So... *drumroll* Chapter 5! yaaay! Sorry bout the long wait, my writer's block (perhaps I shall call it Chloe... Personal joke, after all, writer's blocks are annoying, stupid and obnoxious...) decided to have a party in my brain. I made sure I had an extra-long chapter for you guys, so you'd better like it, or else... Just kidding... maybe :P.

Just one thing; before I can continue, I NEED OC's! DESPERATELY! I already have one (thanks pigeon), but I'm always needing more :P Now...

ON TO THE CHAPTER

Zia:

Zia stared at the black folds of her tent, trying to focus not her sight, but her hearing. The tent was one of many others, dotted with campfires and guarded by many sentries. The Enderian army was fierce and well-trained, yet with alcohol and the joy of victory, many let loose their tongue this night. This wasn't a rare occurrence and Zia had learnt to tune it out, as she had done now, until she heard mention of her name. She turned all her attention to the men speaking, but the wind made it hard to hear more than fragments.

"Two of them... ran away. One... her master. Dead, yes."

Another, "can we trust... mage? Zia could easily... away. I understand they... to her cause."

A third voiced his opinion, "I don't trust... queen... acting strangely... senseless."

The wind strengthened, muting them entirely, and when it calmed their voices were hushed. Zia's brow tightened in anger and frustration as she tried to figure it out. One idea brought itself to her attention, but it was almost too ridiculous to consider. Almost...

What if there were others like her? Mages? And they had run away. The thought swirled around Zia's head until she felt that there was no way it could be untrue. And if they had the courage to run, so would she.

As she made her choice, excitement ran through her like crackling electricity. She was to be free of the endless guilt, the dead who haunted her dreams. Perhaps even the white-eyed man would leave. Shivers ran up Zia's spine as she thought of him. Almost every night she dreamt of him, whispering in her ear, the white glow where his eyes should have been never leaving her. He spoke of realms she'd only heard of, the Aether and Nether, heaven and hell. Maybe if she left the Ender army, he'd leave her be.

Hours later, sometime past midnight.

The fires had been doused long ago, yet only now did Zia dare venture out. The clock lying by her makeshift bed told her the moon had just passed its peak. She had to leave now, else she wouldn't be far enough out of the End's reach when the sun rose. She poked her head out of the tent and looked across the camp to the edge, where the occasional flicker of torches were the only sign of the many sentries patrolling the boundaries. Zia didn't let the sentries ruin her plan- she'd already thought of a way to distract them, and hide her absence for a few hours.

Zia carefully placed the small black backpack with some extra supplies silently on her back, then just as silently, circled around the tent until she could see the forest. She focused all her will on the nearest tree, willing it to burst into flames. It was harder to use her power at such a distance, but she was practiced in this. The fire quickly blossomed into life, spreading across the trees. Yells of alarm reached her ear, and she ducked back inside her tent, frozen as running footsteps past by.

Once she was sure that all the awake men were working on removing the fire, she left the tent and sprinted the other way, never looking back.

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Asriel:

Morning

Asriel sighed in distaste at the old, dry bread, but forced herself to eat it -she'd need the energy. She had woken an hour ago, minutes before the sun had touched the eastern horizon. Once dressed, she stole some food from the cooking-tents, a collection of tents near the east of the camp dedicated to keeping the army fed. The food, some flint and steel, a knife and a clock she piled into a pouch-like bag, wrapped in her cloak to hid it till night. Asriel fervently hoped no one would find it there during the day, though it should be safe, the attack on the city was only yesterday, and usually the army would rest afterwards -even if Asriel had done most the work.

Thinking about yesterday made Asriel's eyes misty, and she told herself firmly, I'm leaving so that people won't suffer like that again. I'm doing this for them!

The water-mage battled with her mind for a few minutes -though for her, it seemed far longer- when yells erupted just outside her tent. Asriel tumbled back into reality and had just enough time to grab the dagger strapped to her left ankle when the entrance was pulled aside and three large men hurried in. One stood by the entrance, guarding, while the others came at her from either side. They seemed wary of her, and moved slowly, allowing her time to think.

Why were they attacking her? Did they know she was going to run? How could they, she hadn't even spoken a word about it. Had they guessed she would? They were Enderian, so it couldn't be a raid on the camp. Asriel had to assume that somehow they thought she was going to leave.

Therefore it was even more important that she left.

Asriel tightened her grip on the dagger. She ducked a blow from one of the men, then stabbed his hand, causing yelps of pain. She dodged around the other man, grabbed her cloak-bundle and fled, sprinting through the camp. Just outside her tent was a puddle of water, which she formed into separate fist-sized orbs as hard as glass, casting them at anyone who tried to stop her. She held out her dagger, stabbing at any piece of flesh in her reach. She constantly willed her legs to move faster as she raced between tents and men, begging for the line of trees which would keep her safe. The Enderians wouldn't risk looking for her in the forest. They never stopped talking about the dangers of the overworld; the haunting zombies, who burned in the sun but could shelter under trees and the archer-skeletons, with their uncanny accuracy. And then there were the creepers, suicidal living-bombs, with skin like the forest they live in, invisible and unnoticed until they killed. Asriel ignored the dangers, all she wanted was to be free.

Soon the event she had been begging for happened; trees surrounded her, and the chasing footsteps died away. She continued running, never stopping.

Eventually her stomach ached with hunger, and the forest threatened to end. Asriel stopped at a small clearing and pulled herself onto a low hanging branch at the edge. She nibbled on some chicken, and rested, knowing that she was safe, at last.

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Eria:

The forest was a blur to Eria's eyes as she ran past, her feet muffled by the layer of rotting leaves and vegetation. Her breath came in muffled gasps. Her legs begged to stop, burning as they were. Eria forced herself onwards until her entire body shuddered with weariness. She sat down on a small rock by a clearing, focusing on slowing her breathing and heart rate.

It was only when her breathing resembled that of someone sleeping did Eria realise she was being watched. She looked across the clearing and froze. There, on a low branch stood a girl the same age as Eria, her black hair shrouding her pale eyes. Her skin was almost white, and Eria's heart began to thud again. Enderian!

Eria thrust out with her mind, pulling apart the earth around the tree the Enderian sat on, willing it to fall. The girl's eyes widened with shock, and she leapt off the tree. Eria scowled and was about to begin on the earth under her feet, when a cry broke out of her lips.

"No! Wait! I'm not Enderian! Look!" She pulled aside her hair, showing blue eyes, something Eria had never seen on anyone born in the End; only black or purple. She held her attack but stayed tense and wary. The girl stepped forward, hands spread out in a sign of peace.

"I'm Asriel. I escaped from a troop of Enderians this morning. I hate them and don't want to be part of anything they're doing."

Eria, suspicious yet intrigued, replied, "my name is Eria. I ran away during an Enderian ambush. I feel the same as you."

Neither of the girls realized the other had been fighting for the Enderians, but neither of them would've cared if they did.

Asriel glanced over to the tree sat had sat upon minutes ago. It's roots were bare, the dirt around it shaken and scattered. "You can control the earth?"

"Since I was born" Eria murmured, her eyes staring at the ground, waiting to be proclaimed 'freak' or 'witch'. A rushing of water caused her to look up and see a small stream of water twisting around Asriel's hand. She smiled shyly at Eria and let the water fall onto the ground.

"I knew there were others" whispered Asriel, "else they wouldn't have tried to attack me."

At Eria's puzzled look, Asriel began the story of how she'd attacked the city on command of the Ender army, and how, as she had planned to leave, she'd been attacked. In turn, Eria told her story. The two were so absorbed in the telling, they didn't notice a shadowy figure standing behind the tree.

"Who's there?" The feminine voice was strong and commanding, yet shaky, as though the owner of that voice had been running a long time. Eria's head shot up, and she reached for the earth.

"No." Murmured Asriel, and she stepped forward. "Our names are Asriel and Eria. We both escaped from Ender camps. Her voice was calm and pleasant and Eria stared in shock at Asriel, cursing herself for attacking without thinking.

As Asriel spoke, the girl stepped forward. She had hair such a bright shade of red that at first Eria thought it was on fire. Her skin was darkly tanned, as though she'd spent days in the sun. Her dark brown eyes flickered from Asriel and Eria's face, noting the hopefulness and hostility in each. In her hands was a beautiful bow, made of birch wood. Held ready was an arrow, it's tip dancing with pink and orange flame.

"You control fire" Asriel whispered, her eyes passing from the girl's eyes to her bow.

"And you control water." The girl laughed at Asriel's shocked face. "I was here a while, 'tis not my fault you're blind! I'm Zia, by the way."

Zia's laughter caused Eria's mouth to twitch, and she released the tension set into her shoulders. "How'd you get here?" she inquired, and Zia Lowered her bow and sat down. There she told of her escape, and the sky began to darken.

Asriel was first to notice the day ending. She let a cry from her lips. Zia and Eria both looked up. Hurriedly, Eria formed crude walls of earth to keep them safe from the nighttime monsters. Asriel gathered a pile of sticks and branches, which Zia lit and the three sat around. Praying that nothing would attack, they each lay down and slept.

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The land around Zia was red and bloody. The stone beneath her was steaming hot, and a pinkish red color. Behind her was a lake of lava, stretching forth like an ocean. Before her was a fortress of a deep purple stone, populated by what seemed to be walking half-dead pigs. Above was a strange creature like a massive jellyfish, it's body simply a head with legs or tentacles dangling underneath. Within arms reach stood a man she'd seemed many times in her dreams. Yet this time he was different. He seemed to be having a real conversation with her.

"Did you find the others? The three other mages?" He asked, his white eye sockets never leaving her eyes.

"Mages? You mean Eria and Asriel? But that's only two..." She trailed off as he frowned.

"Listen to me carefully, it's important you do as I say." Zia frowned. How could she know to trust him? The man seemed to notice her doubt.

"You have a right to distrust me, I know that, even if you don't remember why. If you want to know, you have to find the other mage, and come to me, in the Nether. You will wake soon, and I cannot tell you more in your dreams. Find the other mage and come to the Nether...

His voice drifted like a whispering breeze as Zia's eyes fluttered open. Eria still lay opposite her, but Asriel was staring into the fire, nibbling on a piece of bread. Zia propped herself up onto an elbow.

"Asriel, do you know of a place called the Nether?" Asriel stared at Zia.

"Why do you ask?"

Not knowing of a way around telling without suspicion, Zia described her dream. Asriel's eyes widened as she described the white-eyed man, but she said nothing.

"The Nether is the opposite of the Aether. While the Aether is a place of peace and beauty, the Nether is a place of death and devastation. Lava lies more abundantly than water in the Overworld, and creatures of indescribable horror roam the land.

Zia shuddered. "We have to go there." She expected cries of protests, or claims that she was mad. Instead Asriel nodded somberly.

"I had the same dream."

~Do you like my line break? SWORDS!~ Finally! Finally! They meet! Skye will come in the next chapter or so, and they have a mission! Okay, so I've only got the major bits planned out, so I can't even hint at what is to happen... Somehow I reached 4 pages with this, double the average of the four other chapters... Do not expect same size chapters always... or do.. I don't know, it's 1am for god's sake! R&R. Questions and OC's wanted! Next chapter should also introduce Pigeon's OC, hopefully I get her right! Okay, going to stop now, before I begin writing gibberish...djjs sjhs...