Hello everyone! Long time no see ne? Sorry it took so long, though by the amount of my reviews I don't think I'm talking to many people. sigh Anyways, many thanks to Mizuu and Elenea Galad for your time, insight, all those chats (which actually inspire me…specially those with EG) and of course your never wavering patience and support. I love you guys! COOKIES TO ALL! Anyways, sorry for such a short chapter, but I figured since it has been so long I owed you guys something, so here you go. I didn't get to put in half of what I want, and it sure didn't come out the way I planned…but then again I didn't exactly plan on donating a whole chapter about Alex, let alone through his eyes. Anyways, hope you enjoy!


The battle is over, for now at least. I sigh with relief as I watch Sifkah pull her troops away, retreating into the surrounding trees. I search for my sister and thank the gods when I see her walking down the hill with Kaiei, her hair a bit tousled, but otherwise she's unscathed. She catches my eye and I feel her presence briefly in my mind as hers reaches out. I can feel that something's bothering her, the feeling like a fleeting whisper on the wind as it flashes through my mind, but before I can grasp it, she pulls back. I look at her, confused, but she's already turned from me. I sigh and wait for everyone to gather round, assessing the damage.

Save for minor cuts and bruises, everyone seems fine. Liam has a bloody lip and a black eye, his sister is bleeding from a cut on her arm, and Kegan has a bloody nose, but no one has any broken bones or major cuts.

"Well, that wasn't so bad," Kris whispers to me, "you would have thought the world was going to end with the way you were carrying on."

I frown at his comment, but refrain from lashing out. How could he understand? He wasn't plagued every night with dreams, nightmares that tormented his every sleeping moment. He didn't wake up every night in a cold sweat, trying to figure out which nightmare would come true. Kris seemed to sense that something was wrong, for he was staring at me intently.

"What is it?" He asked, his voice sincere. I hesitate, wondering if I should tell him of last night's hell.

" I…had another dream last night." I finally confess. His eyes widen with concern. Out of all our comrades, even Willam and Risikah, Kris is the only one I confide in about my nightmares, and he's the only one that knows what a burden they are for me. He waits patiently as I hesitate, trying to figure out where to begin.

"We were fighting Nacola's troops. It was pretty intense, but nothing we've never handled before. We were pretty evenly matched, and we were pushing them back when…" I broke off, my voice cracking with the effort to hold back the emotions that threatened to spill out of me.

Among the Shinggrah, we wear our emotions freely, but on the battlefield I cannot allow my feelings to get the better of me. Being captain of the Soldié, I can't lose control in front of my men, not even my brother.

Kris sits silently, waiting for me to continue, but I can tell he's getting uneasy. He knows how bad my nightmares can get, and he knows it's rare when they don't come true. Finally I continue.

"We started pushing them back when I heard someone scream. At first I didn't recognize it, and there was so much going on, I didn't have time to stop and see who it belonged to. Then it came again, Gods it was horrible, filled with pain. But I had no time to react. I was busy blocking an attack from a panther. The screams came two more times. Each one weaker than the last, like the owner of the voice was losing strength. Finally Nacola pulled back. We regrouped, took in the damage, but someone was missing…" Again I hesitate, trying to catch my breath and regain my composure, trying to find the energy to go on.

"Who…who was it?" Kris asks hesitantly. I notice that he's a bit pale. I sigh, letting out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding and nodded straight ahead. He glanced over his shoulder and paled even more when he saw the object of my fears.

"No…" He whispers, so softly that I barely hear him. "Kia..." He turns back to me, his eyes begging me to continue.

"I broke away from the rest of you to look for her. After what seemed like hours I picked up her scent mixed with blood- gods it was almost overwhelming. I followed the scent until I came to a small grove of trees on the outskirts of where we'd been fighting. She was in the center of it, barely recognizable beneath all the blood. She lay on her side, facing away from me, and I tried to make my feet move, tried to make my body respond, but everything was so foggy…so slow. Finally my body was released and I was able to force my way to her side.

"At first I though she was dead, but then I heard her ragged breathing. I put my hand on her shoulder and turned her towards me. All but her face was a bloody mess. She opened her eyes and looked at me. Her eyes were clouded with pain; I think she barely recognized me. They were begging me, pleading with me, but I couldn't do what they asked, not even when she whispered to me.

'End it.' She said, and I just stared at her. She said it over and over again, but I just shook my head. I couldn't, I couldn't bring myself to take her life, even when she was begging me to do it. I just took her hand in mine and squeezed it. She squeezed back and cried, begging over and over until her voice grew soft. I looked down, and her eyes were closed. Tears streamed down her face, but she wasn't breathing. Her last wish to me, and I couldn't even give that to her." I took a deep breath to steady myself. I had almost forgotten Kris was sitting next to me until I felt his hand squeeze my shoulder. I looked up into his face and saw my own fears written across it, but more than that I saw the thing I craved most; Understanding. He alone knows about my premonitions, and he alone knows how much this dream has shaken me. His voice, however, betrays none of this. Calm and slightly reassuring, it is still laced with the sarcastic humor that only he has.

"You do realize she'd kill you if she knew about this. You know how she hates being treated like a child. She can take care of herself, she wouldn't want you protecting her." He says to me, a slight smile playing on his lips, the attempt to quell my fears is mixed with the truth of his words. I know he's right, but that does not stop the fact that she is my sister, and I will kill anything that tries to harm her, especially after what happened to her…how I treated her, how we all treated her before she was ripped away from us.

I feel the familiar pang of guilt stab at my heart as I remember the days of our childhood. How we tortured my sister. She was a half demon, the unworthy daughter to our mighty father. How could we have treated her differently? We were only children, easily swayed and manipulated by the actions and feelings of the adults, whether intentionally or unintentionally shown to us. They were our role models, how were we to know the true effect our actions had on her? Perhaps we could sense our mother's feelings towards her, perhaps we just watched how the other adults treated her and took our examples from them. It was not jealousy of her being named heir that caused me to act that way towards her, I was third in line for that title anyways. Quite the contrary, if anyone should have been jealous of her for that reason, it should have been Axel, for he was the oldest of us all, but he remained fairly neutral to her. He was kind and brotherly, yet always distant, but with Kia it seemed he opened up a bit more, as if she melted whatever ice that enclosed his heart. Indeed, he and Aislin were probably the only ones out of us that were truly kind to her. Aislin would always scold us when she caught us picking on her, then she would dry Kia's tears and lead her away.

Whatever our reasons, we were horrible to her. We shut her out, we called her names, we even hit her. But Kia never complained, no matter what we did to her. She never spoke out against us, never told our father, who would have surely put a stop to it as soon as she did. No matter what, she kept silent, even when our abuse ceased to be the only kind that she was receiving. We never knew about what Lucien was doing to her. If we'd known, we would have stopped our cruelty. We would have done something to protect her. But the first time I learned of what he was doing, was the last time I saw my sister for many years.


The night my father died was also the night part of my own soul died. When my mother brought her into the nursery (all the pups from infant to ten years stayed in here) I was shocked by the sight I saw. Kia was clinging to Odessa as if she were the only thing keeping her locked to this world, crying and shaking. At first I was confused; why, after all her resentment towards Kia, would my mother be holding her-comforting her for that matter? Odessa put her down then and told us (Kris, Willam and I were the only ones in the room at the time) to watch her before she left the room. Kia stayed where my mother had left her, still shaking, the tears streaming down the familiar trail down her face. She look at us fearfully, obviously afraid of what we'd do to her. Her hair was tousled, bruises were already forming on her face and arms, and a thin line of blood was beginning to form on her neck. She shrank down, as if trying to make herself invisible, and for a moment we just stood there dumbfounded. Finally I made myself move, and I walked over to my broken sister.

I reached out to her, but my movement was too quick, causing her to cringe as she cried out. I stopped for a moment, watching her as she whimpered, her eyes wide with fear. After a moment I tried again, this time slower. She held my gaze for a moment, then looked away, gazing at the ground. I knelt beside her and took her face in my hands, forcing her to look at me. Her blue eyes stared back at me, and for a moment my breath caught in my throat as I saw the feelings etched clearly in those wide blue eyes. Fear, humiliation, anger, and most apparent of all: pain. She shook beneath my fingers, no longer trying to hold back the sobs that wracked her body, and after a moment I pulled her to me, letting her find comfort in my arms by sobbing into my shoulder.

At first she stiffened, but it didn't take long for her to relax, and before long she was telling us everything that had happened that night as well as all the abuse she'd received at Lucien's hand, which earned many angry growls from Kris and Willam, who had decided to join us. After awhile, I'm not sure how long, I pulled her down, letting her rest her head in my lap as I ran my fingers through her hair and down her back; it was a motion that I knew calmed her down, something I had seen both my father and my aunt do. As the night sky quickly made way for dawn, and dawn's light brightened as the morning grew, we had fallen asleep. When I awoke, the day was already over, I learned of my father's death, and I didn't see my sister again for seven long years.


A tap on my shoulder brings me back to the world and I find myself staring up into the eyes of my sister. Her eyes are grey and clouded with worry. Again I feel her mind reach out to mine; a fog of worried desperation. I don't even have time to ask her what's wrong before she starts talking.

"Can I talk to you?" she whispers. I nod and she took my arm, leading me into the surrounding wood to a more secluded area; where even our comrades' keen ears wouldn't be able to overhear our conversation. I feel my curiosity grow as she hurriedly makes her way ahead of me into the thick forest cover.

"What is it?" I ask her when she finally stops. She looked right into my eyes and stared at me for a long moment before she sighed and answered me.

"Honestly, I don't know." She admits, casting her eyes downward guiltily. I push back the crawling feeling of aggravation at her actions, trying to keep it out of my face; I don't like being interrupted for nothing. I can't keep the edge out of my voice, however, and my words are sharper than I mean them to be as I start to turn back the way we had come.

"Then why did you take me here?" I hear her growl in frustration before I even finish my sentence and I turn back to face her.

" Honestly! Don't tell me you don't feel it too!" She snaps at me. Shocked, I raise a brow, inquiring her to continue. "Something is not right, Alexander." She continues, keeping her voice low now.

"What do you mean?" I ask, now utterly confused.

" Don't tell me you didn't notice! The battle! Something's not right, or were you too busy flirting with Sifkah to notice?" She asks, her tone biting. I feel myself blush involuntarily as I remember the incident she must have been talking about.


The young woman and I separated ourselves from the crowd. This was a fight between leaders, and neither of us wanted any interference from the others. Her eyes were fierce, a fire I had rarely seen burning in them, dancing like flames flickering in the wind. Every movement she made showed pure determination, as if this whole fight was nothing more than a chance for her to prove herself. I briefly wondered why, if she were in command of this group, she could possibly need a reason for that. She was not Nacola, but a younger woman, and the glimpses of spots the sun shone in her hair said she was a leopard. A name swirled in my head as I realized who she must be.

"Sifkah." I said simply, testing the name to see if I was indeed right. She looked at me questioningly and I took that as a sign I was correct.

"So it's true, you are Nacola's right hand." I smirked. She didn't appear to appreciate someone talking to her so freely however, for she swung her sword at me. I ducked, easily avoiding the blade, and looked at her. She was an exquisite creature…for a Ta-Risha anyway; slim, perfectly formed with a slight, graceful build. Her long hair flowed in the slight breeze and for some reason I found myself wanting to touch it. Her voice interrupted my thoughts, however, and I focused once again on the fight at hand.

"This is going smoothly. Soon this will be over and I will have brought yet another victory to my people." She said with a haughty smirk, bringing her blade slashing across my neck once again. I barely had time to catch her arm before it cut me, and looking back to her I saw that her eyes were shining with satisfaction. Wench. I found myself smirking and the words were out before I could stop them.

"Smooth? And here I was under the impression that you liked it rough." I reveled at the reaction that caused. Her eyes widened with shock for a moment before they flashed with anger, a white lightning that heated her movements as it flashed through her veins and I realized then exactly why it was a bad idea to piss off a woman. She became infuriated and attacked more viciously than I had ever seen before, but even then I couldn't stop from laughing. She was quite intriguing if nothing else.


I felt myself smirk as I looked into my sisters angry eyes.

"So you saw that huh?" I asked in mock innocence.

"Don't play with me, Alex. What the hell is with you? Here you are, freaking out before the battle even begins and then you go off and flirt with the enemy! God! I'll never understand guys!" She said, the anger hot on her lips. I feel my face darken at that last comment.

" And let's hope you never will." I growl softly, not appreciating the thought of my little sister in the arms of a man. She smiles softly at my reaction, standing up to my words with her own.

"You're too overprotective." She said softly. I frown at her, looking down at the ground.

"Can you blame me?" I ask seriously, the statement could be taken in any way, but she understands my meaning. Her eyes flash with an emotion I can't read, but her tone is soft when she replies.

"Alex, we've been through this before. It wasn't your fault. It was just…bad luck."

"That's an interesting thing to call it." I reply, my voice harsh with the unwanted feelings the memories were bringing to the surface. She frowned, though I knew it was more towards her own memories than to my tone of voice; she knows it isn't meant towards her.

"Bad things happen to good people. No one can help that. We can't change the past, Alex. You can't and neither can I, no matter how much we want to. All we can do is go on with our lives …protect what we have now." The intensity in her eyes never wavers and I sigh, a signal for her to explain what was bothering her.

"I don't know, Alex, I just don't know. Something just doesn't feel right. The air is thick here, like some sort of foreboding, and even you have to admit that the battle was over far too quickly. Even Sifkah wouldn't give up so easily. Something is seriously wrong." She looks down, waiting for my response. We're both silent for a few moments, I'm contemplating what she's just told me, and she's patiently awaiting my reaction. After a few heartbeats, I begin to understand what she was talking about. There is a tension in the air I hadn't noticed before. I was too preoccupied in worrying about Rika to even notice the stiffness around us. Not even a breeze is blowing and the fact that Sifkah had given up so easily leaves me wondering if maybe my sister is right. After a moment I look at her, who has returned her attention back to me, gazing at me with worried eyes.

" You're right. There is a certain unease in the air. Tell the others to stay alert, I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of Sifkah tonight." She nods, apparently relieved that I believe her, and walks back to the others. I stay behind however, as a new wave of worry hits me. If today's battle is indeed not over yet, could last night's nightmare still come true? The thought is almost too much to bear, and the impact it has on my body is staggering; it takes all my will power to keep myself from falling to my knees, but I succeed, promising myself one thing. I will not let anything happen to Kia, and Gods help anyone who tries to take her from me.


A/N ok, chapter 3 FINALLY done…Only took me a year to write up, but I must say, if people would review then it would make me want to update much faster! Just a little hint so please, PLEASE review…even if it's to complain, I really want input on this story! Besides, it might actually convince Alex to come out from under the bed.

Alex: mutters from under bed don't count on it!

Me: sigh Why must you be so hopeless!
Alex:… you can't see, but I'm giving you the finger….
Me: --; You're lucky you're under the bed and I'm too lazy to go after you!
Alex: Shut up already, you're rambling!

Me: Fine…to readers Much loves to you all!

AC