The Shadow Lands - Work in Progress <3

[Uriel Seraphim]

<Incert shit here later>

[Uriel Seraphim]

Chapter One
Unwanted Salvation

'My throat itches', Faith thought to herself as she scratched at the outside of the uncomfortable rigid leather mask. From just under her nose down to the very tops of her breast were clad with a thick unmovable cover. It tensed harder whenever she swallowed, and yet, despite her best efforts, it never seemed to fully relax.

'Try not to think about it child, it will only plague you more if you do.' Myrna's calm voice whispered through her mind. Faith frowned and scratched harder at the uncomfortable creation. But it was useless. The material would not give and the outside of Faith's throat remained itchy.

'I know that!' She glanced over at her two sisters who were sitting on the other side of the carriage with Kiva; the blue witch between them was sitting exactly opposite to Faith. At least she did not have to cover her eyes with an itchy cloth or a heavy lock of her hair as Joy did, or fill her ears with thick cotton and cover them with metal cuffs like Glory did. By far, Faith had gotten the best deal. At least she could take her mask off when she needed to eat or drink. Her sisters were not allowed such a luxury. Joy would change blindfolds each morning, and Glory would take off the ear cuffs and cotton when she bathed so that Myrna could clean them, but beyond that they always wore their masks.

'You are lucky dear one, but don't forget that you as well suffer a mask you only remove for small amounts of time. You are denied the ability to express yourself, they are not. Remember your own sufferings child, and let them fuel your strength.' Faith rolled her eye and stared out at the passing scenery through the window of the carriage. She understood how necessary it was for Myrna to know her thoughts, and indeed for Sheila, her own personal guardian, to know her feelings at all times; just as Glory had to understand as well. Despite its necessity, it still annoyed her at times. It was as if she had no privacy.

Faith sighed mentally and sagged to rest her head on Myrna's left shoulder. The Elf smiled at her charge's sister and kissed the top of her head.  'I wish there was another way young one, but you know there is not.'

'I know,' thought faith, 'but it's nice to dream isn't it?'

'It is indeed my child, it is indeed.'

"Tell me," Joy said in her sweet, sing-song voice, "where are we going exactly? We've been traveling for days, and I feel strange not knowing where our destination might be."

Kiva lifted the thin blue cloak's hood from her head and let it slip away from her fingers, revealing her face in an extremely dramatic manner. The truth was that it was not likely her intention, but it was hard not to stare at a Shard, let alone one from the Hulame Nip`isu Hekilo! They were truly a sight to behold.

Joy had never seen Kiva's face, but she had heard Sheila describe it many times and had even asked Myrna to send her a mental image or two. Smooth hairless blue skin covered her body, freckled with lighter spots formed in perfect circles that only lost their shape when close to one another. Like bubbles rising from water, they competed with those around them to reach the surface first.

Her eyes, so sensitive to natural light and normally hidden from view would glisten like pure onyx when she so chose to show them. She would blink in long slow movements, weighed down by her impossibly thick eye lashes, the only hair that grew on her body. Her lips had a strange metallic gleam to them and began to shine as if catching the light when she spoke, despite the lack of paint they carried. And soft, gentle features like that of a young mother; showed no compassion in their gaze, nor hate, or love for that matter... it was as if her soul was void of all emotion. Much like her voice; so solid that it, in itself, held a great pressing weight no man, nor woman or child could ever deny.

But Kiva's essence could never be described in words alone. The way her lips moved when she spoke, or the way she could freeze you to the core with a single glance was only the beginning of the impression she left with you. Her life essence filled the carriage the way clouds would fill the sky during a storm. And Joy would forever subconsciously feed off of that energy, her parasitical ways making no sense to her, even as Kiva explained its necessity.

The sparkling blue pendant around her neck glistened and shone a strange star like glow. It had done that a lot lately, as all the girls had surely noticed. Well, all spare Joy. "We are traveling to The Fallen Mountains, there is a temple there, and perhaps the last place we will ever be welcomed to stay in this world." Kiva's words sent chills down Faith's spine. She pulled away from Myrna's side and recoiled into herself.

'Poor, Joy. At least Sheila doesn't hate me,' Faith thought to herself. 'Are you whispering to Glory?' she asked.

'Of course, sweet child, she is my charge,' the gentle voice whispered through her mind, the voice was so soft, so familiar that she couldn't help but love its gentle tone, its loving caress. 'I would not have one of you ignorant while in my care. Your powers are strongest when you are all together, and for you to truly be as one my dear, you must first be on equal footing. A knowledgeable scholar is hardly able to be of equal mind with the likes of an ignorant peasant child, so it is with your sisters and you.'

'I know, you've told me that before... I guess I just worry about her. I may not be able to speak my mind, but I would prefer not to speak than not to hear. Just as I would prefer my plight to that of Joy's... there are so many beauties the two have been robbed of. Is it wrong for me to pity them, Myrna?' Faith asked.

The elf smiled at the young girl. Her endless ethical lessons had not been in vain; this silent angel was starting to understand. 'No, my girl. Pity simply means you can understand and sympathize. And for you, my dear, I believe it means something else as well. You see not only your own short coming, but those of the people around you, and yet you still care more for your sisters than yourself, where as others would be preoccupied with their own plight. It is a beautiful gift you give them young one, even if they will never know of its existence.'

Faith didn't know what to make of that. She would hate for someone to pity her. She had no delusions about herself, and Faith knew that someone who pitied her would consider her weak. Her silence was no weakness, but merely a precaution to help not only herself, but those around her. A necessary precaution for those fools who pitied her, to ensure they would not become eternal slaves, or worse; her dinner.

'They so freely speak their minds; it is only your inability to do so that they would pity. They associate not being able to speak with a lack of free will. The one gift all gods bestow on their waking children.'

'Well they're wrong,' Faith thought stubbornly, 'I have plenty of free will!'

'I know dear one, I know. But count their pity as ignorance if it helps. They make assumptions because they cannot do otherwise. It is a condition for those with free will to question all that is. Perhaps being close to the monks will open you to that my child. For these monks strive not only to be close to their chosen lord, but to understand their innermost workings.'

"But I don't understand why you won't tell us more! I've asked you where we are going a million times! I know where it is! But why?" Joy's angered voice broke through the elf's gentle words and drew Faith's attention, "Why the Fallen Mountains? Why must we travel there?"

"You have no need to know yet." The blue visitor said calmly. Joy crossed her arms and frowned, unconsciously pressing away from the cold creature. 'But that's not fair!' Faith thought.

"Who are you to decide what we should and should not know? Is it not our lives you are playing with? We have a right to know where we are being taken and what you plan to do with us!" Faith agreed wholeheartedly.

Myrna stretched out her pale hand to Joy and rested it upon her knee. "Faith agrees with you Joy, as does Glory." Joy squeezed her hand in thanks for the support, but still, she couldn't help the twinge of sadness that engulfed her as Myrna's mothering hand slipped away. Myrna was not hers to hold, or to be loved by, and that thought saddened her. She had no one to do such a thing for her, and she truly believed she never would.

'But you are wrong Joy, both Sheila and I love you dearly.' The Elf's eyes were soft as they gazed at the poor crumpled girl. It hurt her to see so much sadness in a girl identical to her own charge, a girl so much like Glory. It hurt to see someone she loved in such a state of depression. But what hurt the most was the girl's ignorance to the love that surrounded her.  'And your sisters hold more love for you than any I have ever felt before. Never believe you are unloved child, for you are encircled by it every day,' she laughed quietly to herself, 'and the one most beautiful thing about love, my child, is that it never disappears. It is bruised and torn, but it can only grow. We will always adore you my child, never doubt that it grows more and more each day within our hearts, for doubt is love's greatest enemy.'

A small tear leaked from Joy's golden eyes and soaked the black blindfold covering them. 'Thank you Myrna,' she thought, her heart swelling in her chest so much so that she thought it may very well explode.

"The girls are right, Kiva. They deserve to know what will happen when we arrive at the Fallen Mountain," the Elf said with conviction, "We have no right to keep their future from them; if anything, and it will only encourage disobedience in them. We should at least prepare them for what they will soon face, my friend. It is pointless to keep them ignorant."

Kiva glanced at the elf, considering her words. Myrna was the only one that seemed to be able to look Kiva in the eyes without wavering. Perhaps it was because the Elves had known of the Hulame Nip`isu Hekilo since the beginning, or perhaps it was simply because she felt no hatred towards a woman without emotion as so many seemed to feel these days. Either way, it mattered not to Kiva.

"They need not know yet, Elf, and I will insist you keep them 'in the dark' as you say, for now at least. If they are to hear of their future I believe it will send them into a state of panic. They have never met men before, if they are told anything they must be told to be quiet and be cautious. They may be monks, but they are still made of flesh and blood. We will be guarding more than just their tongues while at the temple, I fear."

Sheila chimed in. Sheila, like Kiva, only seemed to speak when necessary to the other guardians. But like Myrna, Faith's guardian would speak openly and freely to the girls, for fear of their emotional condition. "If we let them enter the temple in their condition, without even so much as a warning, they will be overwhelmed. I for one will not put my charge under unnecessary stress, mental, emotional, or physical." Angry eyes flickered to look at the blue monstrosity. "You may be heartless, but I am not. Practicality is not always practical."

"Every word from your mouth is absurdity. How do you think they will fare once you have told them? How will they feel once they spend every moment of their waking time worrying about what is to come? Think of how hard it is playing on your mind Sheila. Is that what you wish for the girls? Practicality may not always be a gentle path, but it is always practical." She lifted the soft blue cloak's hood from around her shoulders and let it drape over her face, covering her eyes completely "We will speak of this no further." Her words were final, as was everything she seemed to say, but today, Joy would not accept her dominance.

[Uriel Seraphim]

"No! You do not decide my fate for me!" a moment flicked briefly through Joy's mind in which she considered removing her blindfold and seeking out her future in a way only her sisters and she could do. But the thought disappeared as soon as it arrived, a thing both Myrna and Sheila were grateful for.

"I will tell my charge what awaits her Kiva; there is nothing you can do to stop me. And I believe Sheila will do the same for Faith. If you wish to treat your charge as if her opinion does not matter I will assume you also think the same of yourself, and will take it upon myself to tell her. It is your choice Kiva, what shall it be?"

"Your idiocy will be the end of me," she muttered quietly. "But I suppose it cannot be helped. Those of your kind rarely see beyond your own noses. I should be grateful their innocence had lasted this long," she sighed, "Tell them what you will; it seems my better judgment will forever be overruled as long as this idiotic idea of free will exists."

Both guardians ignored the snide comment and smiled at their charges. "We will warn you now, what we are about to tell you will not be pleasant," Sheila's warm husky voice was quiet as she spoke, as if afraid the words would attract danger. "But we agree you have a right to know what awaits you in the months to come." Sheila's brows furrowed as she thought over how on earth she could possibly break the news to such wonderful girls. Faith rested her hand on top of Shelia's and smiled at her.

"She wants you to know they won't hold anything against us," Myrna said with a wistful kind of happiness, "They love us too much."

"Indeed we do." Joy agreed with a smile. "It's not your fault we are the way we are." Myrna smiled.

"Nor is it yours, Joy. It is a gift, not a plague, you carry my girls. Never begrudge who you are." Joy and Faith smiled at Myrna. But with every passing word that was whispered through Glory's mind the anger inside of her grew. 'What does the Elf know of self loathing? How could she ever understand what it is like to be so excluded?'

'Because I can feel what you feel and I can hear what you're thinking.' Myrna's voice was angry as she whispered, that subtle hint of tension in her tone creating the smallest of tells. 'Do not believe me ignorant of your life, Glory. You're my charge; it is my duty to understand you.'

"Get out of my head!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. Glory pressed her back against the side of the carriage and lifted her legs onto the seat before hugging them tightly to her chest. Faith watched in wonder as her once dark brown hair flared a violent red as her anger and frustration bubbled to an extraordinary height. It was a skill she had yet to master, and a trait neither Joy nor Glory seemed to realize they possessed.

Just leave me alone, she whispered as the tears began to fall. 'You may be able to feel my pain Myrna, but you can escape from it and you don't have to face it as a reality. It's not you that's hurting Myrna, it's me, it's always me.'

Myrna released a heavy sigh and looked at Sheila with the bleakest of smiles. "If only you could speak to her my friend." She looked back at the girl in time to see Kiva uncomfortably twitching next to the blubbering child. Kiva had never understood the girls. But that was not her position here. She was a guide and overall a protector, nothing more. But the girls needed more than guidance. They needed to be loved and understood. "She will no longer listen to me Sheila; Glory is convinced I will never understand her troubles. It is hard for her to understand my position when she can barely understand her own."

"You can only lead the horse to water Myrna; you can never force them to drink. But after a while the thirst proves too strong to resist, and they give in." she reached across Faith and gave Myrna's hand a friendly squeeze. "Show her your love Myrna, and in time, the temptation of such a gift will be too great to ignore. She will accept the truth one day my friend, but I fear that day may be a very long way away. You cannot force her to listen, but you can at least speak the words." Myrna nodded solemnly.

"You are wise for one of your age, Sheila. I thank you for your guidance."

"I treasure your thanks."

Something about the guardian's tones made Faith think there was something more to the words than what she had heard. They made the air about the carriage change, age, and grow heavy; almost as if the words were connected to something greater... as if...

'The words we just spoke have been shared between Empyre's and Elves for generations, you are right to think such things youngling. As it is usually our emotions that give words meaning, these words have a soul of their own. It is like visiting history for a brief moment.'   Myrna sighed happily.  'Had you been any other child, I would be surprised you even noticed. How did you feel as we spoke?'   She asked.

'The energy of the carriage changed. It got old, really old. And everything seemed heavy, like when you're sick and tired,' the young girl whispered with her mind, 'is there something you need to tell me Myrna? Why doesn't Joy or Glory feel like this? Why can't they feel what I feel?'

The elf smiled and linked an arm around her shoulders before pulling Faith tightly against her side. 'I fear each of you is much like the triplets of my homelands, you are connected, one spirit divided into three identical bodies. And yet each of you is so different, some days I doubt you came from similar planets, let alone born from the same womb.' Faith searched the elves eyes for some kind of comfort and Myrna gladly gave it.  'It is nothing to worry over my child; your sisters are battling similar problems as we speak.'

"As we were saying," the Elf began, but a quick outburst from Glory silenced her completely.

"Stop the carriage!" Glory screamed. None of the guardians missed a beat. They jumped into action the second the words left her rosy pink lips.

Shelia's mouth opened to reveal a set of terrifying fangs extending where her incisors should have been; she ripped open her cloak as her long thin boney fingers turned into the black talon like claws of a bird. And her long golden blonde hair curled into tight locks as her beautiful sea blue eyes began to glow with a fiery shade of crimson.

Kiva produced a pair of identical close range swords that seemed to materialize right before the ladies eyes. The cloak hood dropped away to reveal Kiva's menacing face. The two guardians looked at each other and hissed, revealing yet another physical adaptation of the triplets Guardians. Three rows of frighteningly sharp shark like teeth had extended within Kiva's mouth and were now bared for all, but Joy, to see.

'Where is the danger my children?'  Myrna whispered to all three girls, the seething rage not lost on any of them. They took her question as silent permission and all watched as Joy removed her blindfold. If nothing else, Faith had always envied the color Joy's eyes would turn as her sister began searching. Myrna had said it was a trait all the sisters held, the changing, but there was something about the way Joy looked with those insanely beautiful metallic blue eyes that made her seem uniquely beautiful.

Joy let the blindfold slide away from her eyes and blinked at the scarily bring light illuminating the carriage. True, it was night and there was little light from the moon that would pass through such thick clouds that flew overhead, but little light was still lighter than Joy was use to. But it was not the light that scared Joy.

It was the figures. The floating mist that formed shapes in her vision. They floated in a strangely beautiful manner; it was as if they were dancing, even here in this cramped little carriage she saw them move like fluid flickering flames. One figure stood out more than the others, a tall, thin, looming figure of a man with eyes and lips, but little else, frowned. His thoughts were shattered. It felt like more of a jumble of emotions than anything purely literate. Worry, fears, danger, all emotions the figure chose to share with her. Danger. Danger and blood. She let the figure feel her frustration and fear. He moved towards her, like rolling smoke on the vast glossy lakes of their homeland, and in a rush he entered her body.

A gasp caught in Joy's throat as the spirit filled her, his smoky form soaking through her skin and knitting with her shrouded soul. She felt his heart beat run in time with hers as the blood in her veins grew warmer and the skin of her hands, now felt callous. No doubt she would look no different to anyone else. But the bond this spirit now shared with her made her feel as if they were one and the same person. She glanced down at her hands to see his ghostly hand overlapping hers by at least a good three inches and his chin would have sat right atop her head. She had done this once before with a mirror. The spirits were strange creatures, never quite able to sustain a form unless connected to another living being. But there was no mirror before her, only the angry gaze of her sister and the waiting eyes of three guardians.

Despite what Myrna whispered, despite what she had seen Glory do, Joy could never deny the sense of peace she felt when she became one with another spirit. In times such as this when she slipped from her body and ventured to the other realms she felt at home, alive almost and most certainly she knew it was what she was born to do.

A strange glow over came her when she did such things, the kind of glow she had been robbed of since Myrna and the others had found her. That glow was happiness. The strange tingly warmth she was once able to find in everything was now limited to this briefly beautiful moment.

"Take me to the danger," she whispered, "show me what you fear."

Joy gasped as he ripped her waking soul from her body and carried her with him outside. It was not a painful feeling, as a matter of fact, the gasp was a gasp of sheer pleasure. She felt light and carefree, like a feather floating in the breeze. A warm tingling engulfed her as she left her body behind, only the smallest of connections between the two entities left, and ventured outside the carriage.

They floated through the darkness, his warm now solid hand engulfing hers as he led her just behind his smoky body, and stopped as the impending danger came into view.

Eight dogs born of rotting flesh stalked the ground and started to bark, as if they knew they were drawing ever closer to their target. They yipped and growled ugly sounds until the largest of the dogs let out a mighty howl. The others were instantly silenced.

A man astride a mighty horse came into view and quickly caught up with the foul smelling dogs. His pitch black cloak flared out as he jumped from the horses back and landed gracefully on the ground. He marched over to the dogs and bent down beside the largest black male.

"What is it boy? Do you smell them?" His voice held a deep melodic quality to it that instantly provoked something inside of Joy. She had heard that voice before. The man holding her hand tugged at it, drawing the young girl's attention to him.

Again, the figure could not speak, but its feelings were obvious. Fear was strong in its mind and the need to leave was urgent.

"Yes, we should leave." The man clad in black looked up and for a minute, Joy was convinced he was looking straight at her. He let the cloak hood fall back to reveal a young man's face. His smooth tanned skin and unshaved cheeks gave him the illusion of having had a hard life, but the skin was still too firm for him to have been over thirty. Then again, men that came after Joy and her sisters rarely ever lived longer than a few days. The Guardians made sure of that.

"Have you found me, Joy?" Joy froze to the core, as the man staring directly at her spoke, "Say something for me." The man holding her hand squeezed it tightly and brought an unexpected yelp from her throat. The fear building in her ghostly companion was reaching its peak.

"He can't hurt you." she whispered. "He cannot even see us." The ghost said nothing, but his hand relaxed around hers.

"True enough my sister," the figure said in a strangely cheerful voice. "I cannot see you." He walked towards Joy and made her take an involuntary step back when he arrived right before her. "But I feel you." He reached a steady hand out and traced the outline of her face less than an inch away from the actual thing. "It is a trait all of our father's children seem to have. But I admit you shall be the first female I have ever met." He pulled back his hand with a sad kind of smile. "You should return to your body, I will rescue you shortly."

"Tell me your name!" she blurted out. The strange man smiled and made Joy's heart skip a beat. It was a truly beautiful smile, the kind that haunted dreams. 

"Hope. My name is Hope." He walked back to his horse and mounted quickly. "You should leave now; the winged men will be at your carriage in just a few moments and I would much prefer to meet you in your corporeal form." The spirit man tugged relentlessly at Joy's arm and practically ran back to the carriage where the safety of her body lay in unconscious wait. This was the part she dreaded; the re-entry.

The spirit man pulled her through the wall of the carriage and into the compartment where all three guardians and Joy's two sisters anxiously awaited. Normally, she would have centered herself before enduring the agony that waited, but the spirit man wasn't okay with waiting. He wanted into that body and if she didn't go in first, he would, and that would mean some serious trouble for everyone involved.

She fell into herself, her body freely accepting her soul as if it knew the rightness in their connection. Myrna had explained it once before, comparing her soul and body to a pair of shoes. You can wear two different shoes at the same time, but it will always feel better if they are a matching pair. It was the same with her body and soul, the body could accept a different soul to pair with, but only Joy's essence would ever be fully accepted.

She slipped back into her skin and felt her soul reuniting with her fleshy form. The sensation of needle like pins starting to stab at every inch of her body consumed her, but the pain always centered on her eyes. She screamed, and slowly, as her body and soul were stitched together from the inside out, her mouth followed the action. But her breathe was stolen in a gasp as spirit man followed her. Two heart beats now thrashed wildly against her chest, and the thrumming of blood through her veins was stronger than ever. Then again, any connection at this point felt incredibly new. It always had.

[Uriel Seraphim]

"Tell us child, tell us what you've seen." Myrna pleaded.

"He has Flesh Hounds, eight of them." She looked up at her sister's guardian and searched her eyes, still greedily gasping for air. "Hope was with them." The Elf froze.

"Hope? Did you speak to him?"

"Yes," Joy knew from experience there was no point in lying to someone who could hear every thought running through your mind. "He said the winged men will save us shortly." She looked to Faith who had not yet moved but an inch and then let her gaze flicker to Glory who was no longer sobbing painfully, but rather sitting with her head pressed against the carriage wall, staring into the cold night air, absorbed in her own thoughts. "He said he was our brother." Glory didn't move, she hadn't heard and Myrna obviously wasn't communicating with the stubborn child, but Faith's eyes bulged as she leaned forward in disbelief.

'Brother?' She thought. 'We have a brother?'

"Yes, he is your brother," she said aloud. "You have many I would think, but none as able, as young Hope." She smiled wistfully as she thought of the young blond angel. "He will do us little good my children; we must hurry and dispatch his companions. I fear what they will do to you once they have you in their grasp."

"I do not," Joy said boldly, "He does not wish us harmed. I could feel him, he was not... he felt no hatred towards us," she finally choked out. "Only happiness at my presence and sadness when he felt me leave, but beyond that I feel he is gentle," Joy's voice was pleading, as she relayed the information to her companions, "I beg of you, don't hurt him."

"We do not attack for pleasure child, but self defense." Sheila said in a murderous tone to her voice where only a gentle caress had once been. "If they attack, we will defend you."

"Till death," Kiva said with a deadly, serious voice.

"Till death," the others agreed in unison. 

And with that, all three guardians tore from the carriage and into the dark stormy night. Joy reached for her blindfold quickly and went to tie it behind her eyes. But Faith was faster still and grabbed her sister's hand quickly before locking her gaze with Joy's. She shook her head slowly and took the blindfold from her sister's hands.

Joy sighed and nodded as Faith tied the blindfold around her arm. If they had to escape all three of them would need eyes, and knowing how difficult Glory could be, it was a handicap she could not afford. "You are right," she admitted aloud, "But should we remove Glory's ear cuffs as well?" Being able to hear one another would be another advantage they would likely need, considering none of them could speak in whispers as Myrna could.

But as Faith shook her head Joy realized the stupidity of her question. They could not afford to take such a risk with Glory. She was far too impressionable, and the spirits were one of the most persuasive things the sisters had ever encountered. It was a risk neither was truly willing to take. A good sister would never willingly put their siblings through so much pain. It would only end in disaster.

Joy spared a glance outside at the village now reduced to but a pile of ashes. As suddenly as she had thought of the village the room around her began to spin at an unnaturally fast pace and caught Joy by surprise. The memory of a burning village filled her mind. Crude timber and clay houses were set alight, like astonishingly bright torches to light the dark night sky. The defiled bodies of men and women littered the streets and armored men pillaged the houses in search of something that seemed to be more valuable than gold. They emerged with children, some crying, others fighting for their very lives; as they were blindfolded and bound in a line.

Joy recoiled from the image as her eyes began to brim with tears, and the room came into focus once again. She knew from experience it was not her memory, but spirit man's.

"So much death," she whispered.

Faith, seeing the signs of her sister's distress instantly moved to sit beside her. She cradled her sister's head and let it rest in the crook of her own neck. There was nothing worse than wanting to comfort someone and being unable to speak a single word, or so Faith thought.

"Thank you," Joy whispered. The harsh leather was not the most comfortable thing to rest one's head on, but in that moment, Joy was simply thankful someone cared enough to do anything at all. Kiva would have simply ignored her, but not Faith, not her own flesh and blood. And for now, that was enough to keep her alive, at least today it was.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Kiva crouched low to the ground; her cloak now long forgotten, no longer hid her ferocious features. A long athletic body was attached to the beastly face the girls had glimpsed back in the carriage and thin wiry muscle covered her strong able bones.

"A village once stood here." The Elf said in a cool detached voice. She kicked at what seemed to be a solid black plank of wood and watched as it crumbled to the ground, almost completely hollow from an infestation of termites. "Many years ago..."

"Forget the rubble sister! Use your wisdom and prepare for an attack, or do you want the girls to die?" Sheila too donned no cloak, but instead stood tense with open arms and pointed fangs, ready for open hand-to-hand combat. The dogs would be easy enough and eight was such a small number for Flesh Hounds. But winged men? Sheila had never seen such a sight. If nothing else they would be interesting creatures to see in action.

"You're right." The Elf centered herself and let out a relaxing sigh.

"Priestesses," Kiva scoffed, "useless creatures. Pick up a knife, pointed ears, or we'll all be dog food."

Sheila froze for a moment. "I would not anger an Elven Priestess if I were you Kiva, she may look harmless enough now but-"

"Cross me and I'll set you alight. You'd be ash before you even realized the glow of your skin," she said in a strangely cheerful voice, "Then again, I could always make the burning a slow, torturous task. It is always so much more satisfying to see a person beg for their lives."

Sheila looked at her friend with new found pride. "You'd enjoy it, wouldn't you sister?" The Elf smiled. But as the Gods would have it, she had no time to respond as the line of Hounds came into view. The three guardians took their ready stances as a terrifying smile curved along Kiva's lips. "It is time."

The Elf bowed her head and held her arms so that they were parallel to one another just below her bust. One hand hovering mere centimeters over the other, both arched to form a small circle of space between her hands. The elf chanted in a language neither Sheila nor Kiva could understand. But neither guardian was worried about what the Elf was doing. They were themselves preoccupied.

The two guardians looked at one another, the same fierce glint of anticipation mirrored in their eyes and a pair of identical grin's spread out across their lips.

"On three?" Sheila suggested.

Kiva turned her attention to the Hounds and shouted "Three!" when they appeared to be but a few meters away. The two sprang into action but Kiva hesitated when the hounds burst into flames. The dogs whined in agony as their diseased flesh burnt with small yet smoldering blue flames. It was Myrna's handy work of course.

That hesitation was enough for one mutt with hollowed out eyes to leap at Kiva. The guardian lifted her armed hands and sliced at the hideous creation. It let out a last painful whine as her blades sliced both his throat and chest, revealing thin rotted pink and graying flesh. The creature fell to her right and covered the ground in its fresh flowing blood. Kiva's evil grin grew as she saw her companion tear out the stomach of a flaming hound with her razor sharp claws and slice into the face of a second hound who tried to jump the Empyre. But the admiration could not last long, for two more hounds made their way to her. And the battle continued.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Glory glanced at her entwined sisters and a small tear streaked down her cheek. She didn't know if they could ever understand, but she knew they too were hurting. She crawled from her corner of the carriage and sat down on the opposite side of Joy. She lay down just behind her sister, following the curve of Joy's body so that she could rest her face in the crook of her mirror images' neck. She reached down and entwined her fingers with Joy who squeezed them gratefully. If nothing else, they loved her. And like Joy, as long as she had that love, she knew she could keep on living. For no matter how hard life knocked her down, she knew her sisters' would be right there beside her.

The carriage door on Faith's side was ripped from it hinges and disappeared completely, Joy screamed in terror as a creature, more bird than man entered the carriage. His snow white wings would not allow him to fit through the door completely, and so he had no way of reaching across to Glory, but both Faith and Joy would have been easy pickings for the bird man. The smooth alabaster skin of his forearm seemed to glow in the darkness as he held a shaky hand out to the girls.

"Come, we must go now!" He pleaded; his light blue eyes burned with an urgency all three girls felt to be genuine. He didn't wait for them to come willingly. He grabbed onto Joy and pulled her into his arms, just as the opposite door was torn from its hinges. Joy thrashed at the winged man as he took to the skies, "Let me go!" she screamed, "You foul loathsome pigeon! How dare you touch me!" She slammed her fists against his chest and kick wildly, willing to do almost anything to be free of the horrid bird-man.

"Stop fighting you stupid girl!" he yelled back, "Do you want to plummet to your death?" he loosened his grip just enough to scare her into silence. The drop below would have been two hundred feet at least; certain death would have awaited her. She wrapped two thin arms around his shoulders and buried her face in the crook of his neck, as well as wrapping firm thighs around his waist. She whimpered, the sound reminding the huge winged man of Hope's cowardly dogs, distracting the foolish 'guardians' below. The bird-man chuckled and wrapped his arms around her more securely. "Land lovers," he scoffed "such a strange kind you are."

The second bird-man was not far behind with a second thrashing girl in his grasp. His pure black and red tinted wings looked menacing against the stormy skies. Glory thrashed and screamed louder than Joy had. But nothing intelligible came from her lips.

"Stop your fighting woman!" the second man screeched. "Lyric! How do you tame these beasts?"

"I threatened to drop her," Lyric said happily, "See if it works with yours, River." he suggested.

"Don't!" Joy screamed just as the second bird man's arms began to loosen. "She cannot hear you! Please! Stop this madness!" a third man joined them, carrying a rather content Faith in his arms. 

"I don't see what you're complaining about. This one doesn't mind it." Truthfully, Faith was no big fan of heights, but there was little point in fighting when you were frozen to the very core. She was caught between two fears, the fear that the creature holding her may turn her into a meal, and the fear he may very well drop her and send her plummeting to a quick but painful death. But she could not speak her mind to communicate her concern, and so she thought it best to stay completely still and just pray for the very best.

"If you haven't noticed, Faith cannot speak bird brain!" Joy yelled at the third man, who had the wings of a bat, rather than swans like Lyric, or the more raven like wings of River. The two bird-like men chuckled.

"You have some fight in you, land lover. Tell me, if your sisters cannot speak or hear, why have you been blessed without such a handicap?"

"I lost my blindfold," she said through gritted teeth, "It is not that I cannot see, it is that I choose not to, just as my sisters choose not to speak or hear."

"So you choose to go without one of your senses?" the bird man asked. "That's a strange custom," Lyric decided.

"It is not a custom!" she growled in protest, "It is a precaution. You're lucky I haven't taken a nice big chunk out of your neck yet!" She glanced down at the soft flesh and saw no need for meat or blood. "But it seems this spirit feels no need for such things."

"Spirit?" River asked. "I think you might have hit her on the head while taking her from the carriage. You've scrambled her thoughts a little perhaps." Joy grinned menacingly as Glory kicked his shin with her steel tipped boot. The raven like man cursed and his hand instinctively loosened. Glory screamed and held onto him for dear life. "By the God's, these women will be the death of me!"

"Then perhaps you should take us back to where you found us and forget your troubles." Joy suggested.

The bird man laughed. "Not bloody likely girl. The master says bring you, we bring you." Joy sighed in exasperation and let her head fall to rest on Lyric's shoulder.

"I guess there's no helping it then." She closed her eyes and sent out a silent prayer. 'I hope you know what you doing, brother.'