Hello to all the people! It's Black Moon Falling, and I'd like to first of all apologize for this being late. And of course, I'd like to thank One of the Fallen for her amazing work and support! This is amazing because of you!
&&Hey everyone! This is One of the Fallen. This story would never have been completed without the wonderful help of my super amazing co-author Black Moon Falling! So thanks so much, because your an amazing writer!!! Also, thanks for all of the reviews, we love them (:

Warning: Some things in this story are changed around a bit, just so that we can make a few things fit into the story better.

*

She lay on her side, legs bent and unmoving. Her arms were on either side of her, helplessly pinned to the ground by the sheer force of gravity, a power she had always underestimated before this.

She struggled to breath, barely controlling the unsteady air that came in and out of her mouth.

The world around her was astounding- snowy blankets covering the needles of the pine trees, consuming everything in view. Perfectly formed crystals of ice fell from the sky lightly, like they only fell in movies or novels.

She seemed perfectly in place with the scene.

There was something picturesque about the way she lay- her blood had stained the snow surrounding her helpless body in an almost natural way, the snow greedily drinking in the liquid and in turn blossoming a bright red.

The snow accumulated in her blond hair, paling it with its un-melting whiteness. Her lips were almost blue with the cold, but she didn't notice.

Yes, the scene was beautiful, in its own tragic way. The struggle between life and death, as well as the beauty of nature all portrayed in one portrait.

A way off from her was a bag, caught between the trees and rocks. The howling wind was all the noise that entered the opening.

Mere feet away from her barrier of bloodied snow lay a multi-colored, transparent wall of sorts, and as snow fell on one side, on its opposite flowers blossomed as if in spring.

She took one more struggle for air before closing her lips and closing her eyes, surrendering to the gash across her side.

And she felt death creep in, without the energy to fight it off.

*

Five hours earlier

*

Kendra and the rest of the gang started hiking through the mountains where a helicopter dropped them off. She looked around at the bright blue sky and its' white clouds, almost indistinguishable against the snow-topped mountain peaks. The distraction spell that was placed upon the dragon sanctuary must have been pretty strong because she noticed that Gavin and everyone else had started to fall a little behind even though Kendra could hardly see the sparkling golden gate against the mountainous backdrop.

"K-kendra," a voice spoke.

"Yeah?" she asked, not needing to turn around to see who had spoken. She would know that voice anywhere.

"Could you s-s-slow down j-just a b-b-bit? The s-spell is sort of s-s-trong and i-it's getting harder to k-keep up with y-you," Gavin whispered faintly.

Kendra looked over at him.

"I suppose I could, but Dougan wants us to be there in..." Kendra glanced down at Gavin's watch, "about an hour, and it'll probably take us a little longer than that to get there."

Gavin nodded solemnly.

"I wish that I w-w-was as strong m-m-minded as y-you, Kendra," Gavin said to her.

Kendra could feel the heat rushing to her face as a faint smile played on her lips.

"I'm not as 'strong-minded' as you think, Gavin," she replied.

Gavin just shook his head.

"That's what you think," he replied.

Kendra had the feeling that she didn't know what he was talking about and decided not to ask what he meant because she knew that she probably wasn't going to get a straight answer out of him.

The two walked in silence for a while before Kendra felt Gavin stiffen beside her.

She turned to him.

"Is something wrong?"

Without giving her an answer, Gavin collapsed onto his knees, soon followed by Warren and the other members of their company. Kendra glanced around, worried.

"What's wrong?" she shouted, panic rising in her voice.

With obvious effort, Warren faced her.

"The distractor spell is...it's too strong," he whispered.

Kendra quickly scavenged through their belongings, searching for the knapsack.

There!

She quickly grabbed it and without a second thought, she shoved Gavin inside.

"Hey! What's the big idea?" his small voice came from somewhere inside.

Kendra shook off his question and forced the others into the knapsack, knowing that none of them would be able to resist the spell.

The sooner we get there, the better chance we'll have of beating the Sphinx, Kendra though optimistically.

She picked up the knapsack and started to walk a little faster.

Even though it should have been almost noon, the sky seemed to be getting darker around her. She could hear her ragged breathing and her footsteps against the soft snow, but she also heard something else.

Something that shouldn't have been there.

She heard a branch snap in half no far from where she was.

Kendra whirled around, but she saw nothing.

She let our a breath of relief.

Get control over yourself! It's just nerves, she convinced herself.

But that was when she started to hear the breath of another person. No -- another creature.

Kendra scanned the area around her, seeing only the tall, green pine trees and the white landscape under a white snowfall. She heard another branch snap behind her and she whirled around again, this time coming face to face with what she could only describe as a wild beast.

The last thing she knew, the knapsack containing all of her companions was being ripped from her grasp and a piercing shriek that must have been hers shattering the silence of the mountain air.

And then the world was dark.

*

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