"Kind of hard to know the pain I left behind," Fiera muttered.

"Yes, it must be," Helena agreed. She removed her hands from Fiera's temples. She had been showing Fiera what was happening with Odette, Derek, and especially Angel. Fiera had seen just about everything since Odette, Derek, and Angel's visit with Bethari, who, despite a pretty good knowledge of Fallen Guardians and Hell's Might, could not tell them anything that would be decisive in winning the battle against Leda.

"I hate all this waiting I have to do," Fiera complained.

"I know, but this transformation will take time. It's not easy taking all your power and starting from scratch."

"Wait – you're taking my power?"

"And putting a new one in. You'll have control of things around you, as well as retaining most of your former abilities."

"Like a ghost, only alive?"

"You could put it that way, yes. You'll no longer be a combination of three beings, but a new being entirely. There has never and will never be another like you."

"Let's get started then. The sooner this is over, the sooner I can beat Leda."

"Lie down," Helena commanded. Fiera did as she was told. She laid down on the bed she had woken up in when she realized she was in Helena's company, which was like another world, separated from heaven, earth, and hell. She was literally nowhere, that is, nowhere that could be described.

The pain Fiera began to feel was at first surprising, but then it burned like a wildfire. It didn't last long, but she could feel her strength leave her, as if the fire had burned it all away.

"I'm sorry about that," Helena apologized, "but the new pain will be much worse."

Fiera clenched her teeth and nodded in readiness.

xXx

Odette walked onto the practice field alone, as Derek had something else he wanted to do. Odette was not surprised he didn't want to train with her. She was fairly sure he felt the same tension, the same sense of unease when he fought her as when she fought him. Simply stated, they didn't like to fight each other, pretend or otherwise.

In the distance, she could see Angel with a group of young Guardians who she knew to be the cadets Fiera had been training. They were responsive to their replacement, but not nearly as enthusiastic. It was obvious as she walked over that he was growing more and more exasperated with them.

At Angel's command, they begrudgingly lined up in one long row in front of him. They were going to practice dueling, but it seemed that none of them had any will to fight. Angel motioned for one of them, a young man Odette knew to be named Boriz, to step forward, but he remained where he stood.

"No," he said simply.

Angel lifted an eyebrow in annoyed interest. He walked over and met the man face to face. "Why not?"

"Because Fiera was my Captain. And even if she is dead and buried, I won't accept a substitution. Hell, maybe I'm wrong. If she let herself get killed, perhaps she wasn't worth serving."

Angel's fist was an undetectable blur when it hit Boriz in the face. The young soldier was sent sprawling to the ground, his nose bloodied.

"You think you're the only one who misses her?!" Angel demanded. The unfortunate cadet stared up at Angel's beautiful face, which was etched in rage. Angel had lost his temper. He could deal with Fiera being gone, but only so much. But to have her name slandered and her words misquoted, that was unbearable. "Get up."

Boriz quickly did so, not daring to tempt Angel's wrath again. There was silence on the field. Odette had never seen Angel angry at all, let alone enraged enough to strike another Guardian. He took a deep breath to calm himself before continuing.

"Cadets!" Angel called, grabbing their attention. "What was the first thing Fiera taught you?"

"Respect!" they answered in unison.

"Yes, respect. Respect for your weapon, for your commanding officers, and for yourselves. Now tell me, is it really respectful for you all to forget what Fiera said about respect, to forget the most basic lesson she taught you?"

"No sir!" they chorused.

"Then don't," Angel commanded. He sighed deeply. "Fiera was more a captain than I'll ever be, I know that. I know you're not used to having me around. But I'm not used to being around you, and I'm not used to Fiera not being around. This means we're going to have to learn to deal with each other. Boriz, have you ever heard the full story of how Fiera died?"

"No, sir," Boriz answered guiltily.

"Then don't make assumptions. I promise you, she died honorably in the service of her queen. She wasn't overpowered, she was sacrificed – by herself, her own choice. You're not doing her any honor by being a renegade with only half the story. She was my wife, you all know that. Don't even begin to tell me how much you miss her and want her back, because you can't compare. But even if we can't bring her back, we can remember the legacy she left behind. Protect that legacy, and Fiera will always be with you. Now, let's try this again. Boriz, let's duel."

The cadets seemed to be charged up by Angel's words. All they needed was some reassurance that Fiera wanted them to be strong and respectful, and through Angel's reminder, they received it. The duels ran long, and even Odette had to participate to ensure everyone would get a chance to fight before the end of the day. Even Derek, who had come to do some independent practice, had been asked to help out.

As they walked off, a messenger ran up to Angel, clutching a note in his hand.

"It's from Bethari," Angel informed them as he skimmed over the letter. "It says she wants us back at her house. She has new information."

"Should we go now?" Odette asked.

"I don't see why not," Derek answered.

"And if Bethari has information, it's best to get it as quickly as possible," Angel added.

Within the hour, they were once again at Bethari's house, sitting in her dining room, listening to what she had to say. "There are reports of a few Guardians being converted. One or two of the cadets from Rayne have been corrupted, and now they've joined Leda. There's not much time until she launches a bigger attack."

"But they were just cadets," Derek said. "They don't have the skill to fight mature Guardians."

"On the contrary, they can learn faster, and they are stronger, Derek," Bethari replied. "It is very possible that they would be able to fight mature Guardians. Even if they can't match a Pure Guardian, they don't fear death enough not to try. Leda possesses their minds now."

"Is there any way to save them?" Odette asked, not wanting to kill them if she didn't have to. Really, she never wanted to have to kill demons on sight, but there were very few, as in two, maybe three, demons in history that did anything other than kill and pillage. However, these new enemies were still Guardians, which would make it much harder.

"Only by killing Leda can they be beaten. And even then, there is no real guarantee, as Fallen Guardians have been so rare. It doesn't happen often at all, so there aren't many records."

Odette sighed as the familiar question rang in her ears. How was she going to find Leda?

"Where were the cadets attacked?" Angel asked, struck by inspiration.

"About twenty miles away from Rayne, near a human village called Esmira."

"When?"

"Yesterday. I received the report from one of my friends from Rayne whom I asked to keep an eye out for Leda. He sent me a message, and thus, I sent you a message."

"I'm thinking if we can track where she attacks, we can pinpoint Leda's location," Angel said.

"Yes, but that may take too long," Odette argued.

"Do you have another plan?" Bethari asked, an edge in her normally calm voice.

"No," Odette admitted.

"Well, Odette is right about it taking too long," Angel defended, not wanting Odette to feel like a fool. "And besides that, Leda can move fast, so she probably won't stay in one place for very long."

"True," Bethari agreed. "It seems you have your work cut out for you."

Odette, Derek, and Angel soon after left, as Bethari had no more information. They didn't want to return to Elmswell right away, so they headed off for Rayne, hoping to find some information. As they flew, Odette couldn't help but be bothered by how Bethari didn't seem to do anything other than wait around in her house for information to come her way.

"Well, she's old, for one thing," Angel explained. "And she's not very strong, never was, as I've heard. Anyway, I know she's a little superior, but she is very wise. She takes some getting used to. It surprises me she doesn't know a lot about this, but another part of me wonders if we're supposed to be the ones who figure this out."

Odette shrugged. Perhaps he was right, but it didn't make her feel any better. She wished there was more solid evidence that would lead to Leda, but there was none other than day old reports of a conversion that was made near Rayne.

She thought they had arrived when they flew over a village, but she realized it was human. And then a very familiar scent wafted up to her.

"That's blood!" Angel called. "There's been a slaughter!"

They immediately flew down into the main street of the small village. There was no movement, save for a few window shutters flapping around in the wind. It was eerily still in the streets. The wind whistled around the buildings, making the scene even more sinister.

As they walked, they could smell the blood, but there were no bodies around. A few times, blood was visible on a random wall or doorway, but no one, dead or alive, was around. It was like the whole place had been eradicated of life. They continued to walk until they got to the small town center, which was surrounded by various buildings, the only exits being the road and a few alleyways between the huts and hovels.

Odette could feel the hairs on the back of her neck raise up.

There might have been no living creatures visible, but she could certainly feel their presence. A shiver went down her spine.

"Motion!" Angel suddenly yelled. Sure enough, there were two people – if they could be called that – dashing and darting around mysteriously in the dark. Then there were three, four, five, more and more until they were surrounded.

Derek's breathing hitched in shocked amazement. Angel nearly dropped his sword in surprise and revulsion. Odette gasped in fear and disgust.

The people that surrounded them were undoubtedly converted villagers. They were red eyed, hunched over, ready to attack at their commander's will. There was no reason or thoughts in their eyes, just one emotion: malice. They were bloodthirsty, eager to kill, and Derek, Odette, and Angel were their prey.

Leda's baleful cackling could be heard somewhere in the distance.