Disclaimer: I don't own Winx Club.

Bats swept from the trees, screeching and chirping, their prehensile tongues peeked from their nozzle-like mouths to taste her magic. Musa stumbled back, her hands came up to shield her face even as she felt the energy start to leave her. It was like being slowly dehydrated. Her skin felt tight, her head began to pound and her vision blurred.

'Musa!'

Riven shoved her behind him as he scanned the area, sword pointed at the perceived threat. The neon glow cast from the blade glinted off the black eyes of the bats as they hovered. They studied the two of them, some taking to the branches of nearby trees as they assessed the situation, chattering angrily with their tongues darting out to taste the magic on the air. Despite being lethal to faeries, the bats weren't natural predators.

Musa pressed closer to Riven, to keep herself upright as her knees began to shake and in order to yank him back if he sought to take them on solo.

'Riven, we need to get out of here,' she croaked out, mouth dry. She curled her fingers into his cloak and bit back the urge to smother her face in it, to breathe in his scent and escape from the world for just a few minutes. They were in danger; she couldn't afford to be thinking silly girlish things.

'Run, I'll hold them off.'

Musa shook her head. 'No.'

That wouldn't to work. She couldn't leave Riven while Darcy might still be around, not while he was weakened by spells. Hopefully they were still tainted by Darcy's black magic. Perhaps that was why the bats were holding back.

More shrieks came from above them and she looked up to see the flutters of dark shapes against the gloomy darkness of the mesh of tree limbs and canopy. Dragon save them, the bats were everywhere. Even if she ran off and left Riven to have his sword and shield destroyed so that she could find the others, Musa knew that the bats would track her down.

'Musa, run!' Riven ordered, backing up.

Her temper flared and she leaned into him, pressing her lips to his ear. 'Above us there are bats. Even if I could run, they would only follow me. You can't distract them all.'

'I can try.'

'Won't you get hurt?'

'I don't have magic. I won't die if they attack.'

She didn't like the way he said that, as if it was some failing on her part. 'Riven…' she trailed off with a sigh, backing up.

Maybe he was right; maybe she should run. If she could find the girls, they could do something to stop the bats but she just couldn't bring herself to leave him. She shivered, cold fingers trailing down her skin. Goosebumps thrilled down her arms and over her legs, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end.

She wanted to scan for the girls; she wanted to know they were close. She heard no explosions and the air lacked the charge of magic that attracted the bats, so either the Trix had escaped or both parties had managed to avoid each other.

Riven began to back them up as his head twisted to look around them, then his free hand reached back and directed her off to the side. Frowning, she stumbled back into the shrubbery, wild grass brushed at her legs. Her hand touched bark and she steadied herself, frowning at Riven. What was he doing?

'Get down!'

She frowned. 'What?'

'Don't argue!' he snapped over his shoulder, summoning his shield. 'Get into that hole.'

She looked behind her. There was a tree with a hole near the base, hollowed into the trunk and earth. 'You want me to hide? Riven, you can't fight them on your own.'

His shoulders tensed, his jaw clenching but he only backed into her, making her inch closer to the hole. Oh but this grated. She, a fairy, a member of the Winx Club was climbing into a hole to hide while Riven stood over her. His shield lifted as he hunched down. He was blocking off all access to her.

Like a call to arms, the bats swooped down, sucking at the energy radiating from his shield. Musa heard his growls from behind as the bats bombarded him. His swinging attacks were ineffective.

'You can't kill them,' she mumbled. 'They're endangered, remember?'

'Why do you think I've been missing? If they had some sense of self-preservation my blade zipping past them warns them to keep away. Except, kind of like anything with wings, they think they're invincible.'

Subtle, she thought with a roll of her eyes. Her wings weren't feeling very invincible, quite the opposite as they were forced to bend around her in the small space.

He huffed out a breath, as he crouched further behind the shield, making himself as small a target as possible. It didn't quite work with the bats, they were siphoning from the aura of the shield itself and with a significant crack that barked through the stale air, she realized the shield was beginning to break.

She shifted in the cramp space, the dirt that caked itself to her knees crumbled off; cracked wood scraped her skin and tugged on her hair. She knelt up behind Riven and sticking her hands through his elbows, she threw up a shield.

'What are you doing?' he hissed, glowering at her out of her corner of his eye. 'Pull that down. You'll only exhaust yourself.'

It was like having her blood pulled through her skin – a stinging sensation that crept through her making her wince in pain. She hid her face from him, sucking in a breath through her teeth. It hurt. Another tremble racked her body and she curled her arms around her body. The shield began to weaken. Riven muttered a stream of curses.

'We need… to work as a team,' she told him, holding herself tighter and closing her eyes. She felt light headed as hot needles lanced her skin.

'Drop your shield Musa, you're losing too much.'

She shook her head but that required so much energy. She dropped it to Riven's back and took comfort in the solidness of his muscles. He could take the weight of it for a while. 'It's just a level one shield, it's not that much magic.'

More bats swept down, their chirping and screeching clawed at her nerves.

'Musa,' her name was ground through his teeth. 'Drop your shield. I won't stand by and see you hurt.'

He was crouching, but she didn't think he'd appreciate her pointing that out. 'Why is it so hard for you to allow me to help? I can protect us as well. If we work together we'll be able to hold them off for longer.'

'I'm a Specialist.'

She hated that response. A Specialist allowed him to train in all manner of things but it didn't mean he would be a soldier; it just meant that he would be skilled in battle. Sky was a Specialist but he would become a ruler who might not ever see a battlefield, Brandon might become Sky's advisor or Stella's consort, neither might mean being a warrior. Helia was a Specialist and a pacifist, while Timmy was a technical genius.

'I plan to join the Elite,' he added gruffly.

Oh well, that was different. The Elite were inter-dimensional warriors of a sort. Bloom compared them to the Earth equivalent of the Navy Seals or Black Ops or something. Musa didn't know how accurate that was but she knew that to be an Elite was a tough, hard life that required the best of the best. Getting in was next to impossible and the training was wickedly difficult. She considered him for a moment; then chuffed out a laugh.

'I can see that.'

'Yeah, whatever. I probably won't get in.' He shrugged her off and hunched his shoulders, watching the bats whip themselves into a frenzy. Their screams and dive-bombs became wilder and they snapped at each other during near collisions. They landed on her shield, their greedy tongues lapping at her magic.

Musa winced but focused on Riven's wounded expression. Silly boy had no idea of his worth and he probably wouldn't appreciate her softer feelings towards him. 'I meant it. I can see you doing that. I know you're the best student in your year Riven, I know you're good at strategy, and I have seen you battle; the only thing that ever hinders you is your temper. When you get that under control, I know you'll succeed.'

He cast her a quick doubtful glance, his lips all but pouting. Musa made her expression as earnest as possible and his expression melted back into that gruff expression she recognized. Closing her eyes, she rested against him. He stiffened but she couldn't muster the energy to sit up on her own, not even to appease him. She couldn't lift her hand to push the hair from her face that tickled her nose.

'Muse –' He leaned back into her, his foot tapping the ground. She laid her face on his shoulder, the cloak soft under her cheek.

'Sorry,' she muttered, 'I need to drop my shield.' She was so tired now. It would be so easy to sleep.

'Yes. Damnit, drop it!'

She sucked her magic back inside; the bats shrieked, whirling in a cacophony of flaps. She knew they would drop down on them now and Riven's shield wouldn't hold for the attack. Curling up, Musa cast away her Enchantix form and focused on the kernel of her power, winding all her magic around it. She would keep it safely tucked inside her, so that maybe the bats would leave them alone – leave Riven alone.

'Musa, just stay awake. I'm not your pillow.'

She wanted to smile but she was cold and it hurt to keep her eyes open.

'Musa stop leaning on me and open your eyes.'

She nuzzled into him. His neck was fragrant and warm under her nose, soft despite the hard training he went through every day. She wondered how disgusted he'd be if she kissed him there, maybe bit it just once to see if he tasted as good as he smelled. She doubted he'd be impressed. He would probably leap up and snarl at her. She was taking advantage of his protective instinct. She was no better than Darcy really but she couldn't find it in her to care.

The bats swarmed Riven's shield, greedily sucking the magic from it while Riven squashed her back into the hovel, trying to keep them from getting anymore of Musa. She had to admire him but she was scared for him as well. She opened her palm to throw up another shield but Riven's fingers twisted around hers. They were hard and rough, crushingly painful but then they softened as he made a sound.

'Stop trying to shield us, you'll end up killing yourself.'

She wanted to smile at his gruff words. Her hair spilled over her shoulders, down his arms as she nuzzled closer to his warmth. It was getting so cold and the temptation to just sleep was so inviting.

'Musa!'

'I can't believe they separated me from Brandon,' Stella grumbled. 'It's unfair. It's not as if Brandon and I share a lot of quality time. He has his work; I have my classes and extra curricular activities. You really would have thought we could have done this little quest together… Flora, are you listening to me?'

Flora smiled faintly as she brushed a cobweb out of their path. Should Stella have seen it, their idea of stealth would have been lost. 'Yes, sweetie, I'm listening; but you have to understand, you can't be with Brandon twenty-four-seven.'

'Not twenty-four-seven, just a few hours here and there. This mission for instance, we could have easily paired up but no, Riven mixes us all up and then he flounces off with Musa.'

Flora didn't think Riven did much flouncing but she suppressed her giggle at the absurdity of the idea. Stella could be amusing when she was irked, but she could easily cross the line to being irritating. Flora decided that Sky had been quite clever when he directed Stella to accompany her in the quest to find Riven and Musa. Aisha would have snapped at her, Brandon and she probably wouldn't have gotten too far. Timmy was scared of Stella, Tecna and Stella would have split up, Bloom and Stella… well they probably would have done quite well but neither would separate from their boyfriends and Bloom was needed to find Icy.

'Well Riven likes Musa,' Flora stated simply, as her feet picked up a distant tapping vibrating through the ground. She wondered if Stella could feel it but figured that it was too faint to be picked up by the Light Fairy.

She glanced over her shoulder as Stella sidled up to her, blonde brows wiggling. 'Like likes her?'

Flora blinked. Well no, that wasn't what she had been inferring. 'I don't…' She bit her lip and tilted her head, considering the question seriously. Riven did gravitate to Musa's side quite a lot during their expeditions but he usually just said something derogatory about fairies and then Musa's temper would flare up and Aisha would launch into a grand debate on whatever a Specialist could do, a fairy could do better. But that was Riven, he was ornery and he wouldn't straight out announce that he liked a girl because that would be admitting a weakness and painting a target on his back.

She folded her arms and tapped her fingertips against her upper arm in time to the beat under her feet. 'Sweetie, if he does, it's none of our business. Don't say anything to Musa because you will only get her hopes up.'

Stella sighed loudly. 'Fine. I just want you girls to be as blissfully happy as I am with my snookums. Well, that's a tall order, but I would settle for either of you to be well kissed.'

Flora didn't point out that Aisha didn't have a boyfriend either. Stella had a few issues with the new girl to their group. 'Stella, can you feel that?'

Immediately on alert, the amber-eyed fairy scanned their dark surroundings, her glowing hands coming up to cast a defensive shield if needed.

'A rhythm.'

'Like a beat? Like Musa? Is she in battle? Does she need us?'

'No, it's too repetitive and doesn't feel like magic. I can feel it vibrating through the ground, like someone's urgently tapping it. Da-da-da da da-da-da. Over and over.'

'A code?' Stella wondered, crouching down and tentatively touching her fingers to the dark, cold earth. 'I don't feel anything but it could be a code. Brandon has classes in crapology.'

Flora opened her mouth to to correct the term to Cryptology but decided against it. 'Could he translate?'

'Well I'd phone him but he could be fighting Icy, and I don't want to distract him. Here's an idea, what other Specialist do we know that does the same classes but won't be fighting witches?'

Flora sucked in a breath, then released it; her stomach began to flutter. 'Well you should phone that person and find out what the code means.'

Stella's smile turned sly. 'But I can't hear it, so you should phone.'

Right, she could do this. She was an Enchantix fairy and Musa and Riven's lives could be in danger. She could do this. She was strong and female and – 'Really, he knows you better.'

Stella didn't buy it; instead she carefully found herself a nice rock that was not covered in moss and hoisted herself upon it, pulling out a nail file. It was pretty declarative; she could sit there all day until Flora phoned Helia. With her hands shaking, Flora pulled out her communicator and searched through her contacts for Helia. As the call began to connect, she started to pace, her heart thumped hard against her ribs as her body quivered. How should she greet him? Should she be friendly and casual, or professional and aloof? She didn't want to be overly familiar with him but she also didn't want him to think she was being snobby.

Helia's projection formed in green light in front of her, looking slightly distracted as he fiddled with his notes and blinked at her. 'Flora? What a pleasant surprise.'

'Ah – ' she broke off and swallowed, flushing darkly at how her composure failed her every time she came face to face with the new Specialist. She squeezed her eyes shut and breathed in deep. 'Helia, I was wondering if you could do me a favour?'

'Hi Helia.'

Flora obligingly turned her communicator to show Princess Stella sitting on her little perch waving a manicured hand.

'Hello Stella, how are you?'

'Good, good.'

She hadn't been 'good, good' two minutes ago, Flora mused with a faint smile.

'Now what can I do for you, Flora?'

'I'm hearing a rhythm being tapped out, a da-da-da da da-da-da. Do you know any codes that sound like that?'

Helia frowned. 'Where are you, exactly?'

'The heart of the Black Mud Swamp.' And just the mention of the cold dead place made her shiver. She disliked how quiet it was. There was no warmth, no vivid life and it took more effort than it should for her to use her nature powers. She knew Stella was feeling the same problem, being a light fairy in such a dark space was crippling.

'It's an SOS signal. A code for help.'

Flora exchanged a glance with Stella. 'Riven,' she decided. It had to be.

Stella eased off the rock. 'Can you follow it?'

Flora nodded as she turned her attention back to Helia. 'Thank you for your help.'

'You know how you could thank him,' Stella blurted out. 'You could go on a –'

Flora snapped the communicator shut and whirled to glare at Stella. She held up a hand, reining in her temper as she struggled to put the communicator away.

'We need to find Riven and Musa.'

Stella's earlier amusement died as she motioned for Flora to lead the way.

To Be Continued