Adriane pulled her hair back into a loose pony tail as she followed a large heard of gym students out to the field. The weather had cleared over night, and the teacher decided to use this opportunity to spring a surprise fitness test on the students. Taking the students out to the field, he had announced that they would be running the twelve minute run, eliciting a unanimous groan from the class. Adriane grinned; running was something she was more than confident in. Adriane looked around the group, searching for her usual partner.

"Partners?" Marcus asked, tapping her shoulder from behind.

"Oh, yeah. I was actually just looking for you" Adriane murmured. "Dibs second."

"Uhhhg," Marcus moaned "Come on, you're a way better runner than I am."

"So? That doesn't change anything," Adriane crossed her arms "I dibsed it."

"Fine," Marcus grumbled, finding a place on the field as Adriane made her way up the bleachers, picking a spot next to Adam. Twelve minutes of small talk later and it was her turn.

"How'd I do?" Marcus asked as he walked towards the bleachers.

"Six and a half laps!" Adriane informed him with a thumbs up.

"Shit..."

"That's actually really good!" Adriane assured him.

"I guess... You'll do better though" he told her before sitting down.


Zach focused on the small rock, levitating it about a foot off the ground. With a flick of his wrist the rock flew towards the wall, but bounced off harmlessly. Zach had long given up trying to escape, it was impossible from what he could tell. How they got him in here he'd never know.

Click, click, click.

Zach looked up. What was that?

Click, click, click.

Heels on stone? Zach stood, peering into the hallway, watching shadows as they approached. Zach leaned on a stalagmite, awaiting his host's arrival.

What appeared to be a petit woman in a dark cloak rounded the corner. A dark hood skewed her facial features, which made guessing her age impossible.

"You're awake," she said in a breathy, young sounding voice that was nothing short of adorable "finally."

Zach nodded curtly. "Where am I?" he asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" she asked, an obvious attempt to sound tough, which might have worked if her voice hadn't been so high pitched.

"Who are you?" Zach tried again.

"I'm the Dark Sorceress" she projected in an almost threatening tone.

Zach chuckled.

"You..." he paused to laugh "You are definitely not the Dark Sorceress."

The temperature of the room dropped as the girl clenched her fists. Her entire stature seemed to change, she gritted her teeth.

"Yes I am!" she barked in a tone that made Zach take a small step back.

"No, you're not," Zach insisted "The Dark Sorceress was killed years ago in Avalon. Beside, I've been kidnapped by her before, and let me tell you, her lair is a lot nicer." Zach took a good look around the cave for effect.

A low growl escaped the woman's throat as she took a step towards the make shift cell.

"W-what do you want with me?" he asked, clearing his throat.

"You, my love, are bait," she hissed, turning away before he could get a good glimpse of her face.

"Bait?" Zach repeated "For what?"

Her mouth twisted into a smile.

"The Warrior," she said simply.

"You want Adriane?" Zach asked.

"Well, preferably the other two as well, I want a matching set," She nodded, pacing the area outside his cell.

"What does that have to do with me?" he asked.

"You will call her for help, and then I will catch her," the woman said in a sweet, simple voice.

"And you just expect me to do that?" Zack asked. Even if he did, he wasn't certain Adriane would show up.

"Of course"

"And if I say no?" Zach asked, discreetly slipping his Dragonstone into the pocket of his jeans.

"Then I'll just have to make you," her voice changed again as she pounded on the rock 'bars' with open palms, making the earth itself shake violently.

"I'd like to see you try," Zach shoved his hand in his pocket. He could tell things were about to get heavy, and without Drake or his sword, he didn't have many options. Zach wrapped his fingers around the warm gem, silently forcing it to cut off any and all connection to the girls.


Adriane stretched, reaching her arms up above her head as she prepared for the run. Not that she was worried, she held the school record for most laps, though despite the coach constantly trying to convince her to join track, she always refused. Technically she was cheating on these fitness tests. It had never been a conscious decision to run faster or be stronger, but those were the perks of being a warrior. The coach blew a whistle and the group took off, some just walking, while others tried their best to match her speed. This wasn't a race, Adriane tried her best to let people lap her, but some days it was just a little too easy to get carried away.

Adriane closed her eyes, letting the world slip away. It would be another fifty meters before she would lap the field and run into another person. With the fear of crashing far from her mind, she slowly began to relax, feeling her consciousness slip towards the spirit world.

No. That can't be right. She couldn't be running the spirit trail, not now. Running had always cleared Adriane's mind, and helped her relax, but nothing like this had ever happened. Still, she could feel the magic of the spirit pack creeping closer and closer. Adriane was at war with herself, silently screaming, telling herself to open her eyes. If only she could open her eyes. For the first time ever she was losing control, she couldn't stop, she couldn't slow down.

Adriane's eyes flew open, breath catching in her throat as pain spiked up her right arm and into her chest. Her foot caught on loose gravel, pitching her forward onto the track. Barely catching herself, she felt the gravel tear at her palms and finger tips. Heart pounding in her ears, she choked on sharp gulps of breath that burnt her lungs from the inside. Shaking, she lifted her hands to inspect the damage; she barely acknowledged the worried voices around her.

"Adriane!" Marcus was running towards her.

"Are you okay?" Adam, who had been close behind her, crouched, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"What happened?" Marcus asked, kneeling beside her.

Adriane wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, pushing long bangs from her eyes.

"I... uh, I don't know," she breathed "I... tripped?" it was more of a question than anything.

"Come on, I'll take you to the nurse," Marcus offered, helping her to her feet.

Adriane nodded, stumbling along as he held an arm around her. She looked back down at her hands, which were covered in deep gashes. Surprisingly they didn't hurt.

"Hey, if it makes you feel any better," Marcus started as they made their way down the hall "you beat your record."

Adriane gave a shaky laugh. "Oh yeah, how many laps did I do?"

"Eight and a half," Marcus told her "if you hadn't tripped you probably would have made it to nine."

"Wow," even she was impressed. That was a huge jump from her usual seven.

Marcus opened the door to the Nurse's office, indicating for Adriane to enter first, before following. Adriane sat in a chair by the door.

"So, are you sure you're okay?" Marcus asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I think so," Adriane replied, staring up at him with a slightly dazed expression.

"What happened anyways?"

"I don't know... I just spaced I guess," Adriane shrugged. "You know, you don't have to stay here with me. I bet Mr. Crawford is wondering where you are."

"I guess," Marcus sighed "Text me when you're done?"

Adriane nodded as Marcus exited the room. Adriane took a deep breath, staring up at the ceiling. She felt... strange, very detached, almost numb. Her hands hadn't even started to hurt, but mostly she felt weak, and off balance. Not physically weak, but magically. She needed to talk with Emily and Kara, as soon as possible.


Zach's being sassy :3. Adriane's magic is all flooey. I wonder why? As we all know, Adriane and Marcus (and the rest of them) are acquaintances at most in the books. I figure that eventually acquaintances would turn to gym partners, and gym partners would turn to friends, and pretty soon the whole group would probably warm up to Adriane. Sure, she's described as being kind of 'weird' (there is no such thing as normal, lets stop kidding ourselves), she's kind of intense, and serious. TVtropes AND Wikipedia both refer to her as the 'goth' in the group, I really think that's pushing it though. Despite their differences I think they'd become really good friends. Rate and Review! :3