Disclaimer: Power Rangers belong to Saban and Disney. Characters you recognize are not mine, but characters you don't recognize, the plot and the idea are mine!

A/N: Sorry I'm updating right now, I meant to update this sooner but I had an army thing:D Anyway mates, enjoy this, sorry about the shortness…. Love ya!

And, oh yeah! I want to dedicate this chapter to zeopurple;
zeopurple, mate, thanks for always reviewing and reading and.. making me feel like a good writer for once in a while.
thank you mate :D

Phantom Rogue: How is my mind twisted! O.o ;whistles innocently;

SweetSas: If I'm Tallie, you're Sas. You have been warned! Oh, and just so you know it; you're the only person alive I let call me Tallie. :P

DizneeDol: lol, EW ELGAR :D, well, Terry, mate, let me tell you this: there are a LOT of names which would pop out in the future. ;snickerswickedly;

Slytherin-Angel44: well, Alycia, since I've already written the last chapter (but not the imbetween one:P), my next project is the Epilogue. I hope you guys would like it, even though I'm 4 wives short :P ;) love ya!

Angelines :is it your name, mate? And thanks a bunch:)

zeopurple: ha! Me to know name yours! ;skipping around; DANA DANA DANA! :P, hope you'd enjoy this one. It's a nice one I think.

Neri: thanks, I'm trying to do my best with this one:) I appreciate your review, means a lot!

Star Fata: well, that was a rhetorical question! ;D and.. Elgar's an idiot, but hey, that's what I like about him! XD

C.C.C: Andros of Kadan, huh? We'll see about that :P why won't you read and find out? Love ya!

the power of love: here ya go:)

AH/AY: I love you!

In the Clearing of the Forest
by DarkHonda aka Tal

Chapter Seven

They looked at the direction from which the arrow came and saw no one; Elgar shoved her on the ground as he took the arrow from the tree trunk and examined it. Ashley could see clearly the red feather on it, and it could almost smile at her as a ray of hope penetrated her desperation. Someone was there to save her, and she didn't care whether it was Zhane, Jefferey, Coran or even Andros of Kadan himself! She needed to be rescued, and frankly, she hoped it was Andros who would save her. She was already a bit curious about the insufferable git and she wanted to meet him even though she knew she would never admit it. Not even to herself. 'Of course, n this situation it will be painfully embarrassing,' she thought bitterly, 'but as long as I'm out of Elgar the ewww's reach, I really don't care,' she muse as a thought crossed her mind; the look of Elgar's face when a Kadan will come and revenge her pride, would be priceless, she decided and she could almost smell the sweet victory when she'll tell him 'I told you not to mess with me.' She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a long breath, trying to relax and reassure herself silently when Elgar's disgusting voice woke her up from her haze.

"What is that?" Elgar finally noticed the arrow and held it in his hand, examininig the perfect finish of the arrow's shape; he was standing with his back turned to her, looking around for his mates and eventually, it dawned him that there was no one else there, well, except for Ashley, who was lying on the ground, looking defeated donning a sullen expression. As his blood slowly made its way to his head, as anger flooded his senses, he turned around to face her, the expression of pure fury on his face. "Velcof! Quantro! Get back here you dimwits! The girl's over here!" he yelled, yet no one was there to return an insult or laugh evilly. Ashley almost absently noticed they were gone, she noticed it before Elgar, yet was too hopeless to wonder why; all she could feel was the fear creeping into her, eating her up slice by slice, limb after limb…

"Fine, I'll do it myself," he muttered and took out his sword from the scabbard once again, facing her with a malicious, hateful grin. "Say goodbye, princess," he mocked her, "I'll send you piece by piece to Daddy," he laughed that same hideous laughter that made her want to vomit; she never hated a person but Elgar wasn't a person, more like an animal. She hated him with every vessel, bone and muscle in her body; he disgusted her in new levels of disgust and represented an aversion that only humans could produce; he was a mutation to her, a freak which was not created by nature, but by the forces of darkness.

She didn't hear it happening, even Elgar hasn't noticed and it happened to him! All of a sudden there were two arrows pinning him to her favorite tree by the shirt. He couldn't move and gaped, awestruck. Ashley jumped on her feet immediately and grabbed her sword; she couldn't believe that whoever the archer was, even though she knew who she wanted the archer to be, would want to hurt her; after all he did release her from Elgar's grip.
She slowly looked around, scanning her surroundings after that someone, yet no one was there. Elgar released himself from the arrows rather quickly, his shirt torn in the shoulders; he was walking toward her, his expression furious and his eyes glittering with hatred. She felt herself shrinking, she knew exactly what was he about to do to her. As he came near she felt herself losing the grip on her sword, fear paralyzed her finally; she couldn't deal with it anymore, she couldn't fight anymore knowing she would lose. She has already accepted there was no gateway from him. There never was, she never stood a chance. The only thing she promised herself was that she wouldn't cry.
She wanted to, stars! Oh she wanted to cry, but she didn't want to express her fear, didn't want to show how hopeless she was...
'If I am to lose,' she thought, 'I will not lose completely. Not to him. Not to that thing,' She decided.

He came near her again, now she could see the drops of blood from his shoulders. She couldn't care less, he deserved it, he deserved it and more because of what he is about to do to her, about what he's thinking of doing to her. Yet before he could make another step toward her and grab her throat again, an arrow penetrated his shoulder, suddenly she could hear him. him. Her hero.

Elgar turned away from her, looking in the direction from which came the arrows which pierced his body. His arrogant glare met a Kadan standing and glaring back hatefully, Elgar tried to run away yet the Kadan closed the gap between them with a step. He caught Elgar by the collar and lifted him off the ground and then slammed him on the ground, making him fell on his face with a loud thud. The Kadan rolled him on his back with a kick and then pulled Elgar to a sitting position by the shirt and punched him three times at the face. Elgar shrieked in pain, yet Ashley did not feel sorry for him. He deserved it, he deserved everything Coran was doing to him.

Yes, it was Coran who saved her; Coran was the one who defeated her worst enemy ever so quickly, he was the one to secure her future. The one to fright Elgar enough to make him disappear from her life forever, and she was ever so grateful for him. She watched as Coran grabbed Elgar by the shirt again…

Elgar was in great pain, the most hurtful, painful pain he ever felt; it was endless and ever re-growing. 'That whore wasn't kidding about the bloody Kadan,' he concluded cursing Ashley and the Kadan as well as Quantro and Velcof. 'Traitors!' he accused, 'how did they dare leaving me alone in danger? They will pay for this!' he vowed.
The Kadan was now slamming his body against a tree and Elgar could feel his hand breaking, he screamed again, vowing to never look at Ashley's direction again. Only after a few more 'grab and throw's, the Kadan was finally satisfied with the pain he caused him. He grabbed him by the shirt one more time so Elgar could stare directly into the furious hazel eyes that were shooting daggers at him, the Kadan was now narrowing his eyes as he whispered:

"If you touch her again, you will die by the hands of Andros son of Tiaren of Kadan," he whispered hatefully and Elgar's eyes widened as he nodded his agreement, scared to death, "and if I ever see you in this forest again," the Kadan continued, "you'll beg to die."

He said and left Elgar's collar, turning to Ashley, yet before he made any kind of contact with her he grabbed a red leather glove that was hanged on his belt and put in on his left hand. He whistles to sharp whistled that pierced the air as much as his arrows pierced Elgar's shoulders, and after when nothing happened and Ashley was busy watching Elgar ran away outside of the forest; there was a sudden movement in the skies along with a falcon cry, that made her look up astonished, 'a falcon?' she thought, 'he has a falcon!' she realized quietly. Falcons were hard to train and if he had a falcon, it meant he was more than just a devoted man, more than loyal and more than a hard worker… he was just… 'Perfect…' she sighed silently.

An amazing brown striped white falcon landed on Coran's gloved hand, crying nobly. Coran stroke the gentle feathers of the falcon's head, obviously comfortable and satisfied with the raptor's presence. He looked too amazingly sweet stroking the powerful bird, which closed its eyes with pleasure; after a while of playing with the bird, Coran lowered his head and whispered a few words to it. A second later the falcon was flying out of Coran's arm, far away into the sky, above the forest. To the north.

"It's beautiful, is it yours?" she managed to stutter and he smiled faintly to her, his warm loving eyes strengthening her. She closed her eyes briefly, filling with a tiny bit of strength and warmth, his warmth; the warmth he gave her by only looking at her. She wasn't hysterical when he was there with her, she knew she was safe and that he would give her all the time in the world to become her old cheery self again, she could see in his amazing hazel eyes that he was there for her, it made her feel good, so good and reassured that it was unexplainable…

"Yes," he answered gently, "His name is Torin, he's a Gyrfalcon, I raised him since he was little," he whispered softly and watched the far spot in the sky, that was his beloved friend, flying away. He was looking at her now, and she saw the uneasiness in his hazel eyes, his hesitation and confusion, all she could do was hang onto him, hugging him tightly, burying her face in his chiseled chest.

"You saved me, Coran," she muttered to his chest, "thank you," she whispered and he took a long breath and wrapped his arms around her defensively. She enjoyed the sensation of being close to him, the sense of ultimate protection, of comfort. He provided her with the sweetest smile he could offer, still holding her close to him; and with her head resting on his chest, she could hear the fast beats of his heart, almost as fast as her own. She was so grateful for him, without him she would've been lost.

"Tell me what happened?" he asked her, murmuring gently in her ear. She nodded as she was embraced tightly to his chest. He didn't protest their closeness, only gave her more when she asked; sighing, she was burying herself in him, in his chest, his smell, his pleasant heartbeats… She felt herself ever so safe in his arms, feeling relaxed at last, as if between his arms was where she meant to be and while she was muttering the story to his chest, he could feel her give in to him. At last.

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A/N: Next chap she's coming to dinner! (finally, sheesh! I thought she wanted to starve!)