Note: I do not own Blizzard nor do I make any profit from this story.

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Dawn broke crisp and cool over Eversong Wood. The morning mist swirled low on the ground. Jin'ala took a deep, cleansing breath as her hawkstrider shifted beneath her. She always loved this time of day. In some childish, whimsical way, the world seemed new, pure, as if nothing but good could come out of it. She breathed in deeply again, taking in all the scents around her. The light perfume of the blooming flowers below her along the small garden path mixed with the earthy scent of forest floor and trees. The smell of cooking fires being stoked with diverse and exotic woods meandered through the city gates. She closed her eyes and let the scents envelope her, clearing her mind.

Jinny hadn't realized how distracted she'd been until she heard someone clearing his throat. She opened her eyes and looked for the source.

Those eyes.

Those swirling, sparkling, mischievous fel-green eyes. He smiled at her as recognition crossed her face and she sighed, slightly annoyed. "May I help you?"

He chuckled softly at her annoyed tone. "You're not happy to see me?" he asked, the bear beneath him sniffing the ground and shifting under the weight of his fully armored rider. The plate armor clanked slightly as Darreek's chuckle grew.

Jinny rolled her eyes as she manipulated her hawkstrider to turn away from him. "I'm waiting for someone," she said curtly. "An escort for an important task ordered by the magisters."

"Well, then, m'lady," he smiled, awkwardly bowing over his bulky armor. "Your wait is over."

Jinny's head jerked up to look at him. "You're my escort?" she asked in disbelief, her disdain evident on her face. He laughed again at her and nodded. "Show me your orders," she demanded.

"Orders?" he chuckled. "You don't believe me?"

She looked at him sternly. Enough was enough. "It seems to me, by way of recent events, Mister Darreek, that you have been following me."

"Following you?" he cut her off. "I assure you, miss, that I have not." He at least had the decency to sound slightly offended at her accusation.

Jinny gave him a sharp look. "Mhmm," she hummed. "Well, I'm not about to put myself in the kind of situations you've instigated the past few times we've met so 'coincidentally'. So, show me your orders or leave me be."

"Situations?" he feigned innocence. "Just what kind of situations are we talking about?"

The girl blushed at the warrior's question. She didn't want to have to describe them.

"You know, you're beautiful when you blush," he said quietly, smiling.

The heat in her cheeks intensified and spread to her entire face and down her neck. She did her very best to control her anger. "Orders. Now," she bit out.

"Alright, alright," he chuckled, eyes smiling. "As you wish, m'lady." Slowly, he reached into the forward saddle bag and pulled out a folded paper. He handed it to her, looking at her far hand. "Are you going to put that away?" he asked.

The question caught her off guard and she looked at her hand. She hadn't realized that she'd drawn the wand from her side. She put it away grudgingly and snatched the orders out of his hand. Jin'ala gave him an annoyed look and fiercely scrutinized the paper. Resentfully, she handed the papers back to him. "Fine," she sighed. "Let's go." Turning her hawkstrider, Jin'ala set out, heading south.

They traveled in silence until they reached the border that separated Eversong Wood from Ghostlands. Jinny cringed when the man behind her broke the peacefulness. "Miss Jinny, I was . . . ."

"Please stop calling me that," she cut him off.

He smirked, the laugh playing at the corner of his mouth. "Well, then, how would you like me to address you?"

She thought for a moment. "You may call me Jin'ala."

"Jin'ala," he rolled her name around on his tongue. Darreek shook his head. "That just won't do."

"Excuse me?"

He shrugged. "I don't want to call you Jin'ala."

"What?" She paused. "Well, what do you want to call me?"

"Miss Jinny."

"Not that," she said immediately.

"Hrmm . . ." He thought for a minute, looking her up and down, his eyes sparkling playfully. "Mage," he finally said.

She sighed. At least it wasn't better than him using her name. "Fine. What do you want?"

"Huh?" he looked at her curiously. "Oh, yeah. Mage," he looked for her reaction, "I was wondering if you'd like to stop for some lunch?"

Her stomach grumbled at the thought of food, but Jinny didn't want him to think she was weak, so she sighed and said, "I suppose we should stop for our mounts to rest and get some water." She stopped Myndee and they dismounted.

With their animals secure, he'd taken off most of his armor and relaxed, leaning back on his elbows. She shook her head, looking at the pile of armor. "You really needed to wear all that?" she asked, motioning to the jumbled mess of plate and mail.

He chuckled but shrugged. "Well, mage, you never know what could be lurking right around the corner." He paused, his gaze shifting around the clearing and across the river.

Jinny laughed. "In this area?" she scoffed. "I could take on any of the creatures here and in Ghostlands without so much as a stitch of armor on."

Darreek smiled devilishly at her.

"What?"

"I'm just imagining you without a stitch of armor on," he said, the fel in his eyes growing darker. She blushed and turned away, she hadn't thought about who she was talking to. She couldn't understand why it seemed he went out of his way to make her blush. Jinny glanced at him sideways only to realize that he was still staring at her. She quickly looked away again and took a bite of her bread. "You know, you're beautiful when you blush," he said.

The mage's cheeks flushed even hotter and she was glad she wasn't facing him. She nodded, "Mhmm. You've said that once already today."

"Have I?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. "I hadn't realized you were keeping track." The warrior chuckled softly.

She rolled her eyes. "I wasn't."

"Really?"

He was right behind her. Startled, she jumped to her feet, drawing the wand from its place on her belt. Anger darkened her eyes. "What are you doing?"

"Whoa, whoa, there," he said, trying to calm her. "Settle down."

Jinny took a calming breath and lowered her wand, but didn't put it away. She backed up, trying to restore her personal space. "Why must you do that?" she demanded.

The smirk on his lips dangerously close to a full smile. "Do what?" he asked, taking a few steps closer to her. Darreek looked directly into her eyes.

The mage blushed and tried to take another step back, but found the rough, sharp bark of the tree instead. "Constantly . . . constantly . . . ." she trailed off, not able to find the words. She hated how her mental capacity depreciated in direct response to his physical proximity. He intimidated her, and that wasn't usually an easy task.

"Constantly do what?" The devilish grin playing in the darkening fel of his eyes. His movement was so swift that she could barely see him. Almost instantly, he was directly in front of her, his hand on her wrist, preventing her from raising her wand. His voice was dangerously dark and thick. The warrior's eyes, now as dark green as the leaves on the trees, bore into hers. He spoke quietly. "Constantly do . . . this?" He closed the mere inches between them and snaked her arm behind her back, drawing their bodies tightly together.

Jinny gasped at the sudden contact. The heat from the body pressed so closely to hers seeping through both of their clothes. The color that splashed across her cheeks growing darker. She tried pulling away, but he held her tighter, pinning her between himself and the tree. He pressed into her.

"Let me go!" she struggled against him.

The warrior chuckled, the sound reverberating into her bosom as it rumbled low in his chest. The devilish grin on his lips causing the heat in her cheeks to spread down her neck. "Let you go?" he said, so low it was almost a growl. "You really want me to let you go?" he whispered in her ear, flicking his tongue across the lobe. He chuckled again at the sudden intake of air that she sucked through her teeth. Darreek raised his head to look into her eyes.

They were closed. Her soft, full lips moving as though she were speaking. Suddenly, her eyes flew open. The glowed more turquoise than he'd remembered.

"Nuhn!" he grunted as the arcane energy shoved him back.

The mage slouched slightly against the tree, somewhat drained from the spell, her breasts heaving with her angry breath. Once again, her wand was at the ready. She held her hands in front of her, pulling the very moisture from the air and freezing it into an arcane infused ball that floated between her delicate fingers. The spell was spoken under her breath and she shoved the frost bolt.

He anticipated her move and dodged the attack.

"Whoa! Whoa!" he yelled, holding his hands up in supplication.

Her eyes glowed a dangerously dark and angry fel-green. "Do not," she emphasized with a shake of her wand, "touch me again!" She was visibly trembling with the anger that burned so fiercely within her. "You were sent to protect me on my quest, not assault me in your lust!" She seemed to become more calm the more she spoke. Especially, since it seemed as though he were content staying right where he was.

His expression changed. The amused look in his eyes returning. "Assault you?" he laughed. "Mage, if I would have assaulted you," his eyes darkened as he thought of the implications, "you wouldn't have been able to do anything but submit." He grinned evilly.

She looked at him suspiciously. "So, what exactly was that, then?" she accused him.

"That?" He shrugged. "That was fun."

"Fun?" she asked incredulously. "That was fun?"

He snickered.

"A child! A mere child, not even out of his pubescent years!" she fumed. "They send me a child for protection!"

The warrior scoffed. "I, a child?" He looked her up and down. "You look young enough to be nursed yet!"

Anger flared like coals in her eyes. She straightened, stretching her full five-foot-five frame. "I happen to be an Arcane mage of the 57th level, with a secondary talent in Frost Magic. I am very accomplished. You'd do well to remember that, warrior. That is, if you can keep the brain between your legs in check."

"'The brains between my legs'?" He stared at her. The laugh started as a low chuckle that couldn't decide if it wanted to form or not. Once decided, it slowly turned into a full bodied laugh that brightened his entire face. He laughed until his eye watered. The laugh was slowly dissipating when he finally caught her gaze. Darreek cleared his throat and became serious. "Alright, mage. As you wish."

"You are not to come near me unless it is for my protection, understand?" she demanded, annoyed by his laughter.

He nodded, the smile still playing at his lips.

"You are not to touch me unless it is life or death."

Again, he nodded.

"Good. Otherwise, I will pop back to the magisters and you will have to deal with them and your Commanding Officers instead of just a tiny, angry mage. Got it?" The fel of her eyes roiled and glowed brightly.

"Yes, mage," he said, inclining his head.

Jin'ala regarded him for a moment, then said, "Fine. Let's go."

Once they were mounted, she looked back at him again. "I want to make it to Thalassian Pass by sundown if we can."

He nodded. "Yes, mage."

She looked at him for a moment longer. This was a sudden change of attitude, but the humor was still there in his eyes. She shrugged mentally and turned her hawkstrider towards the road again and headed south across the river.