Murmurs woke Sting and Rogue up. The two dragon slayers had been travelling with the woman for some time now and had yet to see her face. They were currently on the outskirts of the town of Macias. It was a month away from Crocus, where Sabertooth was located and their final destination. As they quietly rose from their sleeping bags, both dragon slayers tried to understand the words Nox seemed to be sharing with a hooded man and woman.

"_Jack! What are you doing here?"

"_we came to see how you were doing, Rez. You have been gone for a long time."

"_yes! And you didn't even write to us."

"_geez, you guys could sound like you are worrying."

"_what happened, Rez?"

"_what are you talking about?"

"_everyone is talking about a hooded woman part of a dark guild that is slaughtering dark mages. What is happening?! Why are you doing this?! You were meant to only walk amongst the Men to make them see reason. Not kill everyone!" the woman had cut into their conversation for the second time, and 'Rez' felt her blood boil.

"_are you two doubting me?" the voice was cold. Deadly.

"_no we are not. All Summer is trying to say is that we are worried."

Summer? Jack? Thought the slayers. That sounds familiar... Did Nox know them?

"_go away. I have other things to do. Next time, send Audra my way. We get along best."

"_no wonder, you both have the same attitude."

The hood of the cloak shot toward the hidden woman.

"_I would suggest leaving now. Unless you want me to take some measures as to what realms you control or not..."

The menace was clear. Crystal clear. The couple disappeared into the night.

"_I hope we hear from you soon, Rezef."

She waved in a careless manner.

"_come back when you are not doubting me anymore."

.

The night was silent, and Nox relaxed into the welcoming darkness. She closed her tired eyes, and smiled when the sound of breathing came to her ears.

"_you can come out now, Sting, Rogue."

Both dragon slayers opened the flap of the tent and squeezed through.

"_so, who was that?" risked Sting.

"_Jack Frost and Summer Heath. You remember them?"

"_the names ring a bell. You might have mentioned them once or twice in the past."

"_yes Rogue. Two months ago. When we first met."

Light dawned on Sting's face.

"_the spirit chicks."

She nodded, chuckling.

"_yes, the spirits. Though you might want to refrain from calling them chicks. Jack could take offence."

"_how do you know them?"

"_I didn't tell you the whole story about them. But as time passed, men grew so powerful they became a threat to dragons. The dragons were called back to their world but some stayed behind to train humans. When the spirit of Time saw what the dragons had done, she felt sympathy for them and joined them onto the earth."

"_you mean... that the first spirit of time walked among us?"

"_yeah."

"_that's... epic!"

"_I know, right?"

"_oh, what should we call you, by the way? Because your two friends there seemed to know you by another name."

"_oh yeah, Nox isn't my birth name. It's Rezef. Rez for the friends. And I am counting you in."

She pulled her hood back.

Black hair with silver roots cascaded down her shoulders, as her black and silver eyes appeared in the moonlight. Her skin was white, and her lips were purple. Like death.

"_I didn't imagine you like that." Said Rogue.

She smiled a little, before saying.

"_I would be grateful if you guys could call me Nox when the hood is up, though. Wouldn't want people to be able to track me down."