The infinite vortex of silence was banished by a brilliant flash of white and sonorous crack so powerful the air trembled and the ground Emmett found his feet on sent the soundwaves traveling up through his soles. Rain poured in sheets, soaking though his clothes almost instantly. The quietness of the clouded night sky was shrouded in infinite black then replaced by looming gray heavens, thunder roiling above their heads vigorously. The heavy rain roared collectively as it hit the earth collectively.

"My shoes!" Rosalie screamed indignantly, the blonde's ponytail wet and limp along her neck and back. Her annoyance was amusing, making him grin at such a silly thing. Traveling across two realms of existence and she would be complaining about her shoes getting wet. Despite the storm the air was warm and charged. Anala's heart picked up slightly. Emmett looked down at her curiously. Her gaze stared out through the rain as it quickly drenched her hair and clothes.

"I know where we are," she murmured, voice over-layered by the sound of the downpour. Anala's eyes brightened as she smiled, still looking out. Lightning flickered soundlessly somewhere above, reflecting off her emerald irises. "I know where we are!"

The familiar terrain of the forests in Forks, Washington was no longer surrounding them. They stood in open land. Low hills and tall grass extended outwards, littered in deep green and violet shrubbery. Behind them was a small wooded area, extending only a couple miles in a crescent shape around them before it rose up, forming along a rocky bluff that rose from beyond it. In the center, was a gargantuan tree that extended at least eighty feet higher above the others, seemingly attempting to merge into the sky. Lightning flashed suddenly and illuminated the sky, a whip-crack of thunder accompanying it. Nolan was pacing backwards, towards the trees. He laughed, eyes scanning the sky. He looked at them through his damp black hair.

"Come on!" he spoke before he turned, beginning to run across the grass. Emmett felt Anala's hand slip out of his own as he moved to follow and looked back at her questioningly. She waved him forward, talking over the rain. "Go, I'll catch up!"

Emmett looked at her for a moment then nodded. Trusting Anala not to get herself lost here, Emmett turned from his mate and ran to catch up to the others. They followed after Nolan's quick form. He moved around trees effortlessly, comfortable and relaxed in what Emmett deducted was familiar territory; not seeming to even really mind the storm. He realized the other was leading them closer to the central tree that was seeming to get bigger with each step as Emmett looked at it from beyond the treetops. There was a break in the woodland and they were walking across grass to approach the base of the mighty tree. It was massive. The trunk itself was terribly remarkable. It was easily eighty-five feet wide. The enormous roots were forever buried in the deep earth, the grass and plants coexisting with them. The gray bark was knotted and aged, looking ancient and immovable. Thick branches spanned out in every direction higher up, covered in big, lush leaves. The tree itself looked nearly two hundred feet high but long, thick branches were seventy feet long at the smallest of them, which only made the sentient life look impossibly huge. It extended so high the rain didn't reach them anymore and instead streams of water poured down from the highest branches and allowed them all to simply step around the places it fell, the vast, dark leaves dripping lightly. Emmett was a large guy. He towered over many and it wasn't often he felt small (aside from when he got in trouble with Esme, of course), but in the presence of this tree he felt truly small and admittedly, strangely intimidated by it.

Emmett whistled lowly, fascinated. He began to wonder what sort of world existed in the highest of its branches, he wondered if he could pull this giant from the earth. He wouldn't have actually done it, it was way too cool to uproot for no reason but he always liked to test himself, seeing if the strength he possessed in this life had a limit. Nolan was walking around the wide trunk and they trailed behind him. He knelt in the foliage at the base of the tree and pushed aside big green undergrowth, to expose an opening in the ground. Nolan shifted then slipped through, disappearing into the hollow. Jasper followed after him, then Elias and Alice. Emmett just barely fit through the opening, and touched down on the ground. He crouched, avoiding the low ceiling. The scent of dirt was rich in the dark space and he could see the earth formed a low tunnel.

"Em, a little help?" Nolan's voice echoed softly.

"Sure thing." Emmett searched out the power that concentrated under his skin. He focused lightly, guiding it gently to his will and a moment later blue flames were dancing along his fingers before growing into orange and yellow. The soft fire light reflected off their soaked forms and on the walls. For a moment, arctic blue eyes were fixed on his hand. It was only for a few quick seconds, but it did make Emmett wonder what he had thought about. Nolan looked at them then frowned lightly.

"Where's my sister?"

"She said she'd catch up," Emmett replied.

Nolan rolled his eyes, sighing, though a small smile was tugging at his lips. "Here for less than five minutes and she's already running off."

"What is this?" Edward asked, dark copper hair no longer a disheveled mess and dripping limply on his head. He pushed a hand through it, causing it to slicken back some with the motion. Nolan turned and began to walk, stooping under the bottom of a large tree root partially exposed from the tunnel ceiling.

"Anala and I played in this area since were very little. We found this place when I fell through the opening one day." he continued to walk his form at the head of the line illuminated by the fire in Emmett's hand. "I couldn't tell you how long it's been here, nor the tree."

It made sense that they explored it. The tunnel was big enough for them to get in, but children were small enough to have no problem navigating through it. The ground began to rise, and eventually the cool packed earth began to give to rock and grey stone. The dark began to lighten to gray, light filtering in from somewhere ahead along with the taste of different air. A few moments later they were stepping out through a break in the stone and entered into the back of a cave. It was surprisingly large. The opening directly ahead opened to gray clouds and pouring rain. Emmett walked closer, seeing the view expand to the trees and beyond it, the spot they had arrived to. He realized that they were somewhere in the cliff. Even from higher up, the gigantic tree that hid the entrance to the tunnel was no less impressive. The large branches protracted like limbs and spanned over many of the trees that surrounded the immediate area around it. Past it extended the hilly grassland, occasionally spotting a tree further into the distance.

Nolan pulled off his shirt and wrung out the material. Water splashed onto the stone, darkening it. Like Anala, he had the band around his upper arm as well, marking his lineage. An intricate weaving of black tattooed his lower abdomen, trailing below the waist of his pants. He too carried the mark of a Mate. It was different than Emmett's own or Anala's, the ancient symbols entombed in an elusive illustration moving down his sternum. He turned, laying his shirt out on a rock as he looked out across the landscape. The series of markings between his shoulder blades somehow looked entirely different than the others on his body. The flow of the seemingly painted on runes beneath his flesh, the shape of the characters and overall structure diverged in comparison to any he'd ever seen. It wasn't very big, but it captured more of Emmett's attention.

That was Nolan's mark.

Ahrahn.

That patch of skin, marked in apparently ornamental black sigils, represented a source of inimitable power. It was strange to think something so complex like that was passed down through generations of people who emanated that same aura of power, the energy of it literally radiating off him.

"Where is this?" Javan asked.

"I guess you could say it's a mile maker. Beyond here is mostly field, but passed that is the Arceon."

Carlisle walked across the cave floor, studying the sky. "Is it far?"

"By flight it's only fifteen minutes maybe. On foot about two or three hours, but I doubt it'll take us that long."

"Well it certainly wasn't what I was expecting." Rosalie had taken down her hair, flipping the damp locks behind her shoulder."

Elias chuckled quietly as he and rowan sat against the wall. "You haven't even seen it."

"But that is why I brought you here. I wanted to bring Anala back, but you deserve to be here too." Nolan turned to them, expression still calm but suddenly more serious. "You all accepted complete strangers into your lives. You didn't even hesitate to help us fight against . . . well, everything. I suppose it's different for Jas and Em but none of you didn't have to." the look in his eyes deepened. "Jay, you especially had no reason to help us, let alone be with us through all these years, but you helped us more than we could ever say. So I wanted to thank you, all of you."

Esme was smiling. "Dear, you don't have to thank—"

"I do, Esme. I know it hasn't been easy since Anala and I met you. We got you into danger you could've avoided. You stood by us, became family, even though I know I wasn't exactly easy to be around after Anala died. You opened your home to us and it's my turn to return the gesture." Nolan's eyes were focused and intense, warmth making them bright. "It's really the least I can do. So thank you, truly."

In the next second, Alice and Rosalie were pouncing on Nolan, who momentarily tensed at the suddenness of their movements. They were cooing sweetly, kissing and smothering the man between them. "Aw, little brother!"

Nolan's half-hearted frown lost to his smile. "You do know I'm technically older than you both, right?"

They shushed him, continuing their affectionate assault on his person. Emmett shook his head in amused sympathy. "Should've kept your mouth shut bro. now you'll never get them off."

His sisters sent a collective glare at him. When they eventually released him, Esme was wrapping her arms around him, making Nolan chuckle as he hugged her back. She pushed back his dark hair and touched his face gently. "You're most welcome Nolan."

Nolan stepped to jasper's side and leaned against the cave wall. There was a roll of thunder and the rain continued to fall. Emmett ran a hand over his hair, causing water to fall down his neck and into his already drenched shirt. His eyes idly moved away from the world outside to look around the cave. His eyes paused as they moved across to the other side of the cave. The characters carved into the stone were letters, names. They were etched into the rock in the written form of Elgar, set vertically in a row. Emmett recognized Anala and Nolan's but the third name was unfamiliar.

Sahir.

"Who's Sahir?" he asked, turning to look at Nolan. Pale blue eyes looked past him at the wall. The look in them shifted ever so slightly. He smiled a bit, but it was thin and pasted.

"A ghost."

He didn't elaborate and Emmett didn't ask.