The Kelhani Resistance

Parena suddenly saw a movement. A man. She smelled blood with her heightened rat senses. He was hurt, badly. He needed medical attention, and he seemed to be talking to someone. Yelling, really. It was noisy. But he was also angry at whatever it was he was speaking to.

She darted out from the shelter, concerned for his well-being. The girl didn't like seeing people hurt, and she had to do something to keep her mind off of Gordon's fate.

Oh, Gordon. Her love, her life, her only true friend...

Her hamster.

And he was now dead. The mere thought of his fate cast dark aspirations in Parena's mind.

Still, she had to see what was the matter. She could see with her narrowed perspective that the man on the floor had just been shot - by another man. The second one seemed uninhibited by compassion. Instead, he spoke into some device, turning away.

Meanwhile, Parena raced ever closer to the throbbing neck of the man on the floor. Was he alright? Was he even alive?

Irony of ironies. Just as she accidentally brushed her tail against his flesh, the trio began to glow, and all was transported through space.

Something was wrong. Parena watched memories of herself and the rodent companions she had flash before her fevered mind. She saw Gordon, and then she looked down to see herself twisting...

She was becoming human once more. A cry of pain escaped her thin lips as the twenty-something found herself sprawled on a cold stone floor, her hair arranged in a bizarre display across it.

She looked up to see the man's eyes. And then everything was gone. Parena was out cold.

((Sorry about being so late guys. So many tests, so little time.))

Darkness. If Naleuk had to describe the place he was now, that's all he'd say. He stood alone, for all he knew. Naleuk tried to remember what was going on, where he was, or, if he was lucky, why he was here. Then, as though a mental dam had suddenly burst, he remembered. The explosion, the gun shot, the Widow, and the terrifying man - it all came rushing back to him. He started to reach for his weapons, then stopped. Wasn't he supposed to be asleep? And where was the man? He could only assume he had woken up in some sort of jail, held by whoever this "Council" was.

Without warning, the darkness Naleuk stood in dissolved into red hot flame. He could feel the intense heat on his skin, yet he, nor his clothes, were being burned. The crimson tongues swirled around him, threatening to turn his flesh into ash in an instant. In any other circumstance, he would have been afraid. So why wasn't he?

"Because this is a dream."

The fierce, scratchy voice of a woman spoke from the flame. In front of him, the fire was churning in the shape of a grotesque face. He could barely make out its eyes and mouth.

"Well, that makes perfect sense. I'm having a dream about a fire-thing talking to--"

Naleuk stopped short. He recognized that voice. It was it. The voice that had suddenly appeared in his head, yet felt like an old friend.

"Is this how you see me now, Naleuk? The vague likeliness of a fire demon?"

Where had he heard that voice?

"Or perhaps you do not remember me. Perhaps there is more powerful magic at work than you can comprehend."

Hearing it clearly stirred up feelings: passion, hunger, desire, and a powerful instinct of protectiveness.

"It is time to wake, Naleuk. Do not let me in, no matter your situation. I will consume you. Leave now. Warn your people. We are coming."

An image flashed in his head, and he woke.

Naleuk did indeed wake, but he kept his eyes closed. Not too difficult for a trained killer, especially one warned beforehand of waking up. Cold marble floor. Small room, judging by the echoes. Four people: first, the man that captured him; the smell of a Kelhani, possibly civilian; the stench of a Nezrith, from the battle; and himself. This was going to be a hell of a ride.