She finished writing...

[Hodur]

...and held the note up to the guttering candle for one last look. It said:

"I hope you can read this despite my poor letters. I didn't pay much attention to the schoolmaster, and the news is ill. It is the most extrordinary thing, but I cannot stop my hands from shaking.

I caught up with our friend in the red hat and I did as I suggested you do. At first I let him think he had the upper hand (he's never had reason to fear me) and he gloated. Finally he told me what I wanted to know. He was quite shocked when I...paid him...for the news.

I still cannot believe it. I think he must be lying, but in my heart I fear he is not. He said that they have taken Hodur and that he is now in league with them and with his help the rest of the Rangers are doomed. Can this be? It may only be a trap to smoke out the Rangers, I don't know. I don't know what's true. I must flee if I am to fight another day for I am very afraid that I have been played for the fool and done exactly as they wanted me to. Already it may be too late. Tell the other Rangers if you wish, all of it or nothing, it is up to you. I know that you will judge better than I.

You are like a sister to me now even though I've only known you a day. You are the first and only that I've told my story to. I shall return when I can but until then, please take care of you and yours.

Affectionately,

Skadi"

She tried to fix a few blotches where her long copper braids had brushed the paper while she was bent over intent on writing, then she folded the parchment carefully and dripped wax from the candle to seal it. Stuffing it inside her tunic, she stepped out of the ranger tent. She patted her horse, "I'll be back, love, I must do this quietly. You're used to that, I'm sure." And with an ironic smile, she disappeared into the dark forest at a jog.

Dark shapes melted from the trees and followed.

***

A little later, she emerged from the wood again. Dodging through the spaces between splashes of flickering torchlight, she crept up to a door. Snatching the note from her tunic, she pushed it under the door and danced silently down the stairs. A muffled bowstring twanged, and the arrow found it's mark. She crumpled.

***

A crash at the door and the sound of hooves receding. In less than a heartbeat, Alyssia and Aiden were down the stairs and out the door but the horses were already gone. On the floor inside was a folded parchment and on the door was a bag hung by a dagger thrust deep into the wood. The bag dripped crimson and Aly knew by the size what it was. She opened it and looked inside. Framed by red plaits there was one word carved on the forehead: "FLEE".

Aly read the note while she wept.

[Alyssia Kanath]

But the tears did not last long.

Alyssia's face turned grim as determination set in. She turned to her grandson who nodded and ran in to wake Genevieve. During that time the Thunderlord took the bag containing the head of Skadi and disposed of it quickly.

As she walked back into the house, Genevieve was walking down the stairs looking confused. "What's going on?"

Alyssia growled, "There's been a situation...Skadi is dead."

The young woman gasped and paused, bringing her hand to her mouth, "What....happened?"

"She's dead! killed! And we have to prepare..." Alyssia stopped in her common room and looked around quickly. "Aiden, stay here and guard the house and the tavern, Gen and I are going to town to get some supplies." With that, Genevieve knew not to question and rushed upstairs to get dressed.

"I'll let you know instantly if anything happens while you're away." Aiden tapped his head, indicating the mental link that he and his grandmother shared via the resonance. Alyssia nodded briefly and watched as her grandson shifted into his lupine form, the gigantic shaggy dire wolf rushing out the door to secure himself just outside the tavern next door. He would hide in the shadows and keep watch while her and Genevieve went to town to collect supplies.

"What do you plan to do Alyssia? Are we going somewhere? Hiding?" Genevieve fretted as she got the mounts out.

"I plan on sittin' on the porch o' the tavern an' waitin' to see what comes to eat me."

"You can't be serious."

"Like hell I's nae serious! I will nae be flushed out o' my home an' my family's tavern by scare tactics!" She shouted angrily, glaring around into the darkness. "I will stand an' wait in the face o' what is to come! An' besides, if wha' the lass did say...an' the Rangers, or who's left o' them, are in danger...someone has to be here to wait for them to show up. She said there 'ad been rumors o' their re-appearance...an' I need to wait for them if tha's the case."

"But Aly..." The young woman said worriedly, "I don't want you to get killed!"

She looked to Genevieve, her emerald eyes going gentle and a deep love radiating from them. "I will nae get killed...I will nae fall to the likes of these...fools who play with powers far beyond their understandin'. I refuse." She sighed and took Gen's hand, kissing it softly. "We are nae alone in this...I will talk to the others. Perhaps they can help."

She nodded morosely, a look of fear in her eyes. "Alright..."

"I made an oath to protect you a'chuisle...I shall do so..." Alyssia said gravely, causing the young woman to nod and smile a bit uneasily.

With that, Alyssia closed her eyes and opened her mental link with Aiden, giving him one last order before they sped off. "If anyone comes, let me know immediately...do NOT intercept...see what they do...stay low..." Her voice whispered into the Garou's mind softly.

"As you wish." Was his simple answer, the Fianna's usual playfullness doused by the current situation.

With that, Alyssia and Genevieve raced off to the town of Skara Brae.

[Hodur]

...tugged at the moonless dome of stars. Aiden sat and watched and worried and wondered when Aly and Gen would return. It was hard not to think frightening things.

In spite of crystal clear starlit skies, a hot wind began to blow. A low rumble began and slowly built into a jagged grinding sound. Desire to run out into the open and look around for an attacker fought with his grandmother's orders. He crouched down further and watched.

The ground shook until Aiden thought he could no long stand up. With a crack like rending wood, an explosion of unlight revealed a figure standing before Que's Tavern glowing with a sickly dark luminesence. It's skin was pale and around its eyes was a dirty cloth soaked in places with dried blood. Behind it in the starshadow writhing snakelike was the suggestion of a host of misshapen but dangerous spirits.

"RANGERS!" the figure howled. Trees bent and the ground rattled at the sound, and Aiden wished he had his human hands for a moment, they were much better for covering ears.

"Rangers! The time has come, meet me now!" It waited for an answer and got none. A hand went up to its breast where an orb the size of an apple hung on a heavy silver chain. It glowed with an inner light and when it swiveled toward Aiden, he saw with a start that inside the crystal globe was a huge eye, an eye with a tiny vertical slit, like a snake's eye. The figure turned it's head towards Aiden. It chuckled in a way that made all the hair on Aiden's body stand straight up and the wind howled bitter cold.

The figure slowly grasped the eye orb and held it out, the chain still around its neck. Then it thrust the orb in the air and cried out.

"Rangers!" As it spoke fire leapt from the orb and connected with the door of the tavern in a shower of white sparks. "I am the Blind God, Hodur!" Every word echoed and re-echoed, bouncing from tree to wall and filling the air like a live presence. The words appeared, burnt into the tavern door. "Serve me now! Bring me the head of Slayne if you wish to live! If you defy me I shall eat your souls. I shall crush the heads of your children and tear the hearts from your children's children! Serve me or..." with a clap of thunder the last word appeared.

"FLEE!"

The light of the eye orb dimmed and Hodur laid it back on his chest. From a purse at his side he drew out a rolled paper. He turned to face Aiden and lifted the cloth over his eyes. Two empty sockets stared out lit by a faint green glow within. Aiden couldn't help his reaction. His hackles went up, his back arched, and he snarled.

"You betray your kind, son of Fenris Ulf." Hodur dropped the roll. "For that I should kill you now. But I wish her to see you die. Tell her this."

Aiden took a step. Hodur laughed. "Tomorrow," he said and Aiden bunched to spring. Hodur brought his hands together at the orb and lightning struck, throwing Aiden to his back. When he regained his feet, Hodur and his spirit guards were gone. Aiden bounded to the parchment, put a paw on one end and rolled it open with his nose.

It was a map.

[Alyssia Kanath]

The moment Hodur had shown himself, Aiden sent the word via his telepathic link. But his concentration had been shattered by the magics that had been unleashed.

It only took a few moments for Alyssia and Genevieve to arrive from nearby Skara, speeding through the fields and reaching the doorstep. Aiden sat on the porch with the rolled up map at his feet.

The Thunderlord dismounted quickly and raced to him, checking him over in concern briefly before picking up the map and unrolling it. She frowned as her emerald eyes scanned the parchment. "It's a map...and the Freehold of Mirage is marked."

Genevieve frowned as well and murmured, "He's luring you to the Freehold?"

"Aye...I don't know why..." She crumpled up the map and growled, throwing it to the ground. "Other than he just wants to try and kill me on my own turf...of course he could have come here for that." She smirked. "I don't know maybe he seeks to humiliate me in front of those in the Freehold. But I'll not do as he asks...I'll not bring him Slayne's head. I'll not kill my family for him."

She sighed. "But I will meet him there...And I'll bring those who have shown themselves with me...And we'll have to find a way to either save his soul or destroy him." Alyssia whispered sadly.

Aiden and Gen looked at eachother in concern, more for Aly than anything else.

"They'll come...an' when they do...we'll march together to our fates...intertwined as we've always seemed to have been."

And with that...Alyssia Kanath was true to her word... She walked to the porch of Que's Tavern and sat down, pulling her sword from it's scabbard and laying the naked blade upon her knees.

And she watched the forest...and waited for destiny to deliver unto her the long unseen faces of her family.

[Dara]

Even with eyes that weren't what they used to be, a subtle flicker of movement near the forest's edge did not escape notice by the watchful Thunderlord. She unsheathed her glasses and slid them into place on her nose with a smooth, reflexively subconscious motion, and moved her other hand a little closer to her sword's hilt.

A light breeze kicked up a few leaves and a bit of dried brush in the direction she was now concentrating on, as if trying to fool her into thinking she was imagining things...but Alyssia knew there was something else there...something that moved the way a forest shouldn't. And there it was again! A sort of...bending...of the trees near the ground...as if she were watching someone disturbing a reflection of the forest in a pool of still water.

Something tugged faintly at her memory as Aly silently rose to her feet and glided into the shadow of a nearby oak. Predatorial instincts governed her movements now, and her sword was no longer a blade, it was merely one of her claws. If this were the precursor to an imminent attack, anything that followed would be met with a fury it could not expect, and oh how it would regret ever making the attempt.

No longer subtle, the bending intensified into a ripple...which slowly folded back onto itself, and fell into the shape of two humanoid figures, almost like a soft glass blanket being tossed sideways onto a pair of invisible sculptures. Despite their transparency, the refraction of light did reveal a few vague details...such as the position of the arms and hands of the figure in front...fingertips pressed together like...like...

"Passions alive, I..." escaped the Thunderlord's lips in a hoarse whisper as her eyes flew wide, and she almost dropped her sword whilst lurching straight into a sprint, bearing down on the humanoid shapes as their features increased in definition and detail. She was already leaping into the air at them, like a wolf diving for the kill, when the transparency shattered, and blew off of the flesh and blood people underneath like dry leaves in a gust of wind.

Dara squeaked in delight as she caught Aly's tackle-hug and deftly spun her sister around while holding her tight. :D

Alyssia hugged Dara fiercely and squeezed her eyes shut tightly as tears of happiness threatened to flow. "Of all the faces I've seen this past day, yours was one I'd hoped to see most. I 'ave missed you these years...yer guidance an' friendship." the Thunderlord stepped back and wiped some moisture from her emerald eyes and smiled gently as she looked Dara over. "You are lookin' well..." She then chuckled.

Blinking away tears of her own, Dara beamed down at Aly with a warmth that the Thunderlord could literally feel deep in her heart. There was something decidedly different about the Amethyri, though...a powerful aire of confidence, maturity, responsibility, and wisdom that had not been so prevalent in the timid, innocent, elf-like girl that had dropped out of the rafters of Que's all those years ago. Physically, Dara looked to be about the same age as she had been...but in her eyes, Aly could see the difference as clear as day. They were eyes she recognized from the last time she'd faced a mirror...the eyes of a leader.

"And ye, Sis! By the Wave, there are nae words to say how much I've missed ye!!" Dara gushed excitedly. But before she could continue, a light cough from behind her made her blush slightly, and with a sparkle in her eye, quickly step to the side. "Oh! O'course...ye already know me husband."

The sound of Aly's jaw dropping would've been heard well beyond Yew, had it actually made a sound. Looking just as young as he'd been, Kyrian tossed a giant, bearded smile at Alyssia and held his arms out for a hug.

OOC: Just so I donnae come across as rediculously arrogant, I though I should mention that Aly actually wrote the paragraph 4th from the bottom. ^o^

[Alyssia Kanath]

There were no words in any language known to man or ...any race for that matter...to explain the look of shock on Alyssia's face as she looked between her two friends. Her emerald eyes were wide and jaw sagging open, making her look quite stupid for a moment. This action caused a bout of amusement to come from both Dara and Kyrian. Finally Alyssia's jaw snapped shut with an audible click of the teeth and she grinned wider than any had probably seen her do for a good many years. "Kyrian you old dog!" The much shorter Thunderlord lept up on Kyrian and hugged him tightly, laughing. "You got her! By all the gods in all the worlds you finally got her!"

She slipped from his grasp and pulled Dara into the hug, putting her arms as best she could around both of them, hugging once again. "Congratulations! I's so damn happy for you both! Ye both look wonderful!"

With that Aly squirmed from the hug and another first in a long time happened. The older warrior looked almost impossibly young as she hopped towards the tavern aways and grinned crookedly. "Come into the tavern! It's a wee bit dusty but I'll get us some drinks!" And then after jumping onto the landing, she waved them in. "Come on then! In ya go!" She chattered, tossing open the door and rushing them inside. "I want to hear all about it!" Then she laughed, "Tha's a shock to the old system!"

As she ushered the chuckling pair into Que's tavern, all that could be heard was a sudden happy yell as she finished with, "Wait a minute! Why wasn't I invited to the wedding!" Then the sound of the Thunderlord's amused laughter as she teased them mischeviously, "I'd have even worn a dress for that!"

And the door to Que's tavern closed with nary a squeak of the hinges, as if it were newly hung and oiled...and the dust seemed to clear, the forest around settled into a strange peace that it had not seen in many a decade.

It's defenders had begun to return...

[Dara]

Alyssia couldn't help but laugh as Kyrian dove for the nearest keg of Indra's Winter Ale, and Dara dove into the rafters with a graceful vault off a windowsil, and began gliding from truss to truss, over and under, almost like a gymnast performing an old, familiar routine. The Thunderlord couldn't tell for sure, but suspected that her eyes were closed, and she was wrapped in a warm blanket of memory.

"AHHHH! By the Goddess, that is the STUFF!" Kyrian proclaimed to the Tavern itself, having taken a long draught from a mug and wiped some froth from his beard. "They just don't make it like this back...home..." He trailed off, and gazed at the mug with an expression that was somehow both puzzled and introspective at the same time...as if he'd just realized something he hadn't expected.

Dropping soundlessy onto a barstool next to Aly, Dara smiled wistfully at the Thunderlord's raised eyebrow. "It all happened so fast, Sis." she began softly, as they both watched him take a much slower sip and savor the flavour a bit before swallowing. "Word that me grandparents' spirits were about to pass beyond the Grand Wave found Kyr and I some distance from here...there was nae time..." she continued, the frustration in her voice obvious. "Ye know I was born heir to me grandmother's Seat. Our greatest regret is that there was nae time to say goodbye to ye and all our brothers and sisters here."

Alyssia made a sound of acknowledgement in her throat as she slid onto a neighboring stool and rested a hand on Dara's shoulder affectionately. "I figger'd 'twas sumthin' like tha'...sorry ta hear ye lost yer ma's ma' an' da'."

Dara nodded, almost imperceptibly. "'Tis the way of things...as Amethyri lives go, theirs was to be proud of." Her wisful half-smile shifted into an outright grin as her thoughts changed tracks. "But I know ye donnae have ears for that...ye're after what happened 'tween Kyr and I!"

Aly almost bounced on the stool as she leaned forward eagerly. "You bet your blue elven arse I do!"

"'Twas quite a scene, to be sure! He was trying, and failing, to find the words to say goodbye...oh, Sis, ye should've seen the look on his face when I said he could come with me, if he wanted." Dara giggled, "Surprised at me own nerve, I was, but there wasnae time for e'en fear...it was out of me mouth before I'd realized I'd said it!"

"Ye think ye've got all the time in the world," Kyrian smiled as he slid a filled mug to Aly and leaned against the bar across from the women. "and suddenly 'tis gone, and ye only have a moment to decide whether to let go...or risk it all and grab on tight. I knew what I wanted to say all along, o'course...just needed more time to say it right. Nothing like a little pressure to knock some quick into a couple o' woolheads, eh?"

Alyssia barked a laugh as she accepted the mug and clunked it against Kyrian's, "Seems time's been good to ye in more ways than one, then!" she chided, with a playful tug at his dark beard. "Nary a gray...even by half-elf standards you're not followin' the rules!"

Kyrian's and Dara's faces both flushed a few shades to the red as he turned to face his wife and chuckled, "I'm not going anywhere near that one, Dewdrop."

Aly rounded on Dara, who knew by the look in her sister's hungry green eyes that she wouldn't let this point pass. The Amethyri took a deep breath, and pondered a moment before speaking, as if trying to summon the right words. "Amethyri weddings are a bit more...complex...than what ye're used to here. We are...bound." she began, while turning to bathe her husband with a look so overflowing with love that Aly almost blew her mouthful of ale back into the mug. "To a degree that we share...life. His body ages as mine does now...and if one of us dies, so too will the other."

Alyssia swallowed slowly, letting that concept sink in a moment before adopting an all-too-familiar grin, "Passions, you folk don' mess around, do ye! Tha's some serious committment, there...good on ye!"

"Well, I figured it takes care of that whole 'living alone' issue." Kyrian quipped with playful sarcasm.

Making a show of ignoring him, Dara clarified, "Moreso on his part, to be sure...as he left behind so much of the life he loved just to be with me." Her voice quivered a little with the last few words.

"And ale! What in the gods was I thinking?!" he teased, earning a laugh from Dara and a whap to the ear from Aly. Then he reached for his wife's hand and squeezed it...adding, more seriously, "And ye know I'd do it again, had I the chance."

"Truth be told, I'm nae supposed to be here at all...broke a few rules to pull it off." Dara continued, addressing Aly although her eyes lingered awhile longer on Kyrian's face. "I've had me mother look in on ye all from time to time...'tis how I knew we had to come." she reached for one of Aly's hands and gripped it tightly.

The Thunderlord nodded, suddenly somber, and sighed. "An' I s'pose you'll be needin' ta return 'home' far sooner'n I'd like, aye?"

"This tavern and these woods will e'er be home to us," Dara continued and squeezed her sister's hand, "but e'en setting me responsibilities aside, which I cannae, where we just came from is home to us as well...especially because of Thaliankovensha, who is as yet too young to cross through to here."

Aly blinked, "Who, then?"

The Amethyri's smile broadened quickly, betraying her feigned nonchalance, "Thaliankovensha...Kyr calls her Thasha."

Aly's eyes started to widen as she began to realize she recognized pieces of the name.

Dara was glowing as brightly as Kyrian when he leaned forward and added with unmistakable pride in his voice, "She's our daughter."