Dusma Forest

Dusma forest was far from being a small, trite piece of land. It was intimidating, vast, and yet, strangely relaxing to Fiona as she strolled past the various bushes and trees that surrounded the area. Finding a clearing, she sat down next to an oak tree promptly and took out her notebook and pencil. Looking for a muse, she spotted some unusual flowers next to her and began to sketch vigorously. After finishing her sketch, she plucked one and abruptly set it on fire, once again taking her pencil and sketching the sight before her. Once satisfied with her drawings, Fiona began to notice her anger dropping some. After putting away her notebook and pencil, she once more plucked one of the unusual flowers, this time placing one in her cascading brown locks. Suddenly, the hoot of an owl startled Fiona out of her musings, noting her of the late hour. Deciding she wanted to purchase some things before returning home, she walked towards the general direction in which she believed the village would be.

After a long, complicated walk, Fiona finally found the village. It was quaint, and much less technologically advanced as the cities she and Caine had visited before. Hopefully, she could still find what she wanted in the nearby market. Thankfully, as she looked she found a small clothing stand nearby, and picked up her pace as she saw exactly what she was looking for, a black jacket. She had noticed the nights getting a bit colder, and she wanted something to put over her regular clothes after the nights grew substantially frigid.

"If you're thinking about purchasing that jacket," a voice behind her interrupted, "I can show you a pair of matching fingerless gloves you might like. As a matter of fact... I believe you would be interested in my fireproof, fingerless gloves," the stranger finished smugly. Turning to see who it was Fiona looked up into the hazel eyes of the stranger, who eerily reminded her of Caine. "I'm David by the way, and I've heard a lot about you Fiona, but I don't believe they exaggerated your beauty enough." Completely flustered with this man's blunt and flirtatious ways, Fiona allowed him to show her the gloves, but remained mostly silent. Trying to make conversation the bold stranger asked, "How's that mate of yours... the Caine fellow?" Laughing a bit to herself she responded, "Caine's fine, a bit annoyingly so if you ask me, but fine." David eyes seemed to dance at the word annoyingly, and it was just that statment that led them into an elongated conversation about the annoying things that ensue with being trapped on "Dismal Dusma."

After quite a long time talking with David, she purchased the jacket and gloves, and they shared a quick goodbye in which he kissed her on the cheek saying, "Well, whatever the outcome of you and Caine, I so hope you successfully find a way out of this place." Feeling embarassed and quite flustered once more, she swiftly turned and looked across the marketplace..... only to see the murderous eyes of her mate, Caine. "Crap!" she thought to herself, "If I thought he was pissed before, he must be fuming now!" Ducking into the forest once more, she quickly paced towards her new favorite clearing, completely aware of her mate's footsteps behind her. Once she reached the middle of it, she turned rapidly, ready to face her mate's wrath yet again. Peering into his stone cold eyes once more, she bit her lip nervously.

Just when she thought things couldn't get any worse......

Raul took a deep breath and tried to shut out the throbbing of his hand as he watched the result of his latest attempt to break through the barrier. Waves of force shimmered along from where his fist had struck but he could tell it was not even weakened in the slightest. It had been nearly two weeks since he had first been trapped in this barrier, and he still had no luck. He had been travelling the parameter of the barrier, searching for any weakness he could exploit. Not even his channeled strikes could make a dent in it.... this was some seriously high caliber magic. All that came from his tries was a fractured left hand, though thankfully his foraging skills allowed him to make a basic splint to set the bone straight..... a terrible job at it too.

"Why does it have to be so hard to treat my own injuries" Raul said with a sigh and sat down to recover some energy. He had been living off fruit and nuts he had found, but the lack of protein was starting to effect him. Despite his efforts, there was no game to be found along the barrier. It should not have surprised him, animals tended to have more evolved instincts that sentient beings. The moment the barrier dropped they likely moved further inland. Following this train of thought, Raul also began to make his way through the forest.

"If there is no getting out... then I will just have to find the reason it was put up in the first place" Raul reasoned with himself and pulled aside a pair of branches to allow passage. The work was tedious without trying to use his left arm, but after a few hours the trees began to thin and he caught sight of a village. Raul crept up to the closest trees and sat down with his back to the rough bark and observed the townsfolk. No one used magic, not even the children at play.... it was like an ordinary village of humans. This way not good news.... he was injured and in the middle of "enemy" territory, if they somehow found him as he was he could hardly even defend himself.

Raul sighed and tried to rub away the headache that had been troubling him for the past week, a sure side effect of overusing his abilities. For the first time in his idle life, he honestly had no idea what to do.

Caine had finally been relaxing, just a little. The simplicity of his chores was soothing, the familiar motions of searching and purchasing. He bought enough to last them a week, and hopefully when the time came to replenish their cupboards there would still be food to buy. He kept half an eye on the sky, tracking the setting sun. The night would be cold, and the moon was a mere fingernail of silver. A slither of worry wormed its way into Caine's stomach, which he almost managed to ignore. His thoughts had gone to Fiona and the possibility that she had gotten lost. He had already decided he wasn't going to search for her and refused to change his mind. What he could do, he decided, was be ready to deal with whatever state she came back.

There were several moods she could be in. Top of his list was 'frustrated', followed by 'embarrassed'. Desirable moods such as 'sheepish' or 'too tired to make a fuss' were some way down. A suggestion intruded on his contemplation: he could prepare hot tea and a warm fire. He banished the idea immediately, never one for such tender gestures. It was simply not in his nature to look out for somebody else, especially when they were capable of making their own decisions, stupid or otherwise. Fiona was one of the few people he really cared for, and usually he didn't show it. Fiona should know by now not to expect mushy treatment from him. He wasn't a caretaker. If she needed his healing ability, she could have it, but he wouldn't help her quietly. If not, she could deal with her mistakes by herself.

Having concluded this fairly quickly he returned his attention to his surroundings. He did not miss Fiona's exit from the shop, complete with the shopkeeper's flirtatious peck on the cheek. All of his anxiety evaporated, to be replaced by anger. Here he was, only thinking of her (his biased mind easily forgot that he had been unsympathetic to any trouble she might be in), whilst she chatted away happily with complete strangers, men at that, and flirtatious men at that! He looked like he was arrogant too. Caine couldn't stand arrogance, or at least, not from other people. He began to approach but she hurried away, weaving through the village into Dusma forest. He pursued her, struggling with his fury, trying to fit it into words. He only managed it once they head already reached the clearing, and she had finally turned to face him. She looked guilty already. Good.

The words burst from his mouth, sharp and irate, matching his glare. "How do you always manage to get me so angry, Fiona? Whilst you're throwing tantrums and sulking in the forest, who's making sure we have food? Who's doing all the boring chores? Who's worrying about you doing something stupid, getting lost or hurt or picked up by some random stranger? What am I supposed to think?" There was an accusation in his phrasing, the suggestion that Fiona had somehow sought David out deliberately. His tone dropped, becoming scathing. "But you never stop to think, do you? I have to be your brains, as always. Well in case you hadn't realised, he wanted you. He didn't care that you had me, he would've taken whatever he could get. I'll bet you didn't even think to tell him no, did you?"

He knew what she was like, and could predict her reaction well enough. It was hard to imagine Fiona acting any other way in the face of such sickeningly straightforward flirtation. Caine was not normally possessive, his high self-esteem assuring against any insecurity, but he couldn't stop himself from blowing up when he had good reason to be concerned about another man's motives.

Sadly, Fiona's trip to the forest had been quite less peaceful the second time around. Her obviously ticked off mate was armed with words, ready to give her the speech of a lifetime. She really felt a bit bad now that she realized he had been doing all the chores and worrying about her so... but then he had to go and imply that she went to find David deliberately. She listened, herself now fuming, as he went on. "But you never stop to think, do you?" he asked. "I have to be your brains, as always. Well in case you hadn't realised, he wanted you. He didn't care that you had me, he would've taken whatever he could get. I'll bet you didn't even think to tell him no, did you?"

Fiona paused at the question; the man had really caught her by surprise with the kiss. She had realized he was a bit flirtatious but it had been so long since she had talked to someone who shared her ideals that she had completely ignored it. Immediately after the break in Caine's speech, she spoke lowly and angrily. "Look, I know that you've been doing a lot more than you expected in terms of housework and all, but you make it sound as if I'm trying to go prance around in the forest! In case you haven't noticed Caine, I hate it here, and I've been doing whatever I can to find us a way to get out, and what exactly have YOU done besides criticize me on it! What happened to travelling the world, Caine? You act as if you're heart's settled in little old Dismal Dusma." She paused briefly, glaring at him accusingly before continuing. "And that stranger at least listened and appreciated my ideas, and gave me a little support on what I'm trying to do here! It was finally nice to have someone who didn't dismiss you as some stubborn loon every time you mention escaping this place. But, since you insist on being so unhelpful with the barrier situation, I suggest you not get angry when I try and find help from other places."

Raul clenched his teeth along the bit of cloth as he tightened the splint along his left arm and quickly yet awkwardly retied it before it lost too much tension. It was starting to feel a little better already, he had always healed quicker than usual.... one of the perks of being a witch. Raul had retreated a little further into the forest to mend a little and think about how he should progress in the current situation. He could pretend to be a traveler, but surely the townsfolk must have noticed by now that there was something keeping them from getting out and others from getting in. He did not want to attract attention to himself, not with the war going on out there.

Just as he was drifting off to sleep, Raul heard voices coming from a clearing behind his tree. Raul cautiously poked his head around the tree to find a man and a woman arguing with each other. To Raul, it appeared to be a rather heated lovers quarrel. Raul blushed and tried to make himself unnoticed.

"I should soooo not be overhearing this" Raul muttered to himself. He firmly believed that people deserved privacy, especially when it came to relationships between people. Raul gingerly got to his feet and attempted to sneak away. All caution was blown to the wind when Raul stepped on a twig that snapped loudly. As the echo died away, Raul just ran as quickly as his legs would carry him.

The argument with Fiona had quickly become uncomfortable for Caine. He wanted so badly to outline all the reasons he was in Dusma, and why he wouldn't be leaving any time soon, but he knew he shouldn't. Patronisingly, he didn't think she would understand, and childishly, he didn't want her to. And even if she did know, it wouldn't change anything as far as he was concerned. He didn't want her to resent him, as the two people he cared about. The bottom line was that he simply had to stay. No matter how much she pestered him, he wasn't going to tell her why.

However, she was understandably looking for answers. They both valued honesty, and he didn't want her to think he was keeping secrets. This wasn't fair on her, as he was keeping plenty, but it wasn't like he was happy with the situation either. It would only make her frustrated and angry, even more than she was now. He decided to ignore her questions, as she had ignored his. The problem here and now, as he saw it, was this stranger she had met. He was being supportive of her futile attempts to break the barrier, and Caine wasn't. Of course he wasn't - he didn't think there was any possibility that she could succeed, and her attempts were wasted effort.

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud crack. He spun around, searching for the cause of the sound for a long moment, seeing nothing in the dying evening light. He turned back to Fiona, her seething stare which he met levelly with a dark glare of his own. "Like a tailor can help that," he scorned. "You think he was interested in your magic? He's only human. He doesn't understand a thing, and he certainly doesn't understand that you don't stand a chance at getting through it." He hastily took the subject away from the barrier. They had already had that argument once today. He had managed to calm down a little, and was regaining some of his rationality, though Fiona's response would probably change that. His fists unclenched for the first time since he had seen her and Daniel, but his posture was still tense. A shade of the anger faded from his tone. He was tired, and that began to seep through into his voice. "Whether you accept it or not, we're stuck here, the both of us. I can't do all the housework. I have things to attend to as well, a life outside making up for all the chores you've neglected. Why do you insist on giving everybody a hard time?"

Declan watched as Keaira gasped at the fact that there was such things as magic. Apparently Brennan had not told her of these things yet and that troubled Declan as it made him wonder whether Brennan may be trying to keep Keaira in the dark as much as possible. Shortly afterwards Declan was invited to join the pair on their excursion to the magical barrier.

“No I regret I will not be. I have other matters I need to attend to. I beg you a farewell Keaira and I hope to share in your company again in the future.” He said giving a slight bow towards the woman after leaving his tea cup on his chair. “And a farewell to you as well Brennan.” Though this time Declan just gave a polite nod to the man before turning and walking away into the forest and pretty much into the middle of nowhere. Though whether or not I follow you or head into town is the next decision. He pondered as he made his way out of eyesight of the pair.

Before long Declan had made a fair amount of distance from the house that served as Keaira’s home and he was efficiently in the middle of nowhere. He was far enough from the village and there should be no one in the area, but as usually Declan made a sweep of the area making sure that he was alone and after feeling assured he was alone Declan began to undress and then stashed his clothing carefully making sure it would be hidden well enough and he began his shifting.

It was never enjoyable shifting but after a while the pain from it dulls and you can try to blackout the pain though it never fully works. But as soon as the pain comes it is gone and you are in the form of the animal that you desired to be. For Declan this time he had chosen his hawk over his wolf. As it would be easier to perform surveillance and it would appear more natural than a wolf stalking people.

Fiona glared intensely as Caine decided to become a mute for some seconds. His eyes seemed to show underlying guilt. Fiona couldn't stand how Caine had become less open ever since they had arrived at Dusma. It was just one more reason for her to hate this place. Suddenly, she heard a peculiar snap somewhere in the woods. She looked around, trying to see what had caused the sound, but couldn't make out anything. Finally as she turned back around, Caine spoke once more, undermining David and pestering her once more about chores. Fiona sighed hastily, patiently waiting until after Caine was finished before she spoke. "Just because David is human doesn't mean he's incompetent, and if it's the chores you're so worried about then by all means just do half the work and I'll finish my half during the afternoons,. Also, whatever this secret is that you're hiding, I just hope it's worth my unhappiness. I'm ready to go home. Is this conversation over? ," she asked impatiently.

"Yes," Keaira replied, looking around at the woods. "It's lovely." And it was. The woods were so serene during the day, especially on sunny ones like today. Only when the mist rolled on overnight and into the early morning... that was when Keaira didn't like it. She thought of the hazy fog as a blanket, smothering out the light and keeping secrets. The mist frightened her. It hid things, shrouded them.
But there was no mist. Keaira couldn't have been more content.
She surveyed the area, but saw no approaching wall or barrier or any sort. Brennan said it wasn't far. Her nose crinkled with curiosity. Where was it?
Keaira looked down to see a small stream flowing down the mountain. Many of them lay about in the woods. As she watched the flowing water, she noticed something odd a little distance away. There was a spot in the stream that seemed... shimmering. A leaf flowing with the current suddenly stopped in its place and wouldn't budge, but the water kept flowing. Her eyebrows raised. She looked up at Brennan.
"That's most strange," she said, pointing with one hand to the still leaf in the water. "Do you see that?"

Brennan looked to where she pointed, the leaf sat frozen as though an invisible hand prevented it from moving or an invisible wall, he nodded and steered her closer to the leaf. He waved his hand across the landscape encompassing as far as the eye could see. "This is the barrier."
The magic barrier was not anything you could see except for the odd shimmering that looked similar to the shimmering you saw on a heated day, there was not flashy colours or strobes of light. If you did not see the shimmering you would not realise it was even there at all and yet if you tried to walk through it you would fail. The barrier did not harm you nor would you feel anything except a slight resistance and it would feel as though you had walked into a solid wall such as in a building.

Brennan watched Keaira's face closely curious as to what she would think of this strange phenomenon that had suddenly appeared around her home. It was important to Brennan that she see it as harmless and particularly important that she did not feel the need to explore past it. He needed her to stay within the barrier safe and protected. He would do anything to ensure she did not leave but he did not want to have to do something extreme and thus far he had found that if he explained things to Keaira she was usually happy with the answers.
"It is not what you expected. Is it?" He asked wryly.

After Declan had taken on the form of his hawk he had immediately took off from the ground and began to fly in the sky searching for a certain pair of people specifically Brennan and Keaira. Declan had said he had more pressing matters to attend to but he hadn’t exactly specified exactly what it was that he needed to do. For one he wanted to find out more about Brennan and exactly what went on when he and Keaira were behind closed doors.

After a matter of minutes Declan had been able to find the pair though they seemed to have stopped for some reason and Declan could only assume that it was because they were close to the barrier. A good time to get a closer view. He thought to himself as he descended from the sky and began to make his way down closer to the pair. Though he wasn’t exactly trying to be stealthy Declan did not make any noise as he came within a tree and then proceeded to land on a branch.

Declan still appearing to be just a normal hawk then began to observe the pair not very far away so if they looked they would easily see that a hawk was near them. Though it would probably just be assumed that the animal was curious as to what two bipedal beings were doing within it’s domain.

Keaira's eyes lit up with curiosity. She broke away from Brennan and knelt down next to the stream, where the leaf was still. "This is it," she mused. Her hand went up to touch it. Although it looked fluid, the barrier felt very solid. It had no temperature or texture, just a solid surface. She looked at at Brennan.
"I wonder how the water is able to pass through it, but the leaf is not." She looked back to the stream and submerged her hand in the water. Slowly, she moved her hand toward the leaf... and past it. The part of her arm not submerged stopped at the barrier, but her hand was able to bypass it somehow.
"Brennan!" Her head snapped back to him, her hair whipping across her face. "Brennan, look!" She wiggled her fingers on the other side of the barrier. The stream was only about a foot wide and a couple inches deep, so no one could pass through entirely. Keaira began to wonder if there were any larger streams...

Declan let out as much of a gasp as a Hawk can muster as he watched what Keaira was doing. She had her hand past the barrier it appeared that if you went under it through water you could pass through the barrier. But that was all just an assumption and it wasn’t a chance Declan would be willing to take especially if while being halfway through the barrier it decided to reconstruct itself and then separating his upper half from his lower half, besides Declan still had to find a way to help Keaira regain her past memories.

Either way this deserved a closer inspection regardless of the risk it might entail. The hawk took flight and this time made his perch in a tree that was almost directly above the stream where Keaira was putting her hand underneath the barrier. It seemed almost too good to be true that they could escape, but while the barrier problem was somewhat solved there was still Brennan. A mysterious man that Declan still hadn’t been sure what to make of.

Keaira seemed to consider Brennan's words, but was underwhelmed by them. Her nose crinkled in thought. It didn't look dangerous, or even feel like something that could hurt her.
"If you say so, Brennan, but something just makes me feel like it's not meant to do harm." It was odd, indeed, but there was something about being so close to the magic barrier that triggered a strange sensation in her. Looking at the water, then to the underbrush around them, Keaira gradually too in her surroundings, as if through clearer eyes. The forest was so intimate to her now, more so than ever. She could feel life pulsating around her.
"Do you feel that?" She was whispering, to Brennan, she supposed, but she didn't look anywhere in particular.
Suddenly her gaze shot up to a hawk on a branch nearby. There was something... off. Something off about this hawk. It didn't feel right, and she couldn't place why. Her gaze turned critical, something foreign to her the past two weeks. She scrutinized the hawk, her eyes tracing the lines of its silhouette, the edges of each feather... the color of its eyes. She settled there, on the eyes. For a moment, the hawk felt very unlike any other animal she'd seen. For reasons she couldn't begin to explain, she began to think it wasn't really a hawk. But that was silly, of course...
She reached up towards it, almost begging it to come down to her.

Declan was not surprised when Keaira noticed his presence and he was again not surprised as she began to reach up gently towards him but this now put him in a predicament. He could either fly away or ignore the woman like a normal animal probably would, or he could accept her invitation and perch himself on her body. The problem was that if he was captured and held prisoner soon enough it would be discovered exactly what Declan was, although he didn’t expect that Keaira would allow harm to come to an animal.

Happy with his decision Declan hopped off of the branch and began to glide down towards Keaira before landing on her forearm and holding himself there carefully so as not to lacerate her skin with his razor sharp talons. Declan had hoped that Keaira may be able to regain some of her memories if she interacted with an animal after all she was someone who’s very power had to do with nature and its creatures. But while he was now holding himself on Keaira he was carefully watching both her and more specifically Brennan as he wouldn’t put it past the man to harm an animal or even another person.

"It won't hurt me," she said calmly, confidently. "I can feel its intentions; it will not harm me."
She spoke the truth. Keaira sensed something about the bird that was personified; its life-flow was steady, without kinks. She could feel the magic aura so strongly, she could almost see it. It was intricate, but not unkind.
Keaira glanced to Brennan. "I hope you won't think I'm crazy for saying so," she began slowly, "but I don't think this is a real bird." She looked back to the bird then, and stroked its sleek body with her free hand. "He's something else..."
She stopped mid-stroke, her hand resting on the hawk's body. Her eyes stared straight ahead, unblinking.

She was in the forest. Leaves crumpled beneath her bare feet. Every step, every contact with the earth surged with energy. She reached out and touched the bark of a tree. Its life was at her fingertips. She felt it pulsating, breathing.
She looked around. This forest was beautiful, lush. It was unlike any she had seen before. Deer ran about and paid her no mind. Rabbits fed on the underbrush. Mice scurried to their holes.
She found herself naked, but felt at complete peace. Touching a hand to her bosom, she took a deep breath, exhaling as she pulled her hand away. Glittering magic flowed forth, pouring into the ground before her. A young rowan sprouted and grew, and as she wrapped her arms about the sapling, she became one with the forest.

She blinked suddenly, looking around. This was fake. Something told her... this was not right. It was at the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't vocalize it, couldn't quite remember...

As the two people began to talk about him Declan started to worry a bit especially when Keaira came to the conclusion or idea that he wasn’t a real bird. But that was okay for now at least as she wouldn’t let Brennan harm him at least. But then Keaira went silent and stopped stroking him he looked upwards at her face and noticed that she was staring off into space as if she were seeing things that weren’t really here. It slightly worried him and began to unnerve him a bit and he started to become restless on her arm moving slightly as if preparing to fly away.

No matter what happened Declan knew that he would need to leave soon anyways. Especially because of the suspicion that had been raised and focused on him. Besides he had learned valuable information during his short escapade as a bird. There was in fact a way to escape from the barrier, Brennan appeared to have a very special interest in Keaira and cared for her well being and Keaira herself still seemed to have some kind of a link to animals. Declan hoped that he could exploit this in the future to help her remember.

Keaira turned at the sound of Brennan's voice. Seeing him after coming back was unusual. He seemed different to her. Her brow creased in thought. His life-force didn't feel as vibrant as the rest. He was different from them, somehow. A nagging feeling clawed at the back of her neck, making her feel ill at ease.
"Something's not right." For the first time since she'd lost her memory, fear entered her voice. "This isn't right. It doesn't feel right. And you..." she couldn't make herself tell him. He was familiar, but at the same time, newly foreign. What was happening to her? She shook her head mildly, as if trying to clear out the thoughts.
She lifted up her arm and gently shook it, urging the hawk to take flight. She suddenly felt the urge to run, to get away from him. She had no idea where the feeling came from, but it pulled at her with great force.
After the hawk took flight, she bolted through the forest like a scared animal.

After Declan had been forced to take flight or fall to the ground Keaira had bolted off into the forest like a deer that realized a predator was watching it. Declan wasn’t quite sure who she was running from but if it was Brennan that was a good thing but a bad thing at the same time as there were a few creatures in the forest that could bring harm to Keaira, and Declan would rather have her safe than dead because if she died all was lost.

So he immediately flew high into the air quickly scanning into the woods looking for where Keaira might have run of too. After a short time he was able to find her thanks to the sharp and powerful vision of a hawk. He quickly descended into the woods landing just off the ground and hidden in some bushes he transformed again this time into a creature that would be able to halt Keaira. A snow white wolf.

Leaping from the bushes Declan was quickly ambushed by a barrage of scents and for a moment was overwhelmed until he was able to recognize one of them, it was Keaira’s scent. Declan quickly followed it and then moved through the forest so he could head her off. In the end Declan emerged from the forest directly in the path that Keaira had chosen. Before her was a snow white wolf standing proudly on all four paws and gazing at her is if he wanted to speak to her but lacked the ability to voice human words.

That Brennan could so easily keep up alarmed her greatly. She'd had a good head-start. How could he run so quickly?
She breezed through the woods with little effort. Her body seemed to know every tree and bush, keeping her from running into anything. It all felt so familiar.
Keaira came to a stop abruptly at Brennan called out, but that wasn't the only thing that alerted her. A wolf stood in her path. Prickles ran down her spine. The creature scared her, but at the same time, she felt as though she'd met it before. That was absurd, of course. Keaira didn't recall ever seeing a wolf, especially a white one.
"What is this?!" She screamed, collapsing on the ground. Head buried in her hands, she curled into the fetal position and began sobbing fiercely. Her small body shook with the effort.
Pieces of memories, images, voices, sounds... all of it swirled inside her head chaotically.

Brennan slowed as he began to catch up to Keaira as he did not want to frighten her any further, she already seemed to have an idea that he was not what he seemed and he did not want to encourage that idea to grow. He saw Keaira stop suddenly as a white wolf seemingly blocked her path and Brennan decided there was something odd about the animal. It occurred to him then that this was the second animal to act oddly around Keaira and in such a short space of time, he had an idea what it meant but he was not certain. Either way he did not want Keaira anywhere near a wolf unless he knew the animal was not going to harm her.

As soon as he saw her collapse to the ground he ran to her side momentarily forgetting that he should control his movements so as to not attract attention. He did not even stop to think as concern for her overwhelmed his normal logical thinking and anyone watching would notice that he moved very quickly, a little too quickly for a human. He seemed to blur around the edges for a moment and then he was at Keaira's side, he gently encircled her with his arms and began to talk to her soothingly. Though everyone in the village would agree that Brennan was a cold man none would argue that he showed more warmth to Keaira than anyone else. He kept his low and calm and simply murmured to her that she was safe and there was no need to be frightened.

He did not try and move her as he felt it best to calm her first, as he very gently rocked her back and forth as though soothing a small child his eyes never left the wolf standing a short distance away. Up until now the wolf had simply watched and although Brennan was sure now that this wolf was not a normal creature he was not certain that it would not harm Keaira and that he would not allow.

"You will not harm her." Brennan said to it quietly yet the steel in his voice was impossible to miss.