Cole felt a tug at his ear, talons nearly digging under his skin. The Turans were dragging him across the cave, leaving the boy's feet to drag behind him. Two hands gripped him by his underarms, and one hand was on his earlobe.

"Let go of me!" Cole cried out, tears nearly streaming down his face. "Where are you taking me?"

Cole's cries were sadly in vain. All that the boy could do was struggle against the Turan's hold, but he knew it would be no use. A small body like his was no match for theirs.

The two Turans dragged Cole as they made an abrupt turn, but Cole couldn't see this. His eyes were blinded by the darkness of the cave, and couldn't even see the creatures that held him.

Then the two captors stopped, and stood very still. There was a whooshing noise next to him, and Cole could sense that their arms were to their foreheads in a salute. It was then that Cole realized that they were waiting for orders. The very anticipation was enough to send a deep pit in Cole's stomach.

"Bring him to the Cave!" a voice from nowhere told the captors. "The Overlord will be waiting."

Fear overtaking Cole, he felt himself led through the darkness. He struggled, but all that left was the talons digging into his ear, and their holds tightening around his arms.

"You aren't going anywhere. Not alive, anyway." a voice next to him hissed. "The Overlord will be sure of that."

The two captors laughed, which echoed off of the walls of the cave that Cole couldn't see.

Cole then felt the air change, the temperature becoming slightly warmer, and the thundering sound of roaring coming from somewhere not far away.

Then suddenly he could see, as the darkness disappeared, lights of all colors twinkling on the walls of the caves. In the center of the large room were Turans of all sizes, but all with the same glimmer in their eyes. In the middle of the crowd sat, unmistakably, the Overlord.

"Is this the boy?" Overlord asked. His voice was deep and authority reeked from it. The Turans holding Cole nodded, and the Overlord gestured to bring Cole to him.

"You," he hissed at the boy. "You let your friend escape?"

"No!" Cole replied, his volume higher than he intended. "I swear! I was knocked out the whole time!"

"Then how did he get out?" Overlord asked, his black and purple eyes gleaming with anger and annoyance. "His prison was surrounded by many warriors. There was only one way out, and that was with death."

"Maybe he knew that."

"What?"

"Maybe he knew that and used it to his advantage." Cole said, his voice barely audible. "He was always really smart."

"How would he have done this?"

"I don't know, but I've known him pretty much my whole life, and he always could figure it out." Cole replied, voice shaking.

"Then find him!" Overlord shouted suddenly, making Cole jump. "We must not let him escape." He then looked at the boy, who was being held by his troops. "Discard of this boy. We no longer need him. Throw him off the cliff or something."

"NO!" Cole yelled, and his shouts reverberated off of the cave walls as he was yet again dragged, and this time, he wasn't coming back.

Sweat dripped and slid and dampened Jay and Nya's hands and arms as they clung on to the cliff as long as she could. Nya looked up, her eyes nearly closed and her hair soaked with sweat. There was still a pretty long way, about a hundred feet. And the two weren't sure if they were going to make it.

Jay looked at Nya. He looked at her hands. They glistened with perspiration, and her forehead was lined with worry. And her eyes were beginning to lose its glint of hope.

Jay looked toward the top, which still looked so far away, and then at the bottom. They'd come a long way, but it hadn't looked like it'd been much.

"Jay?" Nya asked, and Jay looked at her. She was looking at him curiously, panting and her arms shaking. "Jay, what is it?"

"Nya..." he said. "I don't think we're going to make it."

Nya didn't reply. Her head hung down, her limbs trembling from the pressure and strain.

"I know." she finally said. "I know."

"I've got to tell you something." Jay said, before he could stop himself.

"I've got to tell you something too..." said Nya, and she looked nervous too. "Jay, about the sapphire.."

"That can wait." said Jay. "This is too important to hold off another second."

Nya was looking at him again, and Jay's heart began to pound heavier.

"I'm sorry." he said. "I have to say it now. I just don't know how much time we have left. If I don't tell you now, then you're never going to know. It's now or never."

"Jay, what-"

"Nya, I love you."

It had taken only one second to say it, and once Jay felt the words come from his tongue, he felt a huge weight lift off of him, and then he couldn't stop.

"Nya, there were days when I'd just watch you while we were together, and I just started to feel something. It was always the little things with you that did it for me. Like your laugh or the way that your hands moved when you talked to me, or when you'd put your arm around me when we were just joking around and...it was everything about you."

Jay couldn't stay in one place any longer. He began to slowly climb upwards, and Nya followed him. She had not said one word, but there were tears in her eyes and her eyebrows were creased together, as if trying to understand something complex.

As they moved gradually upward, Jay kept talking.

"And when you chose to go out with Zane, it killed me. Because when I saw you two together, it was the kind of magic I felt with you. And I could never tell you, because all I really wanted was...you to be happy..."

Jay was panting now from the strain of talking. "And..." he said. "and you're so strong, and you're kind, and you're sweet, and you're you."

"And you're everything to me."

It was then that Jay looked at Nya, and their eyes met. In her eyes were tears, glossed over her eyes that caught in the Moonlight. She didn't say a word, but Jay knew what she was thinking.

"Nya..." he said. "Nya, there's nothing that you have to do. Nothing to worry about. I just wanted you to know, because I don't know how much time left we have. I don't even know...if we're going to make it. I know you're devoted to Zane. I understand."

"Jay..." Nya cried, and a sob escaped her throat. "Jay, I can't...I don't..."

"I know, Nya." said Jay, as he watched more and more tears fall down Nya's face. "I know."

"I'm sorry..." said Nya, as she tried to hold back more tears.

"I know..." Jay said, and looked away. He couldn't bear it anymore. "I know you are."