Finian's story 2

Dugan patted the soft mouth of Finian's pony, as his brother was tightening the saddle and securing the bags of supplies. Finian had been right in his prediction, his father, the dwarf king had "requested" that his eldest son pay the Elves a visit and inquire about a peace treaty. In other word Finian was commanded to go to the elves and not come back until he had married the princess.

Finian looked at his younger brother; he wondered how much he would be changed by the time returned. At the moment they looked very much alike, both with soft brown curls that framed their faces and large brown eyes. Neither had a beard because they were of royal status. The only real difference between the brothers was their size. Dugan was still a child; he was 303 years old but had the maturity of a 6 year old human.

Smiling down on his brother Finian patted Dugan's cheek. Dugan's lip quivered, "Don't you worry I'll be back before you know it." Dugan nodded as a big wet tear formed in the corner of his eye. Shoving his hand into his pocket Dugan felt around until he found what he was looking for. "I, I made this for you." He said in a shaky voice as he presented Finian with a small stone figure. The older brother smiled gently and took the gift. It was Finian carved into stone, with his axe raised and his lips formed in the cry of battle.

"Thank you" He roughly said, is voice thick with restrained tears. Finian gently placed the figure in his pocket and got on his pony. "I'll be back" he called over his shoulder as left.

Enya's story 2

Collapsing into bed Enya drifted in and out of sleep, the skin that had been exposed to the sun felt as if it were on fire. Her head pounded behind her eyes and her stomach churned and heaved as if it had a life of its own. As she wandered in and out of consciousness she could hear the chatter of people surrounding her.

"It's the heat, and the sun, she has had too much." One of the elder healers whispered as she placed a cold cloth on Enya's head. The other healers talked among themselves as they worked to try and cool her down. Enya opened her eyes but all she saw was a blur of colors swarming with black dots. She closed her eyes again and fell into a deep sleep.

Hours later Asher strode into her tent; his face was also burnt by the sun though he lacked the symptoms Enya had. The moment the Asher entered the tent the healers went silent. Asher's face contorted with a mix of emotions upon seeing Enya. As he took two steps farther into the tent, the healers silently left and waited outside, giving him what privacy they could.

Leaning down over Enya's sleeping figure, he gently brushed damp strands of hair back from her face. The tips of his fingers touched her burning skin; looking around for a fresh damp rag he spotted a basin full of them. He drew one out then gently ran it over her reddened face and down the pale front of her neck. Softly he took one of her arms and ran the wet cloth down the length of it, across the curve of her elbow and all the way to the tips of her finger. He the repeated it with the other until the rag was nearly as hot as her burnt skin.

Placing the cloth aside he took her hand into his; sitting on the edge of her bed he whispered her name. "Enya… Enya, please wake up." He gently patted the side of her cheek trying to awaken her. She had been like this since yesterday when they had practiced so intensely. "Come on princess, just open your eyes."

Enya groaned and shifted her head away from Asher's hand. Encouraged by the movement, Asher leaned in closer, "Come one Princess, just for a little bit, it'll be good for you." He began patting her cheek a bit more roughly. Enya groaned and swatted his hand away, "Stop that" she cried in a hoarse voice. Her eye's blinked open, "Leave me alone, you tree stump." Asher laughed at her name calling, "Aw, now that's no way to be talking, I was worried you'd never wake up at the rate you were going." He had stopped patting her cheek and was getting up off of her bed. "Now how do you feel?" he asked happily, much encouraged by the fact that she had awaken.

"Like crap. Now go away." She said grumpily as she rolled over. Asher laughed again, "I told you we should have stopped, but no, you just had to keep going, Miss. Persistent. Well now look what you've done you've landed yourself right into bed. You should have listened." As Asher chastised, Enya groaned and drew that blanked up over her head trying to block out the sound of his voice. "Just leave me be." She croaked her throat felt it was covered with sand; she coughed as she tried to remove the feeling. Asher untied his skin of water from around his belt and pulled the covers away from Enya's fact, "Oh come on now let's not be a baby about it." He said more gently as he slipped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her up into a sitting position. With one arm he supported her back and with the other he lightly placed the mouth of the water skin against her lips and tipped it so that a steady flow of water trickled in to her mouth. "There" he said as he pulled the skin away, "Better?" Enya sighed and nodded. She eyes began to droop as she gave Asher a weak smile of thanks. Gently he laid her down and let her sleep.