The Book of Atlantis

by Lady-Ravenhawk

Fourteen years of peace have blessed the earth. But all good things must come to an end. A vengeful enemy reappears, shaking the Z-Warriors to their core when one of their own ends up murdered. Hellbent on revenge, Goten sets out with his nephew & Piccolo's daughter to track down the killer with nothing but a book to guide them on the most frightening adventure of their lives.

20. The Rainbow Mountains

Faelon's eyes went wide as he stepped through the portal and found himself staring at the most spectacular land formation he'd ever seen. The tall mountains were striped with varying colors of red, green, blue, and yellow. He understood now why they were called the Rainbow Mountains. It nearly stole his breath away. His kind rarely ventured out of their woodland realm, and he had never seen such a sight before. Even in the waning light, he could see how beautiful the mountains were. For a split second, he thought to himself that he would have to bring Enelya to this wondrous place and the next moment, his heart broke all over again as he quickly realized that was not a possibility now.

He looked over at the others as they emerged from the portal. While it had been the early hours of the morning when they'd left the elven forest, here in China it was just slightly past sunset. He wondered to himself how Nadia had been traveling with them all this time unless they always traveled by night. It was the only way they could have managed it, he figured. He lightly leapt up onto an overhanging cliff and looked out across the landscape, searching for a sign of their quarry. But even his eyes failed him. "So how do you suggest we find them now that we're here? I cannot see a trace of them anywhere."

Paige looked around, the sight was beyond beautiful, but they didn't come there to admire the scenery. "I thought your magickal item was supposed to be able to help track them," she said before she closed her eyes, listening to their surroundings. "We can't be too far behind them. Weren't they just here?"

Faelon looked to the Arulin'holm again, but the surface was once again smooth silver. A frown pulled at his lips and he tucked it into the pocket of his dark green pants. "It's not picking up whatever magickal energy they've left behind." He huffed in irritation. "Well we're not going to find them by just standing here. Let's get moving."

Goten smirked. "West," he said, feeling Orion's energy. "I can sense them," he explained at Faelon's questioning look. "It's a rookie mistake. He's all jacked up with adrenaline from their escape and hasn't masked his power level. Let's hurry before we lose them." He rolled his eyes as Phoenix rose into the air, preparing to fly straight for them. He grabbed his nephew by the ankle and yanked him back to the ground. "We have to keep our energy low, too! They'll sense us coming if we use our energy to fly. We're going to have to run and try to sneak up on them again."

Phoenix rolled his eyes and dropped his power level. "I declare bullshit," he stated, his hands on his hips. "I say we rush them and take their fucking heads off." He gave an exaggerated sigh at the looks the others gave him. "Fine. FINE. We'll do it the boring way then," he grumbled and threw his hands in the air.

Faelon looked to Goten. "Lead the way," he said, and ran after Goten as he and Paige took off with an impressive speed across the rugged terrain. He was impressed with their speed and agility; never before had he met another being who could move quite like himself. He kept pace with them, moving gracefully over the mountainous landscape. The pain of losing his sister still burned in his heart, but he pushed the feelings aside for the moment. He would grieve for her once this was over and done with.

His attention was drawn to the vampire who ran by his side. His kind had had little dealing with hers in the past, but they were aware of each other as was typical of most non-human beings on the planet. It was how they existed without interference from the humans, without being bothered by their petty wars and trivial sufferings. They existed within their own worlds and kept to themselves. But something about the vampire beside him struck him. He had to admit that she was beautiful with her dark hair and piercing eyes, the way she moved lithely over the rocks as they ran. He mentally shook himself and kept silent. Now was not the time for pleasantries or idle conversation. They had a job to do.

Nadia looked over their path as they ran. Their footsteps seemed too loud and echoed off of the rainbow colored rocks as they chased after their prey. She didn't like it. Something was off in the air. The trees were starting to grow sparse, giving way to more rock, more of the mountain. She could see one looming ahead of them. There was a cool wind in the air and it smelled like a cave. "They are up to something."

"What do you mean?" Phoenix asked as they ran. He glanced over at her, curious as to what she might know about the situation that he didn't. She hadn't steered them wrong yet and she understood these places better than anyone else. "Do you think it's a trap?"

Goten slowed to a stop at the mouth of a huge cave in the side of the brilliantly colored mountain. "They're in there," he breathed, not yet willing to step into the dark cavern. He could feel their energy lurking somewhere inside the cave. He looked over his shoulder at his companions. The cave was already dark and the sky was growing even darker overhead. "What do we do?" he asked. He really wasn't looking forward to going back under ground. The last time had ended badly for him with his arm crushed and nearly amputated. "This was almost too easy."

Paige crouched near the opening of the cave, listening so hard with her ears, they began to twitch. She could barely hear some words in an ancient language being spoken. "She's casting a spell. I can't make it out. It's not for tea and cookies, I'd be willing to bet," she said bitterly as the ground beneath their feet began to shake. Rocks around them began to slide down the mountain. "The fuck?!"

Goten grabbed Paige by the arms and backed them up away from the mouth of the cave, his eyes wide as a loud, low rumbling filled the air. "What the hell?" he breathed a second before a huge burst of flame exploded through the darkness and he just barely threw them onto the ground to avoid it. He could hear the others shout in surprise and he rolled onto his back, staring up in shock as Antonia and Orion ran out of the cave behind the burst of flame. "What have you done now?!" he roared at them an instant before they vanished before his eyes. He didn't have time to give them much consideration, however, before his attention was drawn to the dragging, scraping sound that issued from the cave. "Oh… holy… SHIT!" he cried as the huge, golden Chinese dragon emerged, its red eyes glowing in the darkness.

Nadia felt her eyes widen and involuntarily took a step back. The long body of the serpent wound through the air, it's mouth smoking as it gazed down at them with eyes so red they reminded her of freshly spilt blood. "Oh gods," she breathed before she glanced to the side as the belly of the beast started to glow red again as it prepared to fire upon them again. She turned and grabbed Faelon's arm and shouted over her shoulder at the rest of her group, "Run you fools! We have to destroy them! They are controlling it!"

Phoenix dropped his pack and shot up into the air, the blue energy gathering in his hands. His heart raced in his chest as the dragon emerged fully from the cave. He'd never seen anything like it before in his life, save for maybe the old statue of Shenron. But that little statue had nothing on this monster. "KA-ME-HA-ME-HAAA!" he screamed and fired the blast at the dragon's face. He smirked as the blast exploded and the creature roared in fury. "Eat that, bitch," he spat at it, but the next second he went pale as the smoke cleared and the dragon turned its fiery gaze upon him, its face unscathed.

Goten slapped a hand to his face. "Yeah, just piss it off!" he shouted angrily at his nephew. He ducked as the tail of the dragon swung his direction. Just the wind off of it nearly knocked him over. With a roar, he transformed, his aura lighting the area around him. He didn't know how they were supposed to handle this one. "Antonia and Orion are already gone!" he shouted to Nadia as he also took to the air. "How do we kill this thing?!"

Paige growled, trying to remember the story that Papaw had told her about the time when they had fought dragons. "Don't suppose your dad taught you how to use a spirit bomb?" she called out to Goten as she powered up and dodged another attack. Her head whipped around to see Antonia laughing and singing. Her eyes narrowed a moment before they widened. "Stay alert, I can't see Orion!"

Goten's head whipped around and he spotted Antonia. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind. He'd seen them disappear! Obviously it was a rouse. A belch of flame narrowly missed him, drawing his attention back to the dragon. A spirit bomb? "Paige, you're brilliant! I fucking love you!" he shouted to her as he raised his arms over his head, hovering in the air above the dragon. "Keep it distracted as long as you can! It takes a minute to charge this thing!" He'd only ever done it in practice before and it wasn't an easy attack to master. He calmed his mind as he called out to the world, asking for the energy necessary to create the attack.

Faelon drew his bow, aiming for the dragon's head. He loosed the arrow with a smirk, watching as it flew straight and true, but the projectile merely shattered on the scales of the great beast. He spat a curse word in his native tongue as it turned its attention upon him and Nadia. Smoke rose in tendrils from its snout, its eyes glowing red. He was amazed at the abilities displayed by Nadia's companions, the strange energy they manipulated to attack the dragon, their ability to fly. But he had no time to dwell on such a strange turn of events. The dragon was stalking towards them, its claws leaving deep gouge marks in the stone…

He felt his heart nearly stop as with a great lunge and much more speed than a beast that size should be capable of, the dragon opened its jaws in an attempt to sink its fangs into Nadia. Without thought or concern for himself, Faelon rushed forward and tackled the vampire, knocking her out of harm's way as Paige hit the dragon with a huge energy blast. The dragon screamed in fury and turned towards the Namek who hovered high in the air.

The wind was knocked from Faelon's lungs as he laid over Nadia and he gasped for air as he looked down on her. "My apologies," he said, his face going hot at their rather compromising position, and he quickly got to his feet. He offered her a hand to stand and pulled her to her feet. He nearly winced at how cold her hand was in his; he hadn't expected that. He met her eyes and quickly released her hand, his face feeling hot again.

Nadia was still in shock from seeing the great beast. It moved faster than any cobra when in striking range. She bared her fangs at the creature before she looked to Faelon, who very well saved her life. She inclined her head at him, his skin hot on her own as he pulled her to stand. It was rare she met someone who actually went out of their way to help her or her kind. Her eyes flickered to Goten who was gathering his attack. She didn't know what he was doing, but he was starting to glow with some sort of energy, a magick of the very earth itself. She looked to Faelon. "Let's buy him some time," she said as she vanished into the trees.

"Special beam cannon!" Paige roared and fired her attack, manipulating it when the slinky serpent dodged it. "Oh no you don't, bitch," she growled as she bent the attack in an attempt to hit it, but to no avail. Her attack just entwined around the body as she continued to miss her mark until the dragon fired at her and she broke her focus, flinging herself out of the way.

Goten's heart skipped a beat when the dragon spat fire at Paige and he almost abandoned the spirit bomb to help her, but he smirked with pride the next moment as she managed to dodge. His arms began to tremble with the effort of holding up all that energy as more balls of tiny light drifted towards it, adding to its power. "Almost!" he called out, concentrating as hard as he could on forming the attack above his head.

Phoenix saw Antonia again and flew at her, but she vanished from sight just before he could swing on her. "Dammit!" he hissed and looked around for her again. He didn't know which way to look, whether to be more concerned about her or the dragon. He turned and fired at the dragon again, which had started to head for the sparse trees along the edge of the mountain. Again, his blast glanced off the gold-colored scales, but this time, the dragon didn't turn towards him. It seemed determined to pursue something else. He narrowed his eyes as he saw two figures running through the trees and the dragon reared back, drawing a long breath… "Look out!" he screamed at them.

Faelon heard Phoenix's warning, but it wasn't needed. He was very much aware of how close the dragon was to himself and Nadia. He continued to run as fast as his long legs could carry him, hearing the beast drawing breath behind him. The serpent-like dragon drew its neck back before it flung its head forward, expelling a huge burst of the most intense magickal flame Faelon had ever felt, but he grabbed Nadia by the arm and flung both of them sideways behind a large bolder, shielding them from the fire. He closed his eyes and held her to him, feeling the heat from the flames on his skin. It stung and made his lungs burn as the air around them seemed to fill with its heat. He dared to crack his eyes open and his heart sank as the trees erupted in flames. He barely dared to breathe as he heard the dragon stalk forward, seemingly searching for their carcasses, and he held a finger to his lips to silence Nadia as he again drew his bow.

The dragon crawled along the ground, sniffing at the air, turning its head this way and that. Its pupils dilated as it rounded the bolder and it spotted them in their hiding spot. But before it could react, Faelon loosed his arrow and pierced the dragon's eye, causing it to scream out in pain and rage.

"RUN!" he bellowed at Nadia and gave her a shove away from the dragon, wondering if he had helped or only enraged the beast further.

Nadia couldn't help the smirk that appeared on her face, she thought maybe it was because she was a little delirious. She had to be if she agreed to offer herself up as bait while they waited for Goten to prepare his attack. "How long does that blasted thing take to charge up?!" she shouted at no one in particular, just to show her frustration.

Paige grinned as Faelon's arrow hit true to its mark, half blinding the beast. It enraged it further, causing it to thrash around even more and it began to level the forest around itself in its agony. Its massive claws raked at its own face in an attempt to remove the offending arrow. She cursed as she saw Antonia appear again, only to have her vanish again as she narrowly missed being hit by the great tail of the flailing beast. "Come on, Goten! Any time would be good!"

Goten looked up at the massive orb of energy hovering just above his palms. He hoped it would be big enough to destroy the dragon. "GET OUT OF THE WAY!" he screamed and waited only a moment before he heaved the spirit bomb at the dragon who still was stomping and screaming, thrashing about as it tried to dislodge the arrow in its eye.

Phoenix flew higher as the blast hit the dragon and he shielded his eyes as a blinding light filled the space around them. He blinked harshly a moment later and lowered his arms, a wicked grin splitting his face. "Fuck yeah, Goten!" he cried and whooped in victory. He wrinkled his nose a second later as he slowly lowered himself to the ground. "Ewwwww," he sneered and looked over at his uncle who had collapsed on the ground. "Man, couldn't you have disintegrated the whole thing? That's disgusting."

Goten groaned as he lifted his head and looked at the remains of the dragon. The front half of it was completely gone, but the rest, well… It was a rather gory sight to see. Green-tinged blood pooled around the remaining part of the dragon's body as a heavy scent filled the air. He let his head fall back against the rock, feeling tired and weak. He barely raised his hand long enough to flip Phoenix off before he gave a chuckle and dropped his arm again.

Nadia skidded to a stop, staring at the great beast or what remained of it at least. She felt a moment of grief for the creature. "It was most likely minding its own business, slumbering away before those two murderers came along and woke it up. Probably even controlled it to some extent." She growled and looked around, there was no sign of them. She looked to the others, "I don't suppose you can sense them?"

Paige landed next to Goten, looking at the beast before she closed her eyes as she tried to feel out Orion's energy, but it was gone. "Dammit, they always do this. They attack, then vanish. Though, I think summoning a thing like this…" she trailed off and shook her head. "They can't be far. If I can't sense Orion's energy it means that they are on foot and Antonia won't have the magick to teleport them somewhere else."

Faelon frowned at the trees as they cracked and fell, consumed by the magickal flame. He muttered a small prayer for them before he turned away. He couldn't bear to watch it. He followed Nadia over to the others. Goten looked exhausted, sweating and panting for breath as he laid there. Whatever that attack was must have worn him out. If he was honest, he was feeling a little worn himself. "We can travel no further tonight," he said, looking over at Nadia. Her skin looked red and angry, little blisters on the side of her face and neck. He quickly made up his mind. "Take him and find somewhere away from this place to make camp. I'll join you shortly," he said to Paige. He turned to Nadia and looked at her more fully. She seemed to be concentrating as if trying to heal herself. "Dragonfire is not so easy to heal," he said softly. "Save your strength. I know of a way to heal it. Go with them. I'll return with a poultice that will ease your burns." He gave her a little smile before he turned and headed out towards some trees he could see in the distance.

Goten let Paige and Phoenix help him up, his body aching and his energy low. "I'm alright," he said at their concerned looks. "Just tired. I need to practice that attack more." Thank the gods his father had taught him how to create the spirit bomb. And it would seem that Paige remembered the stories their parents told, of the night they fought their own dragons and Goku had destroyed Nyx and her enchanted dragon with a spirit bomb. He kept an arm around her shoulders and held her to his side as they walked around the carnage of the dragon remains. "So lucky to have you on our side," he chuckled and pressed a kiss to her temple.

Paige laughed, "You're damn right you are lucky to have me here with you." She winked at him. "Maybe I should start charging," she said as she hugged him tightly as they walked away from the corpse of the dragon. She could still smell the smoke that seemed to permeate their clothes and Nadia looked as though she had gotten a pretty nasty attack. Paige thought she could heal a little bit of it, but her energy was low as well as she had given most of her magick to fuel Goten's attack.

Phoenix walked beside Nadia, casting a glance at her skin. He winced at how painful it looked. Yet she remained stoic, staring straight ahead as they crossed the land, heading for a large outcropping of rock that would shield them from the sun for the day once it rose. Always before when she'd been injured, Nadia had been able to heal herself rather quickly. He remembered watching in fascination the first time it happened, her wound closing itself and the skin smoothing over as if it had never happened. But that was not the case now. "Are you okay?" he asked in concern.

Nadia spared a look to Phoenix and nodded her head, "I shall be fine. It is like Faelon said, dragonfire is rather tricky to heal. It is among the most ancient and powerful of all magicks known to reside on earth. If I were a normal human, I imagine I would have been a charred husk. Vampires are a bit more resilient to fire though. Thank the gods," she muttered and moved to sit down gingerly under the outcrop of rock as she looked up into the sky. The full moon would be soon, perhaps tomorrow night, she guessed as she watched the silver disk creep towards the horizon.

Goten groaned as they finally reached their destination and he sat down, feeling even more tired if that were possible. He was frustrated that Antonia had escaped yet again, but wasn't surprised by it. "I'm getting sick of this," he growled as he shrugged off his pack and let Phoenix grab their worn and beaten tent. He rubbed at his forehead, feeling the weight of the journey pressing upon him again. He gave a small smile to Paige as she sat next to him and he leaned against her, not even feeling the growing hunger in his stomach. He was far too exhausted.

Paige let Goten lean against her; it was almost as if she could feel his exhaustion. It was almost palpable in the air around them. "Sleep now. You did good. If you used that against me in the tournament, I would have been toast," she teased him. "Of course, I would have knocked you out ten times over before that happened." She slipped her fingers into his hair and lightly scratched at his scalp. Paige didn't like that they had been eluded once more, but she had a feeling that it was all drawing to an end. Like her papaw said, the key was wearing down your opponent when they were stronger than you. You just had to be faster and last longer.

Faelon caught up to them a short time later, carrying a bunch of herbs in his hand. He set to work quickly, creating a paste from them as he chanted something over the mixture and worked his own sort of magick into it. He paid no mind to Phoenix who peered curiously over his shoulder as he worked. He looked at Nadia, the way her pale skin was scorched and blistered. "Here," he said gently and moved to sit in front of her, the small bowl held in one hand. "This should heal you by morning. The magick in those burns is powerful, but my people know how to heal such things. May I, milady?" He waited for her nod before he began to ever so gently spread the paste over her skin. A small smile pulled at his lips as he felt her shiver in relief beneath his touch.

The paste was cool on her fevered skin and she barely had time to bite back the moan of relief as he worked it into her wounds. It smelled pleasant, like the fields of Transylvania where they worked during the night. "That's better," she said quietly as he spread the cooling paste over every burn, leaving not one scratch untouched. "Such strange magick you wield," she murmured softly. She longed to be back at home, in Dracula's castle. She grew tired of wearing sunscreen all the time and the blinding light of the sun during the day was almost too much on her already frayed nerves.

Paige watched Faelon and Nadia with a knowing smirk and she gently nudged Goten so he could see them. She spoke to him quietly, "There has to be something more we can do for this guy. I mean, he lost his sister, the trees. Part of it is our fault." She admitted it grudgingly. If they hadn't been chasing Antonia and Orion, this might never have happened. It just solidified everything in her mind that those two needed to pay for their crimes. That if they weren't stopped, only more death would come of it. "And now he's here, trusting complete strangers."

Goten sleepily cracked open one eye and looked at the newest member of their bunch. He obviously didn't know Faelon very well, but there were things about the elf that he liked already. His respect for the forest, his ability to think quickly on his feet, his way of doing things that reminded Goten so much of his parents and the way they lived at the cabin. Now that things were calm for the moment, he was dying to get a look at Faelon's bow.

He gave Paige a curious look at the expression on her face. It was as if she could see something he could not. He shook his head and forced himself to sit up straighter, thinking about what they could possibly do for Faelon. An idea suddenly struck him and he looked much more awake. "Alice," he said almost breathlessly. "Alice can fix this." He looked over at the elf. "Hey Faelon, have you ever heard of the dragonballs?"

Faelon tore his eyes away from Nadia and raised a curious eyebrow at Goten. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about," he answered. He set the bowl aside and cleaned his fingers, thinking back, trying to remember if he'd ever heard the term before. He shook his head and looked to Goten for an explanation.

"The dragonballs are seven magickal balls that can summon the eternal dragon. He can be summoned once a year and grant two wishes," Goten explained quickly. "They vanished when Dende died because he was the last creator of the dragonballs. But now Alice, Paige's sister, is working on creating a new set. She's the guardian of the earth. Anyway, my point is, the dragon can bring people back to life as long as they haven't died before and didn't die of natural causes. After we take care of Antonia and Orion, we can ask Alice to bring your sister back!"

Faelon's heart gave an excited leap. He'd never heard of magick that could revive the dead, save for spells that could reanimate a corpse. But those were dangerous and the person was not the same as they were before they died. But the way Goten spoke, it didn't seem that was the case. "And the person revived, they shall be the same as they were before?" he asked. A smile pulled at his lips when Goten nodded. "We must return to the city, tell my father not to bury Enelya's body." He looked at Nadia, "I will need your help to navigate the portal, to return and share this news with the king."

Nadia felt her heart jump at that, she had never before heard of such a power, to revive the dead. "Such a strange bunch you lot are. Though, I daresay I have learned to expect the impossible from you all." She groaned as she stood up, her muscles aching in protest. "Let's do this before I pass out. I am rather weak from that battle. These burns have taken a lot out of me. More so than I thought they would."

Paige waved them on. "That's probably because you donated a little magick to Goten's attack to stop that dragon. Hurry before they bury the body. We will make it through this and right the wrongs that have happened to you," she said, wondering when she started sounding like her sister. "Man, I've been on this journey too long," she murmured.

Faelon got to his feet, unable to hide his excitement. "We'll be back before sunrise," he promised and looked to Nadia. "We shall make this swift. You need your rest so your body can heal." He gave the others a wave as he and Nadia headed back to the portal. Even though she was hurt and tired, Nadia kept pace with him as they hurried across the rocks, past the dragon which was really starting to smell now, and back up the side of one of the mountains. "I am indebted to you for your help," he said to Nadia as they reached the portal.

Nadia lifted her hands, wavering slightly as she used her own kind of magick to influence the portal back to the elven woods. "I think at this point we can call it even, yes?" she asked, giving him a toothy smile. "That is, if this poultice works in the morning." She gave him a wink before she shook her head and her expression grew stoic, "Let's make this fast, I do not know if I will be able to open up the portal from the other side if we dally."

Faelon gave a quick nod. "I shall return to you as quickly as possible. I just need to give the message to my father." He gave her a small smile before he stepped through the portal, vanishing from her sight.

It was only a matter of minutes before Faelon stepped back through the portal and smiled widely at Nadia. "My father is most pleased with this news. It has eased both our hearts to know we shall have my sister back." His smile faltered when Nadia wavered on her feet; he could see the exhaustion in her eyes. He grasped her shoulders, steadying her. "You have done more than your part tonight. Let me help you back to camp," he offered in a gentle tone.

Nadia was about to protest, but found as he lifted her up into his arms that she didn't have the strength to object. "Okay, well, if you really insist," she said groggily as she looked up past his shoulder to see the night sky rapidly fading and a thin sliver of fear wormed its way down her spine. "Better hurry. I forgot to reapply my sunscreen. You can't thank me when I'm a pile of ash in your hands."

Faelon ran for the camp, keeping as close to the sides of the mountains as he could, lest the little bit of daylight that peeked over the horizon hit her. He was going to need his rest as well after all this. Luckily, she was light in his arms and didn't slow him much as he ran. He fell to his knees as they reached the safety of their camp, just as the sun crept into the sky. He was out of breath, but they were safe, and he managed a weak chuckle for her as he set her down. "Not a full day has past and already this is turning out to be quite the adventure."

Nadia hissed out as she was hit by the slightest bit of sunlight and only sighed in relief when they were in the safety of shadows. "Heh, I think it's partly my fault. Stupid sun allergy," she said sarcastically before she rolled to her side. "Take me to bed, Faelon. You can have first watch," she said, giving him a look. She could appreciate someone like him. Not many would go so far out of their way to aid a vampire in the escape of sunlight.

Faelon gave a start at the way she told him to take her to bed, but relaxed the next second when he realized there was no further meaning behind her words. "Of course, milady," he answered and helped her into the tent. He gave a small nod to Paige who was laying next to a sleeping Goten before he turned back the blankets for Nadia and tucked her into her makeshift bed. "Rest well. No harm will befall any of you today," he assured her. He reached out and tucked a piece of stray hair behind her ear before he smoothed her blankets.

Paige watched him carefully for a moment, idly running her fingers through Goten's hair as she observed the exchange. Nadia fell almost instantly asleep, the burns on her arms and legs, a few on her face still covered with the poultice. It reminded her of Goten's parents, the way they lived in the woods. The stuff that Tien made whenever anyone was sick. She had the... pleasure... of having the tea he made that smelled like medicine when she had come down with a cold one winter when she was spending the night. It was effective. "You should bring Nadia and your sister by Goten's parent's place for a visit once this whole mess is over. You would like it there. Big wooded forest, quiet. Blessed."

Faelon looked over at her, a small smile on his lips. "I would like that very much," he said softly. He'd never befriended anyone outside of the elven woods, but already he could feel a pull to these people. Something in his heart warmed at the thought of counting them as friends. "It is an odd thing, to trust strangers so willingly, so suddenly," he said and looked down at Nadia as she slept. He stopped playing with her hair and stood as much as the little tent would allow. "She appointed me first watch," he said with an amused chuckle. "Get your rest, Paige. I'll watch over you all."

Author's Note: Credit for the idea of reviving the princess goes to Nancy103! You win an internet cookie. Enjoy.