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Nick lay, still unconscious, on a bed while the others sat at the lone table in the room they paid for with their sparse money. Burn marks on his face still appeared to steam, blood slowly trickled from the dagger wounds and he appeared worse then he probably was but there was nothing to be done. Cassie still needed to recover from her own incident with the large man they called Paneb, she did not feel well enough to call on the White Spirit for help in healing.
"What was that?" Cassie questioned the other two.

Albert kept his head hung low unsure of what he should tell the inquisitive girl.

"She has an ancient power, more ancient then that of the Dragoon's I'm afraid." Rose answered Cassie. She moved from her spot against the wall and sat on the edge of Nick's bed. "It was similar to something I've seen before, something I'm not sure how could be here."

"You don't mean?" Albert questioned Rose.

Rose shook her head glancing at Nick with worried eyes. She should have prepared Nick for anything that could be coming his way, now that he was injured because of that, that power, she only had herself to blame.

Almost as if he could sense what she was thinking, Albert responded. "You know it's not your fault, there was no way you could predict that there would be some of them here."

"Just say it Albert!" Rose shouted causing both Cassie and Albert to jump. "Just say it! We should have told Nick about Winglies, and because I didn't, he's injured, who knows if he will come out of it now. There is no telling," She stopped her sentence short and stormed out of the room and onto the balcony adjacent to the room.

Albert and Cassie sat in silence for only moments before Cassie felt she had to speak. "It wasn't her fault," She simply stated. "There was no way she could have known."

Albert nodded in agreement and turned to reply to Cassie, he only opened his mouth but the sound that came next was not his voice.

"What does a guy have to do around here to get a good nights rest?"

The two in the room turned and looked at Nick who was sitting up slightly smirking at them. "What were you expecting me to be dead?" He started to laugh but it soon turned into a cough, Cassie quickly made her way to his bedside.

"Rose!" Albert shouted outside, "He's awake."

Soon after Rose was in the room standing at Nick's side. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you about that power you might face. I should have told you, I partly blame…" Before she could finish her statement, Nick placed his hand on hers and smiled slightly at her.

"Don't blame yourself; there was no way you could know." Rose turned away from the others before they could see a slight crimson in her cheeks. She could not show any weakness to the others, or they would never listen to her again.

Despite her attempt to hide her face, she heard snickers arise from the others. "Well since you all seem to be feeling so much better after that fight, I suggest that we take some time to train. Who's up for a little battle training?" Before anyone could even gawk at what Rose said, her sword was brandished and she stood ready to fight.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news Rose, but it looks like rain." Albert pointed out the still open balcony door.

"Are you saying you don't want to know how to fight in rain?" Rose asked, but she didn't hear any answers, even if anyone answered. Screams coming from the streets below caught the attention of all in the room and they slowly made their way out to the balcony, Nick with the assistance of Cassie. The four stood watching as the crowds rushed around, knocking each other over trying to race away from the city. The weak were trampled upon, some crushed to death before anyone could even try to help.

A wailing cry caught the attention of the four Dragoons and they immediately looked to see a young girl standing in the middle of the street, apparently separated from her parents. No one was coming back for her, no one was even trying to help her, but that wasn't what panicked the four, a cart pulled by a large beast was charging straight towards the girl.

Without so much as a thought, Rose called on her Dragoon Spirit and flew down to the girl, picking her up and floating above the crowd right as the animal trampled over the ground where the girl just stood.

"No bring close to sky," the girl cried out and started to struggle in Rose's arms.

"Stop fussing!" She commanded the girl and flew back to the balcony. When she returned she put the girl down and watched as she ran into the room and under a bed before anyone could ask them anything. Cassie, having motioned to Albert to take Nick, moved into the room and every now and then the others could hear her soft voice attempting to talk to the girl.

"What could be causing this hysteria?" Nick questioned.

Rose, having released her spirit, pointed towards the sky. "The clouds."

"Well that doesn't make any sense." Albert though out loud. "Rain is always welcome in my kingdom."

"I don't think this is rain," Cassie interrupted. "They are afraid of Wulf."

"Did you get the girl to speak then?" Albert questioned.

Cassie shook her head. "She still would not say a word to me, but remember the girl we saved? Could this be what has everyone in this world terrified of?"

The four stood silent and watched the clouds, before they knew it something started to come out of them. As drops fell on the citizens, many fell to the ground screaming in pain. Few stood by and watched those they love seem to melt away before their eyes. It did not come into any of their minds that they might be injured by this poison rain.

"We can't continue to stand here and gawk at what this monster is doing to these people!" Albert shouted at the others, almost letting go of Nick and allowing him to drop.

"How are we supposed to fight it Albert," Rose could only shout back above the screams. "You don't think it bothers me to stand here and watch? How do we fight something we know nothing about? How do we fight when two of our numbers are still injured from our last fight?"

Hearing this Nick pushed himself away from Albert and stood on his own. "I can fight." He managed to look like he was fine for a couple minutes before a sweat broke on his forehead and he collapsed back into Albert's arms.

So there they stood watching the people of the city die, every now and then glancing at the sky to see if they saw anything tangible they could fight. After maybe an hour, the cloud moved away from the city and dissipated. Slowly and sadly the group moved back into the room and took seats, Cassie crouched to the floor to tell the girl that the horror was over and she could come out of hiding now.

"Just look at the damage that thing did to a city this size in only an….." Cassie's scream interrupted the comment before it could even be finished.

"She's…she's dead," She stood and pointed under the bed. Hand covering her mouth, she backed away from the bed carefully and collapsed into a chair.

Braving it, Albert bent over and looked under the bed. The girl that was fine when Rose saved her before the rain now looked like all those that were hit with the droplets. "So going inside does not save you from the death that follows." He concluded.

"We need to leave," Rose stated, not waiting for any complaints or any arguments, Rose bolted from the room.

Albert, Nick and Cassie looked at each other, took one last look at the bed, and followed Rose.

-----

Paneb struggled slightly to keep up with Eve's pace. She stormed to the outskirts of the city and collapsed, keeping her face diverted from Paneb. She did not understand how the evil of her family's past could make its appearance now, in her life. Her parents told her the story of their ancestors but Eve thought it was just something told to keep the fire in the bellies of the young. To ensure that the younger generations would always fight to keep their people free.

Paneb gently laid Drystan down and moved to Eve's side. "Eve, you are one of them aren't you?" He asked in his gentle voice.

She only kept her eyes away from his face. She did not need to see his fear or his pity, not now.

"I have never considered your people unclean." Paneb stated and then sat watching the sunset over the horizon wishing he had any kind of crude painting materials with him. "I will not mention the incident to Drystan." He then stood and walked back to their fallen comrade and made sure he was comfortable.

Eve sat staring off in the direction her hometown would surely be located. What would her parents think of her now, traveling with two human males to find the monster Wulf and bring it under her command? They never agreed with her tactics to ensure their town stayed hidden, now she not only alerted the Priesthood of her presence but also made herself known to one of her traveling companions. They wanted her to stay in the town, marry again and have a family. Eve shuddered with the thought of becoming like her sister.

That woman she fought, she seemed almost too familiar to her. Thoughts of home brought her face back into her mind, images of her childhood became intense and she could not shake them. She was back in the temple, as a young girl. She was supposed to be praying but the images on the walls always interested her more. Of course, she asked her father about them and he told her the story, that is what fascinated her. She wished she could have been there for the big fight; she wanted to give those Dragoons what they deserved. Eve recalled looking at one particular scene, a woman with long hair flew above a town in her full Dragoon attire, her face, her hair, it couldn't be. How could the woman she just spared with be the same as the one on the temple wall depicting a battle long ago?

Eve knew she needed to confront this woman again, she would take revenge for her ancestors, she would take revenge for those from her town that did not make it the day of the flight. Her eyes began to tear; she could not show weakness to these men so she forced her head to look towards the sky.

The sky quickly became darker, "Wulf" Eve murmured. "Paneb, can you slap him or something to wake him up? We have to move, Wulf is coming."

Paneb did as she requested, Drystan bolting straight up. "Now what was the purpose of that?" He asked after regaining his composure.

Paneb nodded his head towards Eve who was already rushing back into the town. "Time to go back."

Drystan looked at Paneb confused, and then noticed the darkening sky closing quickly on the city. "Wulf." He murmured and stood quickly, grabbed his bow and quiver and ran to catch up with the others. The fact that they were even out of the town completely slipped his mind, the thoughts of finding a cure for Wulf's bane was all he could think about as he tried to keep pace.

As soon as they reached the city limits, it was obvious they were too late to do anything for the people who lived there, or to even attempt to capture the beast that did the damage. Cautiously the three stepped over fallen bodies, Paneb looking for survivors, Drystan looking for any clues that would lead him to a cure, all Eve could do was kick herself that she let her emotions control her enough to leave the town at such a pivotal moment.

Eve quickly covered her nose, the smell of the dead bodies still ripe in the city. If she were not traveling with these two men she probably would have been here in time to attempt to capture the beast. She silently swore to herself and vowed to leave the two tonight as they slept. She needed to continue on her quest, alone, Paneb was too much of a physical distraction for her.

She continued to make her way through the streets looking for any indication of where she would be able to find Wulf next. A small temple stood open at the end of the street and Eve could see people moving around inside. She started to move closer, but the site of a red shirt and long dark hair made her halt her footsteps and duck behind a pillar. Cautiously she moved forward to try to hear what these creatures of destruction were saying.

"So if what we've discovered it correct so far, Wulf is not something that can operate on its own?" The blond girl asked the others.

The boy that she hit with her energy ball sat in a pew and looked ahead as if astonished to have heard what he heard.

"That would be my guess," The other man spoke.

"But how did it know when most of the people were dead?" The most evil of them all, the woman with the long, dark hair asked. It was her that Eve knew she had to destroy, her whose face seemed so familiar, her who wronged her ancestors and would now pay. Eve did not care about if it was possible or not, she just knew that this woman was part of it and she had to die.

"Well, the cloud dissipated after the attack. There was nothing hidden inside the clouds I can only assume that the person holding it together no longer had the strength to do so."

"So how do we find this person controlling Wulf?" The injured smart ass asked the others.

Nobody answered his question, but they helped Eve on her quest more then they would ever know.

"So Wulf is controlled by a person's mind." Eve spoke quietly to herself. "It must be one of the priests, it must be Corin." The thought of going after the man that made her peoples lives a nightmare made her smirk in delight. "It will be my pleasure to put that man into the ground."

The group inside the temple was leaving, Eve moved further into the shadows and waited for them to pass, hoping they would not run into Drystan or Paneb. Eve did not feel like saving them yet again.

Eve moved out again after the passed and walked herself into the Temple of Wulf that the others just left. She gazed at the walls formulating her plan of attack, her plan of departure from this little band of travelers she was with. Her eyes would miss Paneb but there really was no real reason to be traveling with those who sought to destroy what would be her town's saving grace.

*****

Paneb watched Even sulk off into the distance. He still was not sure if she was on the same side as either Drystan or himself, but they certainly benefited from her aid. He stood with his arms across his chest observing Drystan looking at the dead and hoping to find a living person so he could learn more.

"Damn!" Drystan's voice forced Paneb's head to snap in the direction of the sound.

"What?" He questioned before moving over to where the man stood.

"I gave this one my latest attempt at the vaccine I've been working on. I had such high hopes for this batch." He motioned towards a man covered in boils that burst, pus still pouring from them. "He looks worse then some of the others I'd say, I bet it sped up the process." Drystan sighed and slumped to the ground no longer caring that his clothes dipped into the pus that filled the street around them.

"Will you give up then?"

"Never, I will find a cure for this pestilence on our lands." Drystan stood and brushed his hands off, ignoring anything else that followed him when standing. "Come, we must search for the Diandra root, I feel I need more in the vaccine."

Paneb and Drystan headed back towards the edge of town. "Shouldn't we wait for Eve?" Paneb asked his companion.

"Oh, she's not with us?" Having kept his mind on his work, the normally observant man did not realize that their third traveler was not traveling with them. "I suppose we should, but can we wait here, the smell was starting to get to me."

Paneb nodded his head in response and found a rock to sit on to wait for Eve to join them again.

An hour passed and there still was no sign of Eve. "I wonder if she got lost." Drystan pondered aloud.

"There," Paneb lightly smacked Drystan's chest and pointed to a figure walking towards them. He hoped it was Eve, but before his eyes the figure turned into two, finally a third helping a fourth one along came into sight. "Damn, it's that impudent bastard and his friends," Paneb rapidly stood from his rock and faced the group.

"Are those…" Drystan did not need to finish his statement, as the group came closer he was able to make out the four they battled earlier. Before anyone could get the better of him, he grabbed is bow and pulled an arrow from the quiver, strung it tight and waited for a good shot.

Paneb held his hand up and pushed the arrow towards the ground. "They do not have their weapons pulled; we should wait and see where they are going. Perhaps they will give us our next lead."

"Excuse us," The man helping the injured spoke to them first. "We do not want to quarrel again," the face of the injured, snarled at Paneb, but the one who spoke glared at him sideways.

"You were not harmed by Wulf?" Drystan asked the others forgetting that they ever battled.

The four shook their heads, eyes averted afraid that atrocities they did see would be seen in their eyes. "We are following the monster," the blond girl spoke now. "We are on our way out of town hoping to find more information, we…" She looked at the others who all glared at her, "well I, wanted to tell you that if you are waiting for that woman that was with you, she left the city in the other direction."

Paneb's eyes widened and he grabbed Drystan's shirt almost pulling it from him. The two ran off trying to catch up with Eve both wondering why she left without them.

The four stood there for a minute looking at each other wondering what that was all about. Finally, Albert started to move, forcing Nick to go with him, Cassie and Rose then turned and followed.

"Cassie are you feeling stronger yet?" Albert asked. "Our…leader…is getting kind of heavy."

Cassie turned and looked at Rose then at the two boys. "I suppose I could try." With that, she took out her Spirit and held it in front of her letting go so that the energy of the Dragon Spirit could take over her. In a matter of seconds, she floated above the rest.

Albert rested Nick on the rock Paneb previously occupied and stepped back. Cassie came forward chanting something no one could quite make out. Albert and Rose heard it several times before, but still did not know what it was that Shirley, Shana, Miranda and now Cassie were saying. Before long Cassie's arms stretched out in front of her facing Nick, a glow surrounded Nick and settled on his wounds. When the light dissipated, there were no burn marks, there were no stab wounds, there was no evidence that Nick had been in a fight at all.

Her job done, Cassie released the power and returned to her normal self, standing in front of Nick smiling broadly. "Better?" she asked.

Nick stood and turned towards the others. "Now that I don't have to be carried, let's move!"

Cassie and Nick started to walk out of town, the opposite direction they arrived. They hoped this would lead them to the next place they needed to be. Rose and Albert stayed back before heading out.

"You had to call him 'leader' didn't you?" Rose smacked Albert on the shoulder causing him to fall back a few steps. "Now it's gone to his head."

Albert smirked at Rose then ran to catch up with the others; Rose looked back in the direction of the city destroyed. Memories came back, but before they could surface, she pushed them under, turned and continued on her current journey.

*****

Two strangely dressed people wandered into the red room and bowed deeply to the man sitting on the chair in front of them. He was talking to someone to the side of his chair so they remained in their bow until they were given permission to stand once again.

"I'm glad you could make it on such short notice." The man they bowed to spoke.

"You know that anytime someone of the Priesthood needs our services we drop everything to serve." The taller of the two spoke.

"Come now, you can be honest. I know you come because you want to stay alive." Corin laughed evilly. "I suppose it's as good a reason as any."

"Master," the other spoke. "Tell us what it is you would like us to do."

"Well, as you well know, you two are the finest at what you do, and I need the best for this assignment." He stood from his chair, a tactic he often used to intimidate.

"You know that won't work with us Corin. We have worked with you before, we know how you work, and we still expect payment."

"You mean your lives aren't payment enough Lysander?" Corin leered at him.

"Selene and I are grateful for every day you allow us to live and do what we do best, but it does not put food in our bellies Master." Lysander spoke the words as if they were routine now.

"Of course Lysander, I wouldn't dream of starving you two."

"Master Corin, this banter bores me; might we learn who we are to hunt down for you?" Selene spoke unafraid of what he could do to her.

"My informants tell me that Wulf did not destroy some recent enemies of mine. At least two of them are carrying some things that I find very valuable. I would like them brought to me."

"Yes Corin. When we kill them would you like us to drag all their bodies back here? Or will you tell us what it is you want from them?" Selene spoke as if challenging Corin to try something against her.

"Ah Selene, how I enjoy our chats." Corin moved from the stairs and stood in front of her. Placing his hand on her chin, he held her gaze with his. "You know I could use a good woman like you around in my… personal chambers."

Selene smirked at Corin and raised her eyebrows. "I appreciate the offer Master, but then when would I get to hear the cracking of bones in my hands?"

Corin threw his head back and let out a laugh that echoed throughout his hall. "Of course I wouldn't dream of depriving you of that joy."

"What I need from them are nothing larger then a stone. In fact that is all they are, colored stones."

Lysander, who stood watching the scene a moment ago, gripping his sword tightly at the hilt, nodded in response. "Colored stones. It seems extreme to send us against them for some stones."

Corin's anger flared and he stepped quickly into Lysander's path. "Questioning me?"

Lysander stood emotionless now, "Of course not, we do as you bid."

"Wise answer. Now be off you two, the hour draws late and I need to rest." Corin turned his head in the other direction and his hand covered in rings towards Lysander and Selene. Both took their turn, approached the hand, kissed it gently and exited the chamber.

"They only brought this upon themselves." Corin shouted.

"Yes." A voice behind a curtain answered.

"If they had died when Wulf attacked like they were supposed to then I would not have to go to the extreme of hiring Lysander and Selene." He made his way back atop the stairs to his chair, sitting regally. "I tried to spare them pain and suffering, but now they will receive more ten-fold." Corin pretended to be distraught over recent occurrences. "This is why I get the reputation I have."

A loud evil cackle could be heard by Lysander and Selene as they exited the Temple of Wulf and made their way towards Priam to destroy the four travelers carrying colored stones.