she could learn to have as much dedication as the commander had when it came to battle. Then she could avoid humiliating herself in front of two respected and skilled warriors.

While all of this whirled through the young girl's head she fought the slowing onslaught of Orcs; slashing, shouting, and shooting, all with deadly accuracy. The monsters were coming on slower; their troops were growing less and less in number.

A sudden roar from Diana's left caught her off guard, and before she knew it, a body slammed into her side. Gasping out a breath, she crashed to the ground and rolled through the leaves, a burning pain in her side and weight on her chest. A roar in her ear told her the ambush came from an Orc, and in a state of panic she screamed, grabbing at her nearest weapon; a dagger. Blindly, she lashed out, catching its face and frantically trying to get it off her by pushing up with her feet. She managed to catch its eye with a violent thrust of her dagger, and with an agonized scream, it climbed off of her and clutched its face.

Taking full advantage of his pain, Diana scrambled to her hands and knees, trying to get up. When she put pressure to her right knee, she hissed at the pain that shot through her leg. Trying to ignore it, she went to stand up again, then let out a tortured growl as her knee gave out and she fell to the ground again. She heard the Orc getting up behind her, and in a desperate attempt to get away, turned around and sunk her dagger into its prone foot; the nearest body part. The ugly beast screamed and scrabbled to get the knife out while Diana tried to get away. Realizing getting up and running wasn't an option, she presumed to half scramble, half drag herself through the leaves and dirt.

Her pursuer pulled the knife out of its foot and stood up, limping after its prey with a ferocious growl, gaining on the fallen Faerie rather quickly. It clenched the knife in its fist, mind black with revenge and rage, and with a quick movement, the knife came down on her thigh, plunging deep and hard.

She let out a bloodcurdling scream as the white hot pain consumed her leg, and she collapsed on the ground.' Oh, Valar,' she thought, gritting her teeth against the pain.' Don't let me die, don't let me die, please...' Yet without warning, the Orc lifted her high in the air by her stomach, squeezing so tight she could hardly breathe. He threw her; roaring with the mighty heave that sent the small body sailing through the air.

A horrified scream could be heard throughout the forest as Diana slammed into the base of a thick, gnarled tree. Her body slid lifelessly to the ground, message forgotten, and an Orc's triumphant yell followed.

The sound sent chills down Nevada's spine, and over 150 heads whipped around at the noise. She ceased battle for the barest of seconds, making eye contact with Peony, who looked just as confused and afraid.

"What the hell was that?"

"I don't know," Nevada admitted,"but I'm going to find out. It sounded like one of ours."

"I'm going with you," Alexia added. Her friend looked hesitant, then nodded." All right. I might need the backup."

Peony watched Nevada and Alexia walk away, and in a state of panic, shouted,"Let me come with you-"

"No!" Nevada turned and glared at the young Faerie."I said I did not know what was out there, and we cannot risk to lose anymore soldiers. You will stay here and finish these foul monsters off."

The blonde growled in frustration, her hazel eyes flaring."Alexia is going, I do not see why I can't accompany you-"

"She also has a good thousand years of battle on you, greenling!" Nevada grounded out angrily, missing Peony's flinch at the stinging words."Stay here and do not follow!"

The girl fumbled for a reason to make them stay, fearful of being left behind and worrying should anything happening to them."I might need help-"

"Then call for it!"

She hissed in irritation, angry tears stinging her eyes; she wasn't good enough to go along, or strong enough, or fast enough. Poeny managed a nod for her commander before she was ambushed yet again and separated from her friends. She managed to watch the raven haired warrior untie her midnight horse, Arabia; both warriors mounting her and racing off towards the woods at a neckbreaking pace.

'Forget them for now. Just fight.' With a quick and deadly spin of her sword, Peony brought it down in an arc, slaying two Orcs and wounding another. Changing tactics suddenly, she sheathed the sword and pulled out her bow, grabbing an arrow and drawing it into the face of a particulary ugly Orc. She managed to take out a few others before she was caught off guard by one of them hiding in the foilage.'No! I didn't see him!' Twisting away, she thought of Alexia's words, and managed to ward him off enough to get her bearings and affectively fight back; but not for long. In a sudden, quick move she wasn't expecting, he jumped her; slamming onto her shoulders and bringing her down onto her knees. Something in her knee snapped and Peony, dazed with pain she hadn't felt in centuries, couldn't have known what would come next.

In an abrupt motion played out on the stunned girl, the Orc roughly grabbed her shoulders-and snapped her shoulder blades back.

Her tortured scream echoed through death-filled air as her collarbone cracked like a twig.

I don't even know where I'm going,' Nevada thought, frantically searching the forest while they rode through it.'I know she was one of ours; but where is she?? Are we too late?' The golden rule of their people was to never leave anyone behind, and she was not going to break that rule now. Whoever was out there must be hurt badly enough to not have tried to communicate telepathically with anyone.

"I heard it from over there," Alexia pointed out from behind. Nevada nodded, and gave Arabia a swift kick in the side, steering her toward the right. She didn't know why she felt so panicked; like cold fingers around her heart that wouldn't let up. The urgency of the situation had her pushing Arabia to his limit, sailing over logs and galloping at nearly full speed. Just when they thought they would never find her, a glimpse of pale flesh and a dirty Orc caught their eye.

"Let's go!" Alexia cried. Nevada gave the reins to her and launched off the horse, notching an arrow in the process. As she landed she let it fly, hitting the monster in the forehead. He dropped like a stone.

The two Faeries rushed to the fallen figure, slouched up next to a gigantic oak tree."Oh!" Alexia knelt down, and supported the girl's head." Diana! Diana, wake up!"

"You know this Faerie?" Nevada demanded, pausing from her inspection of her head wound to look at her friend.

"Yes," she said, almost sadly. She began to move her unconscious form in a better position."She is a runner. She must have been coming to-"

She was interrupted when the girl cried out in pain, and Alexia immediately removed her hands, wondering what caused it. They searched for the source, and found it; Diana's own dagger imbedded in her left thigh.

"Shit," Nevada cursed. She slipped a hand under her thigh, ignoring her yelps as she was brought back to the real world painfully. The dagger nearly went all the way through; blood had pooled around the blade, and it leaked down the sides of the messenger's pants. She hesitated pulling it out, and looked up at Alexia, whose eyes were just as unsure." Here, take off your cloak. We'll use that to stop the blood flow once we pull it out. We can't leave it in, even though it's one of our blades. Infection might set in." She waited for Alexia to pull off her dark purple cloak, and gently but firmly, place it around the dagger.

"Don't!" Diana suddenly screamed. Tears of pain were rolling down her cheeks, and she looked at Nevada fearfully."Please-"

"It needs to come out-"

"It'll hurt!"

"It will hurt ten times worse if we don't pull it out!" Alexia said sternly. She heard Diana whimper and stare at the weapon protruding from her own body, and felt a tug of sympathy. Still pressing down, she reached out with her free hand and took Diana's, feeling the younger Faerie squeeze it with all her might. Nevada hesitated no longer; with great control and care, she grasped the dagger by the handle and eased it out.

Diana bit down on her lip until it bled to keep from screaming, and watched the dark haired Faerie with the purple eyes pull out the blood-stained weapon and throw it on the ground. Alexia released her hand and concentrated on keeping as much blood as possible from leaving her body, pushing gentle on the open wound.

Nevada didn't realize she was shaking until she looked Diana in the face. It is hard to get used to blood, and for how old Nevada was, she still had not mastered the technique. She hid her quivering hands behind her back, and scooted up to talk to Diana. The girl looked ready to pass out from the pain."We will get you to your princess, and then to a healer," she said, and waited for Diana's nod."My name is Nevada-"

"Nevada!" she gasped, blue eyes wide."Of Deimos!"

Confused, she nodded."Yes, that is my country."

Fighting off the pain, she struggled to sit up, and grasped Nevada's shirt sleeve."I was sent....to deliver a message to a Nevada of Deimos....Nevada, your country...."

"Just rest, Diana," Alexia soothed, noticing she was ready to lose consciousness again.

"No," Nevada shook her head, fear growing in her heart again."Let her finish. What about Deimos?"

Diana took a breath in, feeling the edges of her vision blacken."Under attack....days ago. The country's been taken...Charon was just a...decoy. Deimos the real...target. They've taken it..." She fainted before she could finish.

Nevada felt the world drop away as the words sunk in. Her home country was attacked?? And...taken? They were sent to Charon weeks ago....and her country had been the target all along? Valar..."I must go!" she said frantically, scrambling to her feet.

"What?" Alexia stood, grabbing her arm for a moment." You heard her, it's been taken. It..."she floundered at the crazed, agonized look on Nevada's face. The guilt."Go. Take Arabia, I will take Diana back to safety. But for Valar's sake, Nevada, at least tell Tatyana where you're going! Ride safe!"

She could barely nod before getting on her horse and riding towards home like her life depended on it.