Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ My Final Fantasy ❯ My final Fantasy Part 1 ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

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By: Ewa Jastrzebska

The day was hotter then anyone could ever imagine. Eve and her best
friend Kitty spent the day indoors where the air conditioner was
turned on.

"When are we going to go outside?" Kitty asked again for the millionth
time. She was lying on the sofa whereas Eve played Final Fantasy Eight
on her playstation. "I'm almost done, all I need to do is get Eden up
to level one hundred." Eve replied.

"Well hurry it up. I'm bored out of my mind." She said with laziness.
Kitty was no ordinary girl. She was tall for her age. She was only
sixteen and she had the height of five foot ten! She had strawberry
blonde hair the ended at the middle of her back. She had blue eyes
that were warm as the ocean. Eve on the other hand had brown eyes, was
five foot five and had long dark brown hair that that were a bit
longer then Kitty's. They were more like sisters though and they both
loved to draw. Most of their drawings were based on mythical animals
like the unicorn or dragon.

Eve saved the game and turned it off, "So what do you want to do
outside?"

Kitty sat up and thought for a minute, "How about we go explore the
forest."

"You mean the one that no one dares go into? Hell yeah! Let's leave a
note at home for my mom." Eve said.

"Wait, you go get the back packs and I'll write the note." Kitty said.
Eve agreed and left for her room.

Now where did I stash away the backpacks? Eve started to look through
the closet when Redamenace came up to her and brushed against her
legs. She looked down on him and smiled, "Hey baby, what are you up
to?" she picked him up and hugged him. "Ugh! Red, your black fur is
getting all over my shirt! Oh well, I don't care."

She let the cat down and went back to searching for the bags.

A few minutes later she found them and sat down next to her bed.
"Let's see, some bug spray, let's not forget our drawing pads! Um...
oh yeah, CD player and not to forget, the cell phone." She zipped it
up and looked around herself to see if there was anything else that
she had forgotten. Her eyes came to rest on Red's eyes. He just lay
there watching her like a hawk would. For some reason she felt like
the black cat was grinning at her with his golden red eyes.

"Ready to go?" Kitty asked as she entered the room. Eve didn't respond
and Kitty was getting impatient, "You ready or not?"

Eve woke out of her trance and looked up at her. "Yeah, I'm all set.
Got the chow?" she asked.

"Yup, I wrote to your mom that we are going out for a hike and will
come home later on. Plus I wrote there the number to the cell phone
just in case she wants us home." Kitty answered. She knelt next to Eve
and helped pack the food.

"Did you call your mom?" Eve asked. "Yeah, and I told her that I plan
on spending the night. " she said as she took a bite out of an apple.

"And?" Eve asked waiting for Kitty's conclusion.

"She said that it was okay with her. She taking dodo and the brood to
my aunt Lorie in Michigan for the week. So she said that I could spend
the week here." Kitty concluded.

"Good. Let's get a move on." Eve said. Just then they both heard a car
pull in into the garage.

"Change of plans I guess." Kitty said. They both got up and went into
the kitchen. Eva's mom came in with heaps of grocery bags and smiled.
"What are you girls up to now? I can see that you are up to something.
I can see it in your faces, spill it."

"Well, mom, Kitty's mom is leaving for the week with Mr. Roger and the
kids to Michigan. So..." but Eve was cut off.

"So you want Kitty to stay here for the week? Is it all right with
your mom Kit?" she asked. Both girls nodded at the same time.

"Mom we're also planning to go for a hike. We found a new trail last
week and we want to go explore it. We'll be back before sunset." Eve
said with a pleading look on her face. Beata walked over to the
refrigerator and said, "I really don't want you to go off. What if
something happens to you? Or you?" she asked and when she turned
around she saw the cat jump up onto the counter. He looked into her
eyes and it captured her attention for a moment.

"But mom, we have a cell phone so you can call us anytime." Eve said.

Beata was startled when the cat jumped of and disappeared into Eva's
room. She looked up at the girls and said, "O.k. But I will call every
two hours. Better yet, why don't you go camping?" she asked.

"That's a great idea Mrs. Jastrzebska!" Kitty said with excitement.
Both girls looked at each other like gods just touched them.

"Good, I'll call Chris and he will be glad to accompany you two."
Beata said.

Eve and Kitty both looked at each other and made faces at each other
while Eva's mom called Chris. Chris was a sixteen-year-old boy who Eva
had a crush on since sixth grade.

"Well, what a surprise! Chris agreed to come and join you two. Two
girls shouldn't go off on their own with out a man around!" Beata said
with a laugh.

"Mom, you really get on my nerves sometimes. This is one of those
days." Eve muttered. Kitty just cracked up laughing and almost fell
off the chair.

"Funny! Very funny! Go on laugh all you want." Eve said. She liked
Chris but to spend a week with him in the outdoors would get her so
tense! I can't believe this! How am I to relax?

An hour later, Chris arrived with his brother Tom. Chris was gorgeous
as any guy. Eve liked him since the first time they met. He had brown
hair and the deepest dark blue eyes anyone could have imagined. He
wasn't scrawny and not overweight. He had a sense of boldness and
strength in him. Tom on the other hand, was scrawny. He had blue eyes
and ash blonde hair. Tom had a thing for Kitty and she hated it. He
was short; was all she could say. They got all packed up and were on
their way toward the woods. Eve and Kitty were ahead of the guys and
they were talking among themselves. Eve thought she saw something dark
thing run across the trail up ahead.

"Did you see that?" Eve asked. Kitty looked at Eve and then up at the
trail. "No what? What did you see?" Kitty asked confusingly.

"Oh, it was nothing. So how are we going to get rid of these morons?"
she asked slyly. Kitty pondered for a few minutes and then shrugged.

"I really have no clue. How about you? Do you have any ideas?" Kitty
asked quietly still thinking.

"How about this, we set up camp and we tell the guys that we're going
to the ladies room." Eve said with a devious smile. Kitty nodded her
head in agreement. Just then Chris and his brother came up behind them
and started to listen to their conversation.

"So ladies, where do we set up? This forest is called Hell's Arch; you
might not know what can happen in these woods. How about we save two
tents just in case we loose the first two." Chris said with a grin.

"Where are you two going to sleep, outside? Cause if you think that
you are going to sleep with me and your brother with Kit, then forget
it!" Eve said.

"Aw, come on, don't be so shady! It's been a long time since I last
saw you." He pleaded. They all stopped on the trail and Kitty braced
herself for the worst.

"What part of no do you not understand? And I saw you a week ago! One
more word out of you and you'll be sorry!" Eve yelled out angrily.
Kitty noticed that as Eve's anger rose, her skin turned tan to a red.

"O.k. calm down, I didn't mean anything. We were joking, just chill."
Chris said alarmingly. Chris walked ahead quietly whispering with his
brother when Kitty turned toward her. She had that look on her face.

"How can you be so harsh? I know that you are deeply in love with him,
why can't you be nice?" she asked.

Eve didn't have an answer for that and now she felt guilty. She liked
him beyond dreams, but sometimes she felt like what if it was just
lust and not love?

"I don't know...anyway, where should we set up camp?" Eve asked her
thinking she would change the topic.

"Why do you always have to change the subject on these things?" Kitty
asked apathetically.

Eve didn't answer that question too. Just then the phone rang and
Kitty gave up even trying to make her talk.

"Hi mom, no we're fine. No I forgot the map, but we have everything
else. Mom, this phone has a satellite link. It can map out where we
are. O.k. O.K. Mom you don't have to be so worried. Listen I'll call
you in two hours if we're lost. Then you'll take I from there. O.k.
bye mom, we love you too." She said and pressed the off button.

"I guess we're alright then. Looks like we are way in deep in these
forests. What? We've been walking for how long? Like three hours?
Damn, I hope we don't get lost." Eve said with a sly smile.

"Don't even say that! Just because I love plants and animals or I
guess you can say nature, that doesn't mean I would like to stay here
more then just a week" Kitty said swearing a word or two under her
breath.

It was another hour before they reached a clearing. It was big enough
to hold four people and enough room to do all the cooking. Oak trees
and pine trees were varied in together in the background and you could
hear a stream from a mile away. Just from the corner of her eye she
saw a black cat hiding in the long grass. But when she looked toward
that spot there was no sign of it.

"Here we go ladies, we unpack and stay here for a week. Any
questions?" Tom asked. Both girls shook their heads and Tom went to
unpack his bags.

An hour later they were all unpacked and Tom took out the fishing
poles. They looked expensive too. Kitty had a thing for him but she
wouldn't admit it. It's hard trying to get her to admit personal
feelings like me. Kitty is the best friend anyone could have in a
lifetime. We met in eighth grade and we saw that we both had a care
for drawing. She used to have a cat, except her cat was a Maine coon
tabby. He had to be put asleep because he had an incurable disease.
She missed Sweetie a lot, but when she saw my cat she fell in love
with him. Not really, but she didn't look so sad anymore.

Kitty looked up at Tom and she got up to help him. "So, want to go
fishing with me?" he asked.

Kit just blushed, "Sure, but I really don't know how to." She blushed
even more.

Tom just smiled and notioned her to follow. That left her alone with
Chris who had just come out of the forest covering with a stacks of
wood.

"Where are Kit and Tom?" he asked without looking at her. He was so
gorgeous when he acted so manly. It made her want him even more.

"They went fishing for our dinner. They should be back later." Eve
said trying not to look at him. She sat down on her sleeping bag and
pulled out a book. Just then there was a scream from the direction of
the trail that Kit and Tom took. But the scream wasn't of terror, it
was of angry laughter, she could hear Kitty swearing away. I wonder
what he did? Eve thought, oh the possibilities! Chris had his back
toward her and she wanted to be near him, to feel his warm hand on her
body would be heaven! She couldn't go up to him, he would think she
was weird, no she would wait till he made a move on her.

Half an hour past when Kitty came strolling down the path and all wet!
Tom came running behind her with a big smile on his face. Chris looked
up and only shook his head with amusement.

Kitty sat down next to Eve, she had a huge smile on her face. Anyone
could tell by the look on her face that she was way over heels for
Tom.

"So, how was your little fun time with Tommy boy?" Eve asked slyly.

"Don't even go there! Nothing happened. He just threw me in the
stream, that's all." Kitty said.

There was more going on with those two then she had explained. I
thought those two would never get together and now they finally have.
It was very amusing watching them and I felt jealous of them maybe
because I don't have anyone. Or maybe because I'm too tough for a guy
to handle. No, that wasn't it. I would never give up my fierce pride
for a guy. I'm too stubborn! That's why even Chris stays clear of me.
Only teasing when he feels like it. Probably trying to play hard to
get.

But Chris was more than just a mere boy, he was something rare,
something only a proud girl could wish for. There are things in this
world that are meant for each other, and I think Chris is the one of
those. So how am I to get his attention? Somehow I will and that will
be a special day for him and me. If only he could realize it.

After they had their meals, Kit and Tom were off in their own little
world. Eve watched the fire and had not once blinked. Fire was the
most mesmerizing thing she had ever laid eyes on. The flames seemed to
dance for her at her command and as she watched she hadn't noticed
that a pair of eyes were watching her from across. They were Chris's
eyes and they had rage of life in them and Eve finally gazed up at
him. The flames made him look exotic and he was very tempting. But she
hid her expressions and she smiled. Then her gaze fell on the flames
that reached for her and wanted her even more.

Later that night, everyone fell asleep except Eve, she tried but she
couldn't. Not even some sleeping pills could force her sleep. She
opened her tent quietly and looked out to see if anyone was awake.
Except all she found was Chris staring down at her. He didn't say one
word; he just placed his hand out to her. Without thinking she took
his hand and his hands felt warm. A tingle went up and down her spine
raising the hairs on her neck.

She followed him to a unknown path and started to climb up. She tried
to say something about where they were heading but she didn't utter
one sound. Finally after what felt like hours, the path made clear for
a small glen. The grass was knee high and the wind whispered around
her ears. This place was made up of power, so much that she couldn't
move. His hand left hers and he was gone. He just evaporated into thin
air. The moon shone full in the sky, became even brighter. From across
the clearing, there were heavy whispers that could scarcely be heard.
Out of the shadows a lion stepped out of his protective forest wall.
He didn't look like any ordinary lion like the ones from Africa. No,
he was large in size and his eyes were a startling ice blue. He
grinned at her and sat down in the grass. He observed her very
carefully anticipating her next move. She was paralyzed from head down
to her toes. She felt a warm body against her legs and she looked down
to see a black cat looking up at her. It had golden red eyes that
sparkled beyond the brightest stars. Wait, it was...No it couldn't
have been! He looked exactly like her cat back home! No I'm imagining
this and this is not happening!

"Oh yes it is my precious. We've been waiting a long time for you. And
yes, I am your humble black cat from your second home." He said.

"Redamenace? What do you mean second home? What are you talking about
and hold on! You're a cat, just a cat!" Eve blurted out.

"Please, that hurt my feelings, I was sent to this world to watch over
you. How do you think I argued with your mom about yesterday about
letting you go up into these woods? They agreed to let you find out
who you really are. Kit will find out who she is soon enough, but for
now it's you who I am concerned about." Redamenace said, "My name is
really Eden, but you can still all me Redamenace." He said, "Go to
sleep my dear and tomorrow we will start anew."

"Where am I to sleep?" she asked. Redamenace looked at her and sighed,
he looked at the lion and the lion stood up and walked over to Eve. It
looked like they talked through minds. Strange, but really
interesting.

"He will keep you warm and will watch over you. Now goodnight to you,
I'll be back in the morning." Red said and ran off into the night. She
looked at the lion that now was lying down and walked over to him. At
first she was afraid to even touch him and she wondered if it bothered
him to watch over her.

: You don't bother me love, soon we will be home together.: As in
reflex she jumped up and looked at the lion.

"Did you just talk? No I am going out of my mind! This is too much for
me!" Eve said feeling petrified.

:No I am Chris, the guy you had a liking for in the human world. My
true form is a dragon and I am a prince of your home. My parents are
gone and I will be called king only if I wed the guardian of the
sorceress. It seems that you are her guardian and my beloved bride to
be.:

"All right, I have a princely lion-dragon talking to me and I am a
guardian to a sorceress? This is all too much for me!" Eve said out
loud.

Just then the lion took on another form, it was Chris! Except he was
all nude and she felt a little embarrassed. She blushed and averted
her eyes.

"No need for you to shy away from me my love. Come here and I will
keep you warm." Chris said, "By the way, my real name is Silver, I am
guardian to a sorcerer which your sorceress will meet." Silver
explained, "Come and don't be frightened."

Eve stared at his eyes and she couldn't control her body. She walked
up to him and they embraced. His chest heaved slowly and they lay down
to sleep. Nothing happened that weird night and Silver didn't intend
to do anything. She just slept like a child, covered by a warm
blanket.

The next morning, Eve woke up to find Silver already awake and looking
down at her. He smiled and she couldn't help smiling back at him. Just
then a black cat sprang out of the grass.

"Seems like Silver over here revealed himself to you? Oh well there is
more in store for you." Red said licking his paw at the same time.

"Oh boy! I forgot about Kit and Tom! They'll be worried about me!" she
said suddenly.

"They are gone and you don't need to worry about them. They will be
fine. Now we have to get to Hell's Arch to get through the portal and
back home. And believe if you hate portals as much as I, then brace
yourself." Red said with disgust.

:Don't mind him, he hates portals because he gets nauseous every time
he has to go there.:

Eve looked up at Silver and gave him a surprising look.

:I can speak to you through mind speech because we are life bonded you
can speak to me the same way too.: Silver smiled at her again and took
a hold on her hand.

Eve understood and started to follow Red and Silver. He was handsome
in a way; he looked like the character Squall from Final Fantasy Eight
and also he resembled the Chris she knew. His hair was waist long and
was a light brown with a silver sheen in it. His eyes were the color
of the tropical waters found in the human world. Silver wasn't skinny
nor fat, he was like a mountain; one that could cover you in warmth.
This was actually the guy she always dreamed of! Now she had the
answer to her heart, he wasn't lust, he was love.

* * *

Kitty was worried about Eve, she wasn't in her tent and neither was
Chris! She was stuck alone with Tom and she had a funny feeling. I
better go check up on Tom and see what he is up to. As she approached
his tent, he wasn't there, it was strange.

"Tom! Where are you! Don't play games with me! Where are you?" Kit
yelled out. She was frightened and she didn't like these kinds of
games. Whatever he was up to, she didn't like it, not one bit. She sat
down and thought to herself and listened to the forest around her.

This is just like that damn movie, Blair witch! I hated that movie
from the beginning. First Chris and Eve disappear off to God knows
where and now this! Tom is going to get it when he or if he arrives.

While Kit was thinking she didn't notice that there was a flower plant
growing rapidly by her hand. It started to sprout little buds of pink
and they spread their petals out.

"What in the world!" Kit shrieked out as she jumped away. The plant
stopped growing when she snatched her hand. She walked closely to it
and was amazed. There was a seed lying on the ground and she kneeled
next to it. Slowly, but carefully, she took her finger and touched it.
Quickly the seed burst into a green stem and started to grow! It
grabbed the brittle earth and adhered itself.

"I knew I was great with plants, but I never knew I could do this!"
Kit whispered with awe.

"About time you found out, I was getting worried that you would not."
A male voice said.

Kitty froze and would not move; her body wouldn't respond! She felt a
tingling sensation swarm up and down her spine and finally with much
effort, she spoke, "Who's there?"

"Oh, I forgot, my name is Anorak, I was known as Sweetie to you. The
gray tiger stripped cat you so much adored, but got put asleep when
you were young." Anorak explained.

Kitty fell backwards and her eyes grew large as watermelons.

"Sweetie? Um...where are you?" Kitty asked slowly as she inched her
back against a tree trunk.

"Right above you." He said and jumped down onto her lap. He looked up
at her and smiled, "What? You look like you've just seen a ghost."
Anorak chuckled," Well for goddess sake! Speak child!"

Kitty swallowed hard and she searched for her words carefully, "What
is going on?"

"Ah! A very good question, well you see, you are not completely human.
You are a descendent of an extraordinary line of sorcery. The magic,
which you have inherited is based upon earth, air, fire, and water.
Your strongest element is earth just like the great and mighty
sorcerer Darien. He is the earliest known sorcerer in your large
family tree and you are very lucky! No one has ever obtained his
powers and it seems that he has chosen you to carry them out to their
full potential. Every sorcerer must give up his powers and he has
already past due his line in choosing his successor. Well, is there
anything else you wish to know?" Anorak asked politely.

"I thought you were dead, what really happened?" Kit demanded.

Anorak looked up at her and sighed," Well ever since you were born I
was sent by the goddess to watch over you. Your grandfather, rests his
soul, was well acquainted with the goddess and was very much obliged
to take me. Your grandfather too was not of this world, but he
traveled through many dimensions and found this place. He married a
human and had your mother. Your mother knows about your origin and has
tried to conceal it from you since the beginning.

But, when she found out about me, she lied to you and drove me out to
the country and left me there. The goddess was very displeased and
ordered me to watch you from a distance. I really hated it and I
wished every day that I would run to you and you would hug me like you
always did, but I was forbidden to until now. I'm actually a large cat
like gryphon and so is Redamenace. Oh dear! Me and my big mouth, I
have already told you too much. Let's get ready to leave, well you
don't need anything, so let's go." Anorak concluded.

"Where are we going?" Kit asked as she watched Anorak jump off her
lap.

"Well, where else? We're going home, your real home, and the kingdom
of Salamanca. The people will be glad to have the rightful ruler back
on the throne. It seems that your grandfather's advisor, Grilina has
thought of herself as Queen of Salamanca. She will finally stop
draining the land of its life source." Anorak explained.

"Oh, so I'm a princess? I thought that I was nothing special, but this
is a bombshell to my ears!" Kitty said. Anorak only chuckled and
smiled at her.

"Now that you know who you are, I better show you who I really look
like." Anorak said.

Anorak glowed a bright blue and change to his cat-gryphon body. He
rose higher then Kitty's height and he towered over her. He was white
and his eyes were turquoise, his face had features and a body of an
oversized tiger, and he had large feathered wings. His largely muscled
legs combined with great talon-like claws.

"Don't ssssstare at me child, hop on and closssse yourrr mouth, it'sss
not lady like." Anorak hissed, "Don't mind my wordsssss, they tend to
sssslip."

Kitty smiled at that remark and approached with caution to Anorak's
right side. She was taught to always mount an animal on its right
side.

:True, but I'm not an animal. I'm more intelligent then any human and
it hurts to be called an animal. It makes me feel worthless."

Kitty froze again, she vowed to work on that automatic paralyze
reflex. She looked at Anorak and he looked at her with a teasing eye.

"It'ssss called mind speech. I can communicate with you from afarrrr
and nearrrr." Anorak explained.

Kitty sighed thanking God that she wasn't going crazy, or was she? She
grabbed a hold of his fur and pulled herself onto Anorak's back.
Before she settled herself in, Anorak took off into the sky at
blinding speed. On the way he explained more about her heritage and
her new powers, but what really nagged her was what did Redamenace
have to do with her? He was Eve's cat and why was he accidentally
mentioned in Anorak's explanation? Did Eve have something to do with
this too? Maybe that is why she is gone, but wait a minute? What about
Tom and his brother Chris? Did they have a part in this too? So many
questions and she hoped that Anorak would answer them before she got
into a big mess.

"Hey Anorak?" Kitty yelled out, "Can I still call you Sweetie?" Kitty
sat up more and looked down at Anorak.

Anorak swerved his head toward her and smiled, "Of coursssse my
dearrr!" Kitty only smiled and hugged his neck and fell asleep. They
would soon arrive at her real home and she couldn't wait.

* * *

Silver lead Eve to a steep cliff and started to say something but the
wind drowned the words out. He smiled and shrugged.

:We have made it to Hell's Arch, now all we have to do is get through
the portal. Red over there will say a few magic words, well it's like
a password and the gate will open. We jump into it, oh and the gate is
at least two feet away from the cliff's edge. Just hold onto me if you
are scared. I promise, I won't let you fall.:

Eve gave Silver a look that could kill, :I'll hate you for this, you
know that.:

:Don't worry my love, it only takes a few seconds to get through. I'll
hold you closely, I promise.:

His words felt like melting butter in her mind and she wanted to hear
more. Just then a gate whirled into view. It had different shades of
blue that illuminated the sky. When Eve looked at Red she saw a huge
cat-gryphon! He was all black with golden red eyes and his feet
resembled claws of a dragon. His fur was so black that you could see a
blue tint in it and his tail was lion-like.

Silver lead her to Red and pushed her onto Red's back. He slipped onto
his back and held Eve by the waist. Without warning Red launched
himself into the air and into the portal they went. The portal warped
them through many curves and the ended at a forest clearing.

"This, my lady, is Heaven's Arch." Red explained, "Beautiful as always
and I wouldn't want to leave it if my life depended on it. So every
time you called for me and I did not come, I was here at home doing
business. You're looking at a full time father of five and a full time
envoy of these two worlds."

"Oh, so what is this country or land called?" Eve asked. She let go of
Silver's hand and stepped off the large flat granite rock. The view
was spectacular and in other words, breathtaking. The sky held the
richest colors of blue that could hurt your eyes, but did not. There
was a red sun and two moons; each moon was equally placed on the suns
sides. From East to west, it was like a compass that pointed you in
the right direction! The pines were blue-green and the grass held
different shades of emerald greens.

"This my love is Dragcoona. Finally home at last and you're here with
me." Silver said with joy.

"This is all wonderful, but what about my parents? If they know about
this place than...where are they now?" Eve asked.

Redamenace answered that question, "They will arrive shortly, once we
get to the capital. Oh! You'll love Serpent's Krown! That's the
capital you know." Red said.

It sounded all too good to be true! Me? A queen to be? Oh this must be
a dream!

: Well, you won't be queen yet until twenty-four moons pass, which in
your case is two years. All will be well and I hope you understand the
customs. You are of course dragon kindred. Serpent's Krown is the size
of three Chicago's put together!: Silver whispered in her mind.

:All right let's see if I can handle this mind speech thing! Hey can
you hear me?" Eve asked.

:Loud and clear my love and your voice is beautiful. Speak some more
and I'll die right here knowing that I just spoke with you!: Silver
said teasingly.

:Why thank you my prince.: Eve said pensively. It would take weeks to
get to the capital, but it would only take a week to get there by
traveling on Red.

Red cleared his throat and began the lands history, "Serpent's capital
was made up of humans who had the characteristic traits of dragons.
Some had slit eyes, some scaly, winged, and some with tails. Only the
royal family had the power to change into full dragons. There are four
main roads that travel from the capital. All are located in the north,
south, east, and west. They were called trade routes, but they had to
change names because of the people. The people wished for their main
roads to be named with honor and not with directions. So the North
road was called Eden's Earth, the south, Tiamalt's Hellhole, the east,
Bahamut's Heavens, and the west were named Leviathan's Torrent. These
roads were named after long time ago legends and the people say that
they sleep until someone of high power wakes them. But that was what?
Say sixteen hundred millenniums ago?" Red explained.

"So if everyone has dragon in them, why can't I see any dragon traits
in me?" Eve asked.

"Well, that's because you are different from your people. You have
three forms, human, hybrid, and dragon. The thing is you are not of
dragon royalty and this is what confused us. So we exiled your family
and you to the human world. That was our mistake and I do hope you'll
forgive us. We later found out by our historians of the Armageddon
prophecy of three worlds. This world, the human world, and another
dimension called Salamanca. The great King Bahamut, the king of all
dragons here and far off in other dimensions, wrote this prophecy. And
like I have said before this was beyond sixteen billion years ago or I
presume. The human world is still young and Salamanca was created some
ten millenniums ago. Three demons are said to destroy together, in
Dracgoon there is a mighty sorcerer called Verandah. He is old as time
it's self and we are surprised that he is still alive and well young
like Silver over here. The way he sustains his life if by blood magic.
He kills off anyone and steals his or her life source and youth. The
witch is nothing to us, she calls herself the ruler of Salamanca,
which she is not. She drains the lands resources and the people in it.
She was created by Verandah himself. The third and final is a demon, a
demon in disguise as an average ordinary human. One that we cannot
track down. Only the guardian can sense it and it seems that you are
that guardian." Red concluded.

"If I am a guardian, then whom do I guard? " she asked, "I am but one
girl and I am to protect a sorcerer or sorceress who I don't know from
three enemies of great evil power? This is all too much, for gods sake
I'm only sixteen!"

Red and Silver kept silent as they watched Eve try to organize her
problems and questions. They felt sorry for her. She had such a burden
to carry and there was no way to ease it. She had to be taught how to
change quick, she had forgotten since she was a new born infant and if
she doesn't all three worlds were doomed to hell.

"So how do I do this changing?" Eve finally asked. She looked very
afraid and this was all too new to her. They sat there thinking for a
while and then Silver spoke up.

"Actually we don't know how to teach you. I don't think anyone knows
how to. Probably the wizard but we will only find out once we enter
the capital. So let us not waste time but use it wisely. That is what
my father always told me."

Everyone got up onto Red's back and off they flew into the evening
sky.

* * *

Kitty awoke slowly and tried to remember where she was. Oh yes, she
was with Sweetie, her cat. Well, cat-gryphon, but what woke her was
Sweetie's snore!

"Sweetie? Where are we? Are you awake?" Kitty asked as she caressed
his furry head.

"Oh...what isss it? Iss ssssomething wrong?" he asked sleepily.

"No, I was wondering where we were, that's all." Kitty answered. She
waited for him to suck his tummy in and yawn.

"We're ssstill in the human world, but rrrright where we should be.
This is where we will leave." He said and looked at Kitty, she had a
confused look, "This issss where we open the portal to the country of
Sssalamanca. Actually it'ssss like a whole big continent about the
size of Asia!"

"Oh, that's new to my ears. So is there anything I need to know before
we leave?" Kit asked as she stood up and stretched. She even wondered
if she would ever come back to this world. What about her mother,
wouldn't she miss me? Oh well, it's her damn fault in not letting me
find out who I really was. Serves her right!

"Well, Grilian isss a total bitch. Sssshe will sssstop any one who
will try to seize herrr throne, which it isssn't not herr throne." He
sneered with anger.

"O.K., hold that anger for later when we truly need it. Down tiger
down." Kitty said playfully. Sweetie just looked at her and smiled.

"Come on, we must leave now." He said suddenly and started to say
something but it was in another language! The winds picked up speed
around them. There was a light in front of them and it had brilliant
shades of blues and whites. Just as she reached for Sweetie's fur they
were sucked into the portal. They warped through so many curves that
she thought she would throw up! Luckily she didn't and what seemed
like hours of warping they finally arrived at a cave. Looked more like
a temple and it was huge in size. The only lights available were a few
torches that clung to the side of the cave. They were standing on a
grayish black granite stone. As they stepped of it the lights flared
up and the cave revealed it's true size. It was larger than she had
expected it to be. Crystals grew out of the walls, ceiling and floors,
some even looked like rubies and diamonds!

"Thisss issss called Gryphon Temple. Built to honor the great
saber-toothed gryphon, Serrano. He isss the creatorrr of ourrr kind,
it wasss ssssaid that he wasss a mage with unlimited powerssss. He
used hissss own magic on himself to shape hissss body into a gryphon
and part of a lion. When he liked what he ssssaw he created morrrre,
merging humansss with catsss and hawksss. That'sss how he got
diverssse breedsss of gryphonsss and I am hissss full-blooded
dessscendant! " Anorak said proudly.

"Thanks for the history lesson, so where do we go from here?" Kit
asked.

Anorak shook his head and sat down, "Earlier I was told that there is
a royal party or as we say ball in the name of this queen, which I
despise a lot, anyway, I plan to sneak you in as a daughter to one of
the royal families from the south. With your fair skin, you should be
able to blend in with others. I have already saved a gown for you. I
hope you love emerald and by the way the party is tonight. There is a
hot spring in one of the cave's chambers; you can clean up there. Time
flies fast so I advise you to go now." Anorak said.

Kitty looked at Anorak with suspicion, wondering if she should go or
not.

"Don't worrrry I won't look, you prrrrobably look the ssssame when you
werrre youngerrrr...oops. That wasss not meant to come out." Anorak
said in a blushing manner.

"I knew you watched me when I was young, you'll get what's coming to
you later. Where's this dress?"

"It'sss by the hot pool. And...I didn't mean to look... you were just
there, I couldn't help it." Anorak said.

Kitty stomped off and Anorak chuckled under his breath. His baby was
all growing up!

Kitty stripped her clothes off and hung them over a stool that was
sitting against the wall. The water was hotter than she expected and
she was relieved to find that it didn't burn her. At the side of the
pool she found a bowl full of white shiny stuff, and beside the bowl
she found a note. This is shampoo from the human world. What do you
call it? Suave? Have fun! There is some herbal lavender scented soap
at the other side. Kitty smiled and started a lather on her skin with
the soap. To her surprise it smelled good and her tense muscles
relaxed! She took her time and cleaned herself off with a blue towel
that was lying next to the soap.

A few minutes later, she slipped into the emerald dress and looked at
her self in the mirror. It was low cut in the back and feathers around
the V part of the dress. There was a slit coming from the right of her
thigh and a transparent glittering cape. She did look beautiful and
she couldn't stop staring at herself! Out of nowhere a necklace was
dropped from above her onto her neck. It was an emerald gold necklace!
Emeralds were very valuable in the human world and in this one too.

"Hope you like them...they belonged to my motherrrrr and now they
arrre yourssss. I know it'ssss ssssmall, but my motherrrr used it asss
a pretty headband!" Sweetie said with a chuckle.

"I can't take this, it really doesn't belong to..." but she was cut
off.

"I want you to take them, my motherrrr won't mind, sssshe's been gone
for quite ssssometime. Ssssshe won't mind, sshe'll be glad that
sssssomeone hasss put them to ussse!"

Kitty couldn't argue with him anymore, because he left without her
even noticing! Her strawberry blonde hair swayed around the dress and
she thought of braiding it, but there wasn't any time. As she walked
out of the bathing chamber, there was a horse standing there. Out of
the shadows Anorak appeared, "He issss the bessst ssstallion of hissss
kind. Hisss name isss Neolith and he will take you to the parrrrty."
Anorak concluded.

Neolith was beautiful! His coat was shiniest white she had ever seen
and his eyes were gold! His hooves were the color of indigo and they
had a silver tint to them. He was tall; she could have sworn that he
was over 16 hh tall! His body was well built and perfect for running!
His face had the features of an Arabian and the body of a purebred,
not only that, his mane reached his hocks and his tail brushed the
surface of the ground!

"He's beautiful! People in my old world would have given a fortune for
this stallion!" Kitty said with excitement.

"He issss of a brrreed called Lanai, a very rrrrarrre find even in
thissss world. Hop on my dearrrr, for we arrre wassssting time. I will
meet you therrrre and I will prrrrotect you if you will need help."
Anorak said and he licked his paws.

Kitty grabbed a hold of the golden saddle and raised herself up onto
Neolith. He was really a remarkable breed! He stood in one place and
didn't dare to side step on her.

:I don't intend to my dear, I may be a horse but I am very
intelligent.: Neolith replied, : but I do thank you for your
compliments!:

Kitty looked at Neolith and gave him a weird look, "Don't tell me you
can talk mind to mind?" she asked.

Neolith swerved his head to look at her and snorted in reply.

"Great! How many creatures are there in the world that can talk
through mind?"

"Don't even asssk about that. You have no idea how many!" Anorak said
and he lifted himself off the ground and into the dark night.

"Mangy cat. Well let's get a move on Neolith, the party can't wait
forever."

Neolith started at a trot and went into a full canter. His hooves
hardly made a sound and if they did, it was like the sound of a leaf
falling to the forest floor.

Kit didn't want Neolith to dirty his long mane so she gathered them in
her hand and with the other she held the rein.

: Thank you my lady, I never thought of that.: Neolith neighed with
delight and picked up his pace.

The night was still young and there were two moons in the sky. They
overlapped each other; one was light blue and the other light red and
in the middle there was a light color of lavender. The wind swirled
around her and the ride on Neolith's back was breathtaking! No horse
in her old world could run with such strength and grace at the same
time! She had to have him!

:If you wish, I will serve you. On one occasion...that is that when
you become the rightful ruler of Salamanca, I will have my choice of
mares, and to have permission to roam the castle.:

Kitty pondered on the proposition and she smiled. Instead of saying it
out loud, she mind spoke to him. :Deal, anything you want shall be
yours. Did I speak to you all right?:

: Very good in fact, you are a natural just like your grandfather.:

: You knew my grandfather?: she asked dubiously.

: Well of course! He helped my mother give birth to me! He was really
a great King, too bad he is gone now. I hoped so much that I would be
able to meet him again. He gave me my name you see, he said something
that I was as bright as a lamp called Neo something, don't remember
exactly.:

Kitty thought of what word he was talking about and finally she got
it!

: You mean neon? Those are bright lights people put up in their
windows.:

: Why would they want to do that? Oh never mind, that human world is
so messed up that no magic can thrive there!:

Kitty had another thought, if grandpa helped Neoliths mother give
birth to him than...how old was he? Could he still be alive? Could he
be somewhere here in this kingdom? No but we saw him die, I saw his
ghost! Neolith changed his direction and the castle could be easily
seen. It was enormous!

: Dear, there is a time difference between the human world and this
one. In this world he was immortal, the only immortal king of this
world. In the human world he was just like everybody else. I'm sorry
to disappoint you, but he isn't here.:

Kitty sighed and thought of her grandfather. He was the best there
ever was, better than her father. Her mom got divorced with her Dad
when she was young. Her mother married her stepfather a few years
later and they had three more kids. She didn't want to admit it, but
she would miss those little pests. Carrie was the oldest of the three
and she had the most funniest voice! Diane was second and her little
brother Kevin. She had a bet that girls would be all over him
throughout his elementary, middle and high school courses! Kevin was 4
years old, had ash blonde hair and baby blue eyes! He also had a thing
for Eve, it was so adorable! A few moments later, music could be heard
not far off and she knew before Neolith that they would be there any
minute.

: My lady, we are almost there: Neolith said quickly and he picked up
his pace into a full flat run.

As they turned the corner, the castle was smaller from afar but
larger! The stonewalls had dark brown molted vines that clung to the
castle. They looked ill and shivers ran up and down her spine at the
sight of them. Poor things, they are so drained! She had to do
something, but not now, later when she would leave. Neolith slowed
down as they reached the castle entrance. The doors were not big nor
small, they were covered with a shiny yellow metal and when she peered
closely at them she was surprised to find out that they were gold!

A small man came running outside when she stopped Neolith. She smiled
weirdly and started to get off but was stopped by the little man.

" No my lady, you must save your energy for the party." The little man
said. "Brendan! Bring the step stairs! Brendan!"

Out of the stables came a young man still yawning after probably
napping in the stables! He was a handsome man, dark skinned, blue eyes
and about six foot. He had straw stuck in his hair when he came with
the step stairs! He finally looked up at Kitty and his eyes widened
with astonishment, he looked at Neolith too with high regard. He
quickly brushed his hair out with his hand and pushed the small man
away.

"My lady, you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in this
life time! How may I be of service?" Brendan asked as he took her
hand.

Kitty smiled and took her hand away, "First of all, I don't need any
help." She slid off her Neolith's back with grace and ease like a man
would do. The small man pushed Brendan away and yelled at him to take
Neolith to the stables. Before Brendan could make a face at the short
man, Neolith sidestepped and walked over to Kitty.

"You should excuse Neolith, he hates stables. He will come when I am
ready to leave. He is more intelligent then your average horse." Kitty
said. Neolith whickered and ran down the path they came in the first
place.

"My lady, what is your name, so that I can announce you to the court."
The short man asked politely.

Kitty thought on that one and she didn't want to give herself away to
the bitch that has her throne.

"My name is Kitty, Mistress Kitty." Kit said with dignity. The little
man froze for a second and then smiled.

"Then Mistress Kitty, come right this way." He said. He led her up the
castle stairs and they entered a long hallway. Tapestries and
paintings hung on the wall and all of them had the same woman on them.
The woman had a long face with a pointy nose. Her eyes were grayish
blue and cold. Her hair was painted raven black and she was as anyone
would say, flat as a board! The only thing that gave her a womanly
feature were her sharp pointed hips. I wonder what the artist was
drinking when he picked this person for his portrait!

: That's a good one Kitty! I wondered about the bitch myself, she
probably tortured the artist to make him or her paint a portrait of
her.: Kitty hesitated and the little man stopped and looked at her.

"Mistress? Is something the matter?" he asked worryingly.

Kitty woke out of her daze and shook her head, "No nothing is wrong I
just had a notion." She replied.

The little man turned around and once again he started to walk down
the hallway.

In mind speech she asked, : who are you?:

There came a chuckling and it replied with delight, : What? You don't
recognize me? It is I, Anorak, I told you before or did I ? No, I'm
sorry I forgot, I can speak with you across large distances and right
now I'm looking at you through a skylight.:

Kitty looked up and saw a shadow hovering above the skylight window.
She smiled and hurried after her guide. When she caught up with him he
smiled and said," My name is Zagreb. I guide and introduce everyone to
her majesty. But if you ask me she is a pain in the ass!"

Kitty burst out laughing and Zagreb smiled even more at her quick
laughter. They suddenly stopped at another set of doors.

"Please remain here and come in when I announce your presence." Zagreb
whispered.

Zagreb went in and he said out loud, "Presenting Mistress Kitty of..."
Zagreb turned around and asked, "Lady what estate are you from?"

: Oh, I forgot about that...say that you are from ...from...um...:

: Hurry up Sweetie!:

"My lady? What estate are you from? Please reply now before the people
get suspicious." Zagreb ushered.

: Say that you're from Lord Gorton's estate. He has more then fifteen
offspring and say that you're one of his seven or eight daughters.:
Anorak said.

"Lord Gorton's Estate." Kit said with anxiety. Zagreb turned toward
the silent, but patient audience and announced her properly.

Kitty stepped into the light and she quickly straightened her back and
held her head high. Then the music came back on and people went on
with their business. She looked around and saw that the throne room
was the size of a football field! The stairs split in two; one left
and one right, she was on the left side. People wore many colors of
dresses and some of the people looked vile. She hoped she wouldn't
mingle with that kind of group at this party! Just then a young woman,
probably at the age of eighteen, greeted her. She had long raven black
hair that went past her knees. Her face was pleasant, her eyes were
green and her smile was heartwarming. She wore a velvet violet and
gold garment. The violet was outlined with the gold and at her waist
the gold took over the violet. The rest was gold from waist down. It
was a beautiful dress and she felt weird in hers.

: She is a pretty woman, be polite and nice unless she acts snotty. By
the way she seems to admire your dress even more!:

: Whatever, all I am here for is to find out about this queen and how
to demolish her.: Kitty snickered.

: I like the way you think. It makes me so proud of you!: Anorak said
with much enthusiasm.

Before Kitty could answer, the woman was at her side. She was an inch
taller then her. Then again, she was only sixteen and this woman was
probably twenty-four.

"Lovely evening. My name is Malaria, daughter to the queen and I have
to be honest. I hate being the princess, including that I am to marry
a barbarian prince! Oh, I'm dreadfully sorry, where are my manners?
What is your name again?" Malaria asked shamefully.

"Mistress Kitty, and I am pleased to meet you." Kit said with a smile.

"Oh, I never heard of you before. No offense, but you do look oddly
familiar. I never forget a face but you must be new." Malaria said.

Malaria went on talking about her royalties, things she liked and so
on. It bored Kitty to death. It would be a long night for her!

* * *

Eve woke up from a dreamless sleep and she wondered as she looked back
at Silver, what would happen next? They were still traveling by air
and she looked a Red. Was all this a dream or was it a joke? She laid
her head back against Silver's shoulder and looked up at the sky. How
can one girl be betrothed to a prince and how can her own little black
kitty be a cat-gryphon? Not only that, she was part of a prophecy she
had no idea of! The world that they were in was strange and from the
air the rivers and lakes looked alive! They were the most marvelous
reservoirs she had ever seen! They were unpolluted, that is why they
looked so attractive. Just then she saw something that reminded her of
the human world! There, on the forest clearing, were many deer. Her
stomach grumbled so loudly that Silver looked at her with an eyebrow
raised up!

"Hungry I guess. I never looked at a mammal in the human world and
felt like this." Eve said quietly.

"That is the first sign of dragon traits. There are four signs that
tell us if you have dragon traits. One is the sudden hunger to attack
and kill, the way you sleep, your personality, and the way you behave.
So far you have fit all descriptions." Silver explained.

"Oh, I didn't know, but can you change into a dragon?" Eve asked.

Silver looked at her with surprised eyes and took his time trying to
find the right words. "Of course I can, but not now, there is no need
for it."

Eve kept quiet and she thought a little longer when she noticed a tall
snake, no, it was a dragon's head and neck! She had to squint against
the sun's glare to examine the features. It looked so real, like a
dragon actually stood there! As they came nearer she noticed another
statue identical to the first one. They were the entrance the city!
That was when it hit her, the city was humongous! She could have sworn
that it was bigger than Houston, Texas!

"We are almost home." Silver whispered in her ear.

Eve was filled with awe as she peered over the city. The houses looked
like the homes in Russia; they were all beautiful and all of them had
an aging, but beautiful look to them. There were large inns and stores
full of people coming in and out with goods. To the west, there was a
large and vast area that held booths and a million people swarming
around like bees.

Silver noticed her bewilderment in her expression and looked where she
was gazing. He never thought that she would be this flabbergasted.

"That is one of the grandest park in the city and the only one located
in the city. This is also where trading, carnivals the size of two
circuses put together, and grand weddings take place. There are only
Siren Willows there, they look like weeping willows, except flowers
grow on them and they are a lighter shade like the jade ocean to the
west. That's Leviathan's Torrent, it is said that he sleeps there like
the other three legends."

"Where is the palace? They all look alike..." Eve asked as she
searched for their home.

"That is our great way to delude our enemies. The palace is located in
the middle but wait till you see the inside. It is dazzling beyond
your imagination; that is the only dissimilarity." He concluded.

Just then, Red made a sudden dive toward the entrance and she had to
hold on to dear life. The wind flipped around her lashing her long
hair into Silver's face. She felt sorry for him and tried to keep her
hair away, but she was afraid to fall off! As they were nearing the
ground Red out spread his wings and they were trapped onto the airs
current. The air wrenched them into a curved flight and Eve could even
hear Red's loud purring satisfaction within the loud and drowning
wind. They slowed and they past the gates that lead into the city
streets. The streets were packed with people and they didn't seem
concerned or infuriated at Red's superb entry. In her old home people
would be running for their lives! People with carts and carriages
drove through the crowded streets and Eve could even see that some
people had some characteristic trait of dragon features! The minute
people noticed Silver they bowed down repeatedly and saluted him.
There was a woman all dressed in red silk; around her shoulders there
was a reddish black cloak with an emblem of two snakes entwined. She
had long curly red-orange colored hair and her eyes were navy blue.
She took one look at Eve and hissed in rage then suddenly vanished
into the shadows of a tall building. Red must have sensed her
agitation, because he looked back at her with a concerned look. They
flew toward the palace and a tall wall of vines grew out of nowhere.
Eve thought that they were going to crash into it then Red pumped his
wings hard and gained more air as the altered their direction. They
swiftly flew over the vines and they promptly landed on the other side
of the wall into a large quad.

The courtyard had massive oak trees surrounding the quad and there was
a fountain in to middle of the place. Silver slid of Red's back first
and helped Eve get off with great ease. Red immediately went to the
fountain, sat down and started to lap up some of the water. Without
warning he pounced into the pool and jumped out quickly. He then shook
himself and got them wet.

"Pardon me, a cat hates water, but we must get clean. Our looks are
very important." Red explained and started to groom himself.

Just then a man with a long white beard came running out. He was in a
white robe laced with gold. His sleeves were wide and the robe looked
heavy on the poor man. Otherwise, his clothes ranked him as a master
of magic; he is probably beyond mastery level!

He must be the great mage Red and Silver have told her about. He
looked like an average normal human; one thing gave him away and it
were his reptilian green eyes.

"Prince Silver! My dear boy! It's been a while since we have last met.
Have you found the girl? Is she here?" he asked impatiently.

"Teramo, she is here and she is safe and sound. She is fatigued and
she needs tons of rest. How are things doing so far?" Silver asked.

Eve hid behind Red and watched as Silver talked with the mage. She
knew that he was good and kind but her mother always observe people
before you encounter. Just like a falcon observes his prey with
intensity before he attacks a makes a meal out of it.

Red looked at her again, "What bothers you? I sensed your uneasiness
when we past through the streets. Did something upset you?" This time
Red was looking straight at her without paying attention to his damp
fur.

"It's nothing really, I saw a woman in the crowd and she hissed at me
angrily. What did I do? I don't know and she was weird!" Eve
explained.

"What did she look like? Maybe I might know her." Red asked her with
curiosity.

"Well she was tall, red hair, blue eyes, and she had a cloak with two
snakes entwined as an emblem. Do you have an idea who?"

Red thought for a moment and his eyes suddenly enlarged, "I know whom
you are talking about! That is Farina; she was to marry Silver until
the prophecy was revealed. That was fifteen or fourteen years ago. She
is of royal blood and her father, the King of Gastonia, was raging mad
when he found out that his daughter was not going to marry. He has
attempted to talk Silvers parents out of it and he got no approval;
our treaty was wrecked after that." He explained, "Looks like you have
a rival." Red chuckled.

"Thanks for adding that you mangy cat." Eve said as she looked at the
mage who was talking with Silver.

"I resent that!" Red snarled at her playfully.

A few moments later, Silver called to her and she walked over to them.
The mage beamed a smile at her as she move toward him and as she
always saw in movies, she bowed.

Silver burst out laughing and the mage had a surprised look in his
face. Did she do something wrong?

"Child you don't have to bow to me, as the future queen you don't have
to." Teramo explained. "Now let me look at you with mage sight and see
if you are as special as prince charming over here said."

Eve looked at Silver who averted his eyes and smiled. : Well so you
like to brag about me to everyone don't you? Wait till later
you...you...oh I don't know what to call you! But I'll find the right
words.:

Just then Teramo came out of his trance and smiled, "Seems to me that
you have a gift and I think it's the power of fire. We'll find out
later once you are rested."

"O.k. I didn't know that I had magic; this is new to me." Eve said.
How in the world could she have magic? Who knows and it shouldn't be
that much of a big deal.

"Why haven't I thought of that?" Silver muttered. He looked at Eve and
smiled as she yawned, "Come on, let's get some rest."

They entered the palace and they had to walk up three sets of stairs
to get to their bedroom. The room was so rich in colors especially
red! The bed was all dark red and the wood was a rich brownish-red.
She walked over to the bed and sat on the edge as she examined the
rest. There was a balcony to the right of the canopy-topped bed and
another room, but smaller to the front. That must be the bathing
chamber; what I would do for a hot bath right now.

Eve saw Silver walk into a large closet and she thought that now would
be a good time to take one. She quietly walked into the bathroom and
looked around. She closed the door behind her, but not entirely. There
was only a crack open big enough for cool air to come in. It was
centered in the middle of the room. The bathtub was as big as two
Jacuzzis put together! It was centered in the middle of the room.
Above there wasn't a ceiling like every other room except a skylight.
No wonder it was so light in here!

Eve turned on the hot water, poured some odd but sweet smelling liquid
and watch the bubbles form. She let the water rise an inch lower from
the edge of the tub. She stripped her clothes off and slipped into the
tub full of bubbles. For some strange reason she started to hum the
song called "Eyes on Me." That was a song from one of her playstation
games in her old world. She didn't even become aware that Silver was
watching her from the doorway!

"Looks like your having fun." He said with a smirk. He moved from the
doorway the minute he saw Eve jump and give him a fuming look.

"Excuse if you don't mind! Please leave!" Eve said through her teeth.
She hated it when people watched her bathe; it was a good thing that
she put the bubbles in!

"Why would you want your betrothed to leave? Is there a problem?" he
snickered. He seemed to enjoy taunting her and she hated it!

"Yes! There is a problem! You!" she said with unsuppressed irritation.

"Me? What have I done?" Silver asked trying to act innocent in which
he wasn't.

"What you have done? I'm naked dam it! Now out!" now she was beyond
irritation. She knew that she was a guest, but this was too much! She
wanted to throw something at him badly. The closest object near her
was soap, so she grabbed it and shot it at Silver. He dodged it just
in time and he started to laugh at her comeback.

"I wonder how you are in bed, maybe I'll find out later, like right
after your nice, hot bath?" Silver asked.

"How dare you! Don't make me throw some more at you!" Eve said. She
ducked under the water and soaked her hair as she saw Silver walk out.
She felt a splash near her as she was under water. She quickly
surfaced to see what was going on. Eve swam into the middle of the tub
and looked around to see if something fell in. Without warning she was
grabbed from behind and was held by the waist.

"Let go! Who are you?" Eve asked as she tried to struggle out of her
captor's arms.

"My beloved fiancé doesn't want to spend some time with me?" he
whispered and slowly started to kiss her neck and shoulders.

"Silver, I'm not ready. Not now o.k. ?" Eve whispered back. Silver
hesitated and thought for a bit before he answered, "Very well, it's
up to you my love." He started to get out but Eve caught his hand,
"You can stay if you like; I don't mind really. I would feel much more
secure if you just held me."

Silver turned toward her and she blushed a bright red; he was
absolutely naked! He was so well built, just like a mountain that can
withstand the strongest winds. He slowly lowered himself into the
water and swam up behind her. Silently he hugged her by the waist and
kissed her cheek tenderly. His breathing was steady, full of life and
great empathy. An hour later after the most amazing massage Eve had
ever gotten, she was ready for a goodnights sleep. Silver was already
in his silver silk robe and he threw her a red silky robe. Tomorrow
would be a long day and she would have to be taught how to change into
her hybrid form if she could: for now she would sleep. She walked over
to the soft bed and took the right side of it. Silver didn't object
and he too slipped into bed, as he scooted toward Eve and held her.

* * *

Farina snarled in hatred as she watched through her scope at the
palace balcony. Silver was sleeping with that bitch and she hated it!
I'll get you back and when I'm through I'll marry Silver! A reptile
hissed around her neck with agreement. The snake was Farina's pet
snake called Venom and she planned to kill the snotty bride-to-be with
his help: but not now. She was tired as hell and she would have to
delay the assassination until some time later. Farina walked over to
her feathered chair and sunk into its warmth. There was a knock at the
door and a servant came in with his head down waiting for her
approval.

"What is it this time?" Farina asked with disgust. The servant
trembled with fear and took him a while before he spilled his words
out.

"The man you seek for help has just arrived. He awaits you in the
tavern below us." He said.

"Send him in and do it quickly or I'll have your head for tardiness!"
she snapped at him. The servant scrambled out of the room and ran down
the stairs. It was a few moments later when she heard the heavy
footsteps walk up the old flight of stairs. A man stepped into the
room; he was about six foot and masculine in his built. He was dressed
from neck to toe in black leather and his eyes pierced her with green
intensity. There was evil and mischief in those eyes. So sharp that
there would was no doubt of innocence in them. He was a killer and a
good one at that. His nose was pointy and his eyebrows arched. There
was a scar as long as her forefinger on the left side of his face,
which gave way to his fierceness that permanently, creased themselves
into his face. He was from a far and near handsome, but not like
Silver Draconlin.

"I hear ye sent for me? What is it that the lady wants?" he asked in a
heavy voice.

"Sir, you have been called the "Cold Killer", "Silent Demon", and "No
Mercy Assassin." Well, I have a proposition for you, my good sir, to
assassinate the future queen of Dragcoona. Can you handle it?" Farina
asked as she petted Venom's head.

The man smiled evilly and nodded, "What will I get in return milady?"
he asked with mischief in his eyes. He eyed her carefully and
straightened his back, "Well, what shall be my reward?"

Farina glanced at him and smiled," Five hundred thousand Gils after
you assassinate her, and for you not to betray my wish, how about I
split the bargain for you. I'll pay you two hundred fifty thousand
after you kill that bitch and the other half will be paid to you now."
She said.

The man looked at her with a confusing look and watched as she got up
and put Venom back into her basket. She walked over to him and ripped
his shirt open.

"Milady is this part of our bargain?" he asked with a smile.

"Like I said, I am worth more than money itself. Now get comfortable
and I'll be with you in a moment." Farina said.

Farina walked over top the door and locked. She closed the balcony
doors and walked over to the guy. On the way she stripped off her
cloak, then her dress, she was stark naked and the man smiled even
more.

"I haven't had a woman in quite some time." The lights were turned off
and the heat of the night started to cool down.

* * *

Kitty was getting fed up at this party and Malaria had introduced her
to almost everyone except the queen. Anorak kept her company during
the little chatter she had with people. He told her what to say and
how to act; that was very helpful!

Suddenly trumpets rang and the air quavered at their sharp tremble.
That meant that the queen would make her appearance now. And what time
was it? Midnight probably and Kit's feet hurt like hell. The throne
doors opened and a lady dressed in dark mauve velvet stepped in. She
had a metallic shady gray cloak around her shoulders. It seemed like
it would clobber her to the floor. It was so lengthy that three pages
held it above ground following her. Her eyes were so bitter and when
the woman scanned the horde, her eyes met hers. That sent a terrible
chill up and down her spinal column. The fraud sat down on the throne
and waved her hand for the ball to go on.

The throne was her grandfather's! It was made up of gold and the legs
of the chair were the paws of a lion. The back of the chair was a
cobalt velvet cushion and the hands of a dragon with its claws
stretched out above. In those claws was an emerald the size of a
football!

"Mistress Kitty? Are you all right? I guess you have never seen my
mother." She laughed out loud, "Come on we must tend to the guests!"
Malaria grabbed her hand and pulled her away.

: We need to assassinate her. That bitch is one of the three demons
and I feel sorry for her daughter. She seems to have taken a liking to
you. Be careful not to form a strong friendship or everything will go
out of place.: Anorak mumbled cautiously.

: Don't worry Sweetie, I won't trust Me.: Kitty spoke back as she
walked through the crowd.

: That's what you said when you were seven. "Oh trust me sweetie you
won't get hurt" and to think I did! My poor tail hurt after you tied
me to that tree branch!: Anorak complained.

Kitty smiled at that memory and finally strayed her attention onto
Malaria. She was a kind woman, too bad that her mother was a witch.
She couldn't wait to get her throne back! An hour later Malaria and
kit stepped out onto the balcony.

"You know what? I hate being a princess! I wish I could do what I love
most, but mother doesn't approve of It." she said with a sigh.

"What won't she approve of? If you don't mind my asking, do you?" Kit
asked.

"Well, I want to travel around the world and other dimensions. I have
a gift and I want to use it for the good of everything." Malaria
explained.

"What's this gift? By the way how many gifts are there?" Kit asked
curiously. Malaria smiled, "There are about seven gifts and four rare
ones. Premonition, mind speech, earth sense, empathy, healing, demon
sense, and people with a gift of logic." She started, "Premonition can
be two types: seeing the future or seeing what will happen in the not
so distant future. Mind speech can be strong or weak and it can be
used between people. Earth sense is not that important. Minor witches
and wizards use it; they feel the earth like they feel their own body.
Empathy is more valuable than others. You can sense people's feelings
and you can help them recover from sadness and so on."

"So you're saying all this exists? I never imagined anything like this
and what about the others?" Kit asked anxiously.

"I can see that this is the first time anyone has explained to you
about these gifts." She chuckled, " Healing is very important, our
healers are skilled in taking care of plagues, broken bones headaches
and so on. Demon sense is the most dangerous, but helpful of all. It
can help you detect where a demon is or when it is coming. The danger
is that the person who has this will endure a lot of pain. The last
gift of all is the gift of logic. It's not actually a gift, but the
amount of intelligence a person holds."

"Then what is your gift might I ask?" kit questioned.

"You mean gifts; I have three gifts...empathy, healing, and mind
speech. The strongest is healing and that is why I want to help
people. Mother says she would rather eat dirt then she her little girl
grow up to be a healer instead of a powerful sorceress. She gets me so
mad and I just want to strangle her!" Malaria yelled out.

" I know how you feel, my mother always wants me to do what she plans
for me. Is there a way to know if you have a mage gift?" Kit asked.

Malaria looked at her and nodded, "Why do you want me to see if you
have any?"

"Sure, if it is all right with you." She started.

"Of course not! Here just give me a minute while I trance." Malaria
said. Kitty stood straight and didn't move. It took only a few moments
when malaria came out of her second sight. She looked at Kit and there
was fear in her eyes. She stepped back and finally took some air.

"What's wrong?" kit asked as she watched Malaria's expression widen
with fright.

"You have...I...I never seen so much power in all my life! You have
one of the rare gifts! The gift of life! You also have some other
gifts but they are small; one is earth sense and a bit of healing."
Malaria said as she ran out of breath, "Your more powerful than my
mother! Did you know that, did you know that you are a sorceress?"

Kitty nodded and looked away, "I knew, my bloodline is of royalty;
dates back to the great Sorcerer Darien."

"The Sorcerer Darien ? I've read books about him, he's a great legend
here." Malaria asked with eyes the size of lollypops.

"Yup, nothing personal but I hate your mom she is... no offense, but
she is a bitch who sits on that throne without my grandfather's
authority." Kit said.

: What in the world are you doing! She'll find out about you!
Everything will go wrong!: Anorak screamed with fury.

: I know what I'm doing. She is good, not like Grilina.: Kitty
responded back. Kitty heard him groan and murmur something.

"To tell you the truth I despise her too. Rumor has it that she
murdered my father for blood magic. All I remember of him is his sea
green eyes, but if you have a plan, then enlighten me; I would like to
exonerate her myself." Malaria said crossly.

Kitty explained to her who she really was and what she had in store
for the impostor.

Suddenly there was a shrill voice from inside that stopped the party.
It was Grilina's. Kit and Malaria ran inside to see what was going on.
Grilina was smiling as the guards dragged in a young man. To her
surprise it was the man that helped her when she arrived! Everyone was
still and Malaria was in shock when they dragged him up to the queen
and stated his felony.

"He has committed a crime of theft and attempted murder!" the guard
yelled out, "Oh mighty queen, what will be his punishment?"

Grilina stood up and walked over to Brendan. She had a very satisfied
smile on her as she came closer to him. "Now you will never be with my
daughter ever again," she whispered. "The penalty for theft and
attempted murder is death itself. Take him away!" she snarled.

"No!" Malaria yelled out, "Mother don't! I beg of you!" Malaria ran
and knelt on her knees in front of Grilina. "Mother I love Brendan;
please don't please!"

"Get back in your place! You will do as I say!" Grilina snapped. The
crowd murmured and gave Grilina uneasy looks. "The party is over! Get
the hell out of my castle!"

Men and women all looked shocked as ever and left with their noses up
in the air. Kitty stayed in one place and was too stubborn enough to
move. Grilina didn't see her and started to lecture Malaria for
inexcusable behavior. Just then Malaria stood up and must have
whispered something, for Grilina slapped her. Kitty was getting livid
then ever and she didn't know if she could seize her temper. Malaria
spat in her mother's face and she got another hit in return.

"I can hit you all I want!" Grilina yelled out loud. "No one can stop
me and your father isn't here to protect you!"

"Leave her alone!" Kitty shouted out with ire. She took a few steps
toward Grilina and gave her a dirty look.

"Who are you to tell me what to do!" Grilina yelled. She stepped away
from Malaria and stood facing Kitty.

"The rightful queen of Salamanca! That's who!" Kitty said without
thinking. Grilina backed up a step with surprise.

Kitty could hear Sweetie groaned, : I'm coming to help out Kit.
You'rrre going to need It.: Just then the wind swirled into the throne
room and Anorak flew in. He landed next to Kit in combat mode. His fur
stood at their ends and his claws were out spread grinning at Grilina.

"Anorak! I thought I destroyed you!" she hissed. She took another step
back, "Guards! slay them all!" Three guards came tearing into the
Great Hall with crossbows and swords. They took a second look at
Anorak and stepped back. They looked back to Grilina with unsureness,
but all they got was a commanding glare.

"Kitten, get Malaria! Hurry!" Anorak commanded. He put up his
strongest shields and instead of harming the guards, he augmented his
size over them, making them demoralized. Kitty ran toward Malaria and
pulled the frightened woman off her knees. They ran toward Anorak and
jumped onto his back, while he tried to scare off the guards.

"Wait! We have to get Brendan! I can't leave my beloved! Please?"
Malaria pleaded.

Kitty rolled her eyes and nodded, "Sweetie, we need to get Brendan!"
she said. Anorak groaned again and raised himself into the air. They
flew past the guards and into the hallway, where they saw Brendan
getting dragged down a flight of stairs. He seemed to already know
what was going on. One of the guards was cursing with anger, for
Brendan gave him a facial lift! He hit the other guard and ran toward
Anorak.

A ball of green magic was hurled past them, but somehow Brendan
managed to escape it by a matter of inches. Grilina screamed in the
background for missing and hurled two more after she regained some
strength. Anorak threw mage bolts to counter attack the witch. His
magic was deteriorating her shields by the minute. The question was,
where did she get all that strength? It troubled Kitty and she would
have to ask Sweetie once they escaped...or would they? They flew
quickly back into the great hall and toward the balcony doors. Another
ball of light flew by and Anorak swerved just in time, but it wasn't
enough. Kitty was hit in the back of her head. She fell to the floor
shaking her head and trying to get her focus back in order. As Kitty
looked up, she saw that Grilina was sustaining all of her
concentration on Anorak. That gave her an opportunity to strike back.

: Don't you dare try to think about it! You do that and I'll never
speak to you again! I'll send you back to your mother's if there is
anything left of you!: Anorak growled in her head, sending her an
image.

She ignored him, she didn't know why she was angry at being attacked!
As she reached the throne, the emerald she saw glowing vibrated even
more at her approach. It distracted her long enough to take her mind
off the woman. To her surprise, it started to sing and she swore that
it said, "Come to me..."

: You heard me correctly my love, I've been waiting for you...Grab me
and run! Hurry!:

Without thinking, she carefully touched it, then took a hold of the
crystal. As she brought it out of the protected shield of the claws,
it turned into a small necklace. It was shaped like a leaf; a gold
twine was attached to it and she threw it over her head and onto her
neck. It pulsed with pleasure and she felt raw power fill her up in
seconds.

: Now my darling, run! Anorak will be all right; Neolith is outside
waiting for you.: the husky male voice explained.

She ran out onto the balcony, down a flight of stairs, and as
promised, Neolith was there. He pawed the earth with frustration as
she jumped up onto his back. Overhead she heard Anorak's wing beats as
he soared higher into the air. They raced on, but she remembered
hearing a voice from the palace screaming revenge. She held on tightly
to Neolith's back. She tucked herself into a tight ball and fell
asleep. She wasn't afraid of falling off, Neolith would not dare let
that happen.

* * *

Eve woke up early, which was unusual. Probably an hour before dawn
would break the night into a pinkish-blue sky. Silver was asleep and
to her surprise he didn't snore! She walked into the bathroom and a
mage light flared up. Damn blasted light! Magic, I have to get used to
it sooner or later. She walked over to a marble red counter, which
obviously was new to her! She didn't look at the mirror yet; she
didn't want to see herself because she knew that she looked like hell!
She splashed some water on her face and wondered how do they keep
their water warm? She looked for a towel and found it on the right
side of the wall. She dried her face and looked in the mirror...

Silver suddenly awoken by an ear-shattering scream! He looked to his
right to see Eve gone. He scrambled out of bed and ran for the
bathroom from where the scream came. He saw Eve and almost past out!
She was from head to toe in blood red scales and her eyes were golden
with cat slits. The only things that looked human were her hands.
Those were covered from wrist to fingertips with human skin.

"Oh my gods...I never thought that it would go this far. Your more
dragon then human!" Silver exclaimed.

"Not as far? Do you think I see this everyday? I don't think so!" Eve
growled. Eve looked into the mirror again and for a minute she
considered her features. Her eyes were golden, hair so black that
instead of blue, it kept a red sheen in it. The red scales were blood
red and she was skinnier! Her hands were human still, and her ears
were human. How can I control this! This is unexplainable!

Silver walked over to her side and smiled, "I think you'll like your
hybrid form. Seems you just put a lot of thought into it. By the way,
there are unexpected guests in the Great Hall; best that you get
ready."

"What do you mean unexpected guests? Whom are you talking about?" she
asked. Silver shrugged and left with a grin on his face, "Come back
here you weasel! Tell me!" she waited for him to answer, but all she
got was the closing of doors. How dare he! She walked back over to the
sink and looked at her reflection, suddenly she saw her image ripple
like when a pebble is dropped into a pond, duplicating the previous
ripple. It only took a few seconds and she was in her human form.

So you like to change me whenever you want? Huh? Wait till I get full
control...

She quickly walked over to a large dresser and opened the door by
pulling the glass handle toward her. There were tons of veils and
stuff she had never seen before. She didn't notice that there already
was a dress on the bed waiting for her. It was a darker shade of
burgundy; the top was strapless and short that it ended underneath her
breasts. There was no back to it though, only two sets of burgundy
colored string. So it was meant to be tied in the back to hold in
place. Very ingenious!

The rest of the dress, which was the bottom part, was a little showy.
Now I know why Silver wanted me to wear it. She laughed at herself and
put it on. It was like a long skirt only slit open on the sides from
thighs down. You could probably see her underwear! Then she noticed
that there was a golden clip hanging from where the dress parted. Of
course! It was meant to clip itself onto the other side, so it isn't
actually showy! She loved it!

She walked over to the door and opened it. Inaudibly she stepped out,
not wanting to draw attention. Before she could take another step,
Silver threw himself at her and they tumbled down to the floor. Only
it wasn't Silver! Silver had no scent of alcohol on him this morning!
She tried to scream but he grabbed her throat, shadows started to
settle over her and she was knocked out.

* * *

Silver was in the Great hall with Red at his side. The guests would be
arriving shortly and just in time! The doors opened, a man and woman
with a child came in. The man had dragonistic traits, but it could be
seen that he was a strong man. His hair was black with silver streaks
in them. His eyes were slit and gold, the same for the woman and
child. The woman had curly burgundy hair, with golden slit eyes too.
She was beautiful for her age and the child looked handsome. He took
after his mother; having inherited his mothers curly hair and looks.
All of them were covered in light red scales, unlike their daughter
who had blood red.

"Welcome home my lord and lady. As the parents of my bride to be you
are very honored." Silver said with great poise.

"We are honored in return." The man said. His name was Davvan Falcon
and his wife's name was Bethana. The child's name, Silver didn't know,
but he did know that their human names were Janusz, Beata, and Thomas.

"We are very anxious to see our daughter, I hear that she has not yet
learned how to control her changing yet?" Bethana said.

"Mom, you mean like this?" her son asked. He quickly changed into a
black dragon with a blue belly. His eyes turned from gold slits to
red.

"Sovran! Change back, now. What have I told you before about changing
without my permission?" Bethana asked staring at him with half closed
eyes.

"I only wanted to show you. I forgot anyway, daddy when is Eve
coming?" Sovran asked trying to change the subject.

"Yes, that's right." Davvan said turning his body toward Silver.
"Where is she? We haven't seen her for about a week."

Just as Silver was to answer him, Red lifted his head up looking at
the ceiling; he snarled and jumped from the floor running out into the
hallway and up the stairs. There was a growl and things were knocked
over. Servants started screaming and saying that the Killer was on the
loose in the palace. Silver ran toward the hallway and saw Red slashed
up with a burgundy piece of material hanging from his jaws.

"What happened? Where's Eve?" Davvan asked. He stared at Red while
Bethana came over with Sovran.

Red coughed, "I...she was...my Gods! I'll never forgive myself!" he
whimpered like a small kitten.

"What happened to Eve? Gods dam it! Where is she?" Silver yelled out
desperately. Red winced from the screech in his angry voice.

"She's captured by the most outlawed killer in the kingdom. Silent
demon." He said quietly.

Silver collapsed to the ground and Eve's parents stood there like
statues unable to move or speak. Just then Teramo, the old mage came
running in; he was still in his nightclothes.

"I felt a physically powerful disruptions in the field of magic,
what's going on?" No one responded and it seemed forever before Silver
stood up angry as can be.

"She's gone and I'm going to get her back, even if I have to sacrifice
everything!" Silver declared. He was obviously pissed off and no one
could stop his rant and rave. Silver ran off into the grand hallway
and took a right to the armory chamber. He picked up every available
weapon that could kill and started to run off again when Red stopped
him.

"Out of my way friend, I have to find her!" Silver said in an
unemotional tone. He tried to get around Red but each path was blocked
off from him.

"If you are my friend, then stop this nonsense before you kill someone
innocent. You might even kill yourself!" Red yelled at him. He stooped
in his tracks and looked at Red with bewilderment. He seemed to calm
down and then he gave up.

"I guess you are right, but I have one question for you. How will we
get her back?" Silver asked. This was when he swore that gryphon
grinned. He had an idea and he guessed a better one then he was going
to do.

"Why don't we ask your friend for help, he owes you so much for
protecting him." Red said.

"Of course, Kuja should be able to help me. Why didn't I think of
that?" Silver asked.

"Maybe because your dumb?" Red said and before he could tell red off
he was gone.

"Gryphons!" Silver murmured.

* * *

Farina waited impatiently for her assassin to come back. How long does
it take to get a damned girl and kill her? Silver was to be hers no
matter how long it took! What does this girl have that I don't? I have
beauty, class, royal blood, while that wench doesn't! This was
ridiculous and shameful! Once that little bitch is slain, I'll walk up
and offer comfort. Silver's heart needs mending and I'm all he's got!
She walked over to her table and started to write a letter. This would
go to her father and he would be so proud of her. She picked up a
jade-feathered pen and began to write.

Dear father,

I have almost accomplished our task to be rid of that bride of Prince
Silver's. Don't worry about me dear father, I will get you that throne
and your future grand Kingdom. When I do, you'll be so proud of me.

Your precious daughter, Farina

She folded the letter in half and sealed it with her own blood. Then
she called out for a servant and threw the letter at him.

"If you don't get this letter delivered you'll die in agony. So I best
you hurry." Farina said. The servant nodded, you could see sweat
running down his face. He walked out of the room, "Run you damn fool!"
she hollered. That frightened the servant even more, for she heard
frantic footsteps going down the old stairs. She smiled to herself and
turned toward the balcony window. It was an hour later when her
so-called "Silent Demon" came walking through her door.

"And where have you been? You know that you are hours late!" Farina
said with frustration forming on he face.

"I had more trouble with this woman then any other! I had a gryphon to
escape from too so shut your yap!" he yelled back. He walked over to
the bed and through a large sack onto it. He opened the drawstrings
and pulled out the young girl.

Farina came closer and took a long look at her enemy before she said
anything. She observed her carefully, thinking what to do to her.
Torture was a nice option, but it would take time. She didn't have
time for games, but she had another thought...I wonder how she would
like to live in a different world? The human world should be sufficed!
To take her there she would have to construct a doorway or gate to be
precise. It would acquire all her strength tough. She wasn't a Master
yet; she hadn't reached her potential. She touched the girls face and
it rippled into the fear-provoking form! Farina backed off and so did
her ally. The girl was more dragonistic then any person she had seen!
The scales were blood red, her hands were larger then hers. The claws
grinned at her and they appeared to mock at her in forewarning.

"Bag her and wait until I call you!" Farina commanded. I'm not going
to be terrified of a girl! So what she is more dragon then human,
Silver needs me and not some snot nose brat! She turned her back
toward the bed and went out onto the balcony. It was small, but it
would do. She moved her fingers and murmured a few words, raising her
arms at the same time. A green glow started to appear and it arched
over her. Finally it shaped itself up and Farina fell down to her
knees grasping for air.

She coughed and with a hoarse tone, "Throw her in, now before it
collapses!" the man didn't waste any time and dumped her through the
portal. Then he ran toward Farina and helped her get up. She pushed
him away when he escorted her over to the divan. After a couple
minutes, Farina's breathing was back to normal. She gazed up to find
her ally still standing there watching over her. She smiled wickedly
and motioned her finger toward him. He raised his eyebrow and smiled
with glee. That was when he would get paid full...

* * *

Kitty awoke swiftly, she felt very sick like someone was warping her
insides. It felt like a portal that Sweetie and her traveled except it
didn't hurt her this much. The problem was that the throbbing didn't
go away and paralyzed her in place. The twinge, which was now
unbearable, traveled from her stomach and into her chest settling
pressure in it. What's going on? What's happening to me? I can't move.

There was a voice in her head that screamed out her name, and she knew
who it was. It was Eve she was the one ailing and somehow she felt
what Eve was going through. The strain was too much, she couldn't hold
the scream and she let it out. It was full of distress and terror. She
felt herself falling dead to the world, so feeble and the end of Eve's
warping pain came to a stop.

Anorak froze in mid air at the piercing scream and knew that something
happened to Kitty. He quickly turned around and flew toward
campgrounds. What would dare come out at this time of night to scare a
young girl? Well what ever it was it would get a tremendous shock!
Without loosing any time he landed next to Kitty. She was deeply
asleep and her pulse was low. The only time someone would get a weak
pulse would have to go through intolerable pain! He looked around the
camp; to his surprise there was neither sign of disturbance nor any
foreign smell! He came back to Kitty and covered her in blankets even
his own. She was freezing and he lay down next to her fragile body and
tried to keep her warm. When he was about to close his green feline
eyes he heard the pounding of hoofs. He raised his head to see who was
coming their way. Through the thick foliage, Neolith broke through
panting like a dog.

: I heard the scream, what happened?: Neolith asked trying to catch
his air.

: I don't know, no one hasss disturrrbed the campgroundssss and
therrre isss no ssssign of thrrreat anywherrrre. When she wakes, or if
she wakessss, we'll assssk herrrr.: Anorak concluded. : Besssst that
you get some rrrrest too, my frrrriend.: Neolith snorted in reply and
trotted over to Kit's other side. He would keep her warm too.

It was midmorning when Kit awoke, her chest and stomach still aching
after that uncanny event last night. All she remembered was Eve, she
was in trouble but where on earth could she be? Wait, which dimension
could she be in, she found out herself that there was more then one
world. She would have to ask Anorak about what happened and what it
meant. Just as she was to get to her feet she noticed that her body
was pinned between two creatures. On the other hand, they were
beautiful creatures. Neolith was snoring away and Sweetie was spread
out like a newborn kitten! She tried to slip out from beneath his
wing, but she was caught. Anorak's striking emerald eyes opened, he
raised his head and gave her a lick on the face like she was one of
his kittens!

"Cut it out Sweetie, I'll use the brook to clean myself in, not your
slobbery tongue." Kit whispered with laughter.

"Yourrr not going anywhere until you explain to me what happened lasst
night." Anorak demanded. His sweet expression changed to a worried,
but determined face.

"I really don't know, I woke up with a pain in my stomach. It was like
when we traveled through that portal. Except it wasn't completed all
the way. It hurt a lot and the pain kept moving into my chest." She
answered.

Anorak looked at her as a parent would look at their child, who made
up way too many stories. He notioned her to go on. Neolith stirred, he
raised his slender and charming head. He seemed to have been listening
earlier.

"Well, I heard or rather felt someone; I knew it was Eve , but how? I
really have no explanation for that, except that I felt what she was
going through. Does that make any sense at all?" Kit asked. Now she
was looking for an answer she hoped Neolith or Anorak might answer.

Anorak suddenly looked at Neolith and the both gestured their heads,
as if they were talking through mind speech. The problem was, why
couldn't she hear it? Were they blocking her out? They wouldn't dare,
would they?

Anorak looked at her, "You arrre bonded, that is why you can ssssensse
Eve." He then looked at Neolith again, this time his feline features
could not be read by her.

"Hold on! What do you mean bonded, I thought Eve was in my old world.
Explain, I want, no I demand an explanation." Kit said stubbornly.
Anorak only sighed, "You teensss neverrr do develop patience, do you?
Well, bonded meanssss you and Eve arrre one. Both of you can feel each
otherrrr'ssss pain and thoughtssss. Therrre are thrrree typesss of
bonding; the life bond, frrriendssship bond, and the magic bonding.
You and Eve have developed a frrriendssship bond more powerrrrful then
Neolith orrr I can imagine. The quessstion issss, how issss it
possssible to develop it in a non-magical worrrrld? That isss a
myssterrry."

"I just hope she is all right. I do get worried about her; you should
see how we are together! So many good memories." Kit said with a
smile, "By the way, where are Brendan and Malaria? I thought that they
were staying with us?"

"I brrrought them to my home and left them with Nemesis." He answered.
He sat up and yawned; Neolith got up on all slender fours and neighed
with delight; he was so full of vigor! Oh yes he was remarkable,
except for one setback; he was filthy from the tip of his fluffy nose
to his unblemished hooves!

While Anorak and Neolith went to collect their packs, Kit slipped off
into the forest. She remembered seeing a small spring somewhere close
by when they were searching for a place to camp on. She cleared the
fallen vegetation off the forest floor, so she wouldn't get lost.

After what seemed like eternal, which was about ten minutes, she found
a minute pool. Was it this one or could I be in the wrong? Let's just
anticipate that the water temperature it is tepid and not sub-zero! As
she stripped her clothes off, she slowly but surely looked around to
see if there was anybody. It doesn't happen often, but an unnecessary
guest can monitor every nude young woman when she least expects it!
EWW! Yeah, wouldn't that be a nightmare!

She noiselessly slipped into the startlingly warm water and started to
bathe herself. After that she swam over to the edge of the pool: she
would rest for now. The tension in her upper and lower back started to
relax. Not as hasty but gradually. She looked down into the
bluish-green water and saw a small school of fish. They swam around
her waist and legs in delight! She tried touching a few that dared to
surface, but just as they surfaced the submerged! She thought she felt
or rather heard voices in the back of her mind. They were trying to
verbalize with her! How charming! She noticed a flower that she had
never seen before. It was like a vine, holding little floras on it.
They looked like an amalgamation of bleeding hearts and miniature
roses put together. They varied the colors of periwinkle, scarlet, and
lavender. Kit wanted to stroke it and when she came in front of a
blossom it began to glow and the stem sprung little tiny vine leaves
that entwined her index finger.

"Well, isn't this side-splitting? Plants worship me!" Kit assumed with
admiration. The vines suddenly shrunk away in terror, or as Kitty read
between the lines. The fish that were tickling her feet a few seconds
ago were gone. Something was terribly wrong; Kitty turned around to
find she facing a tall-like creature of dirty, sinister gray colored
scales. It had eyes of a raptor, which she had learned in her old
school about the long ago dinosaurs. This creature's eyes were a
lustrous cerulean; it had a very long tail.

"I smell a remarkable young woman here, and in my own personal pool?"
It said with a irregular voice. It was definitely a male and he seemed
to be blind. It was one benefit she had over him. He wouldn't see
where she would escape off too. He moved toward the pool at an easy
walk and took his threadbare but brilliant colored robe off. He looked
like a normal human man, except he had scales and his...um...was human
looking.

"Don't be frightened young woman, I won't kill you, and I just need
someone to give birth to my children. Nothing wrong with that." he
whispered.

Kitty was taken aback at that last remark and she bit by bit turned
around without causing so much as a ripple to the pools rim. She had
to leave! Kit slipped out of the water and ran as quick as her legs
could take her. Only to collide with the lizard again.

"Dear, I may be blind, but I am agile. Not to mention good sense of
hearing and a keen sense of smell. Your lavender scented body leaves a
luscious aroma." he said. The lizard man showed his teeth in what
seemed like a smile. Never the less, she was trapped and there was no
one to help her.

"What are you? Have you actually thought that I may not want to bear
any of your offspring? Because if you haven't I really don't want to."
Kit said.

"Oh, but you have no alternative, and for the first question, what am
I? Well, haven't you humans heard of the Brisskren people? They are
all male and have no mates. Therefore we prey on young women to bear
the next generation. Now like I have said, you have no choice..." he
whispered. The crystal that Kitty took from the castle flared up to
life.

: Stay away from her...you have no right to mess with the future queen
of Salamanca!:

The Brisskrenian stepped back away from her. "What is that?" he
demanded.

:I am the guardian of this girl and if you harm her, you will deal
with me! My name is Aruven! :

"ARUVEN?! The guardian...No! Child, beware of this rock! He is an evil
spirit spellbound into that stone by the late King of Salamanca. You
must never liberate him or he will obliterate you and anything that
comes across his path!" the Brisskrenian explicated. In return, the
stone blasted out a green glow at the lizard man and he vanished.
Kitty was staring at the spot where the man stood and his words of
caution lingered in her head as she repeated the words charily over
and over again.

: Don't waste your time on him, he deserved what was coming to him.:
Aruven said.

Kitty looked at the stone with no idiom at all. She stared at it in
disbelief and then thought...green magic! He could be just what the
lizard man told her!

: What are you staring at? Haven't you ever heard of me? Of course I
used to be evil, but times change and so did I.:

She dropped the stone and stepped back a few paces. "How am I to
believe you? What makes you think that I won't leave you here in the
jungle?" she yelled at it.

: Because my precious, you will grow to love me." The stone whispered
into her mind and it sparkled in the sunlight with absolute pleasure.
: You can't leave me...you will die without me and what then?:

"I hate you! What are you really?" she asked, her clenched fists still
shaking.

: I am Aruven, a demon from long ago and that is all you need to know.
Also, know this you must release me for you are my summoner now.:

"Me? You are a beast that only I can summon? Lies! There is no such
thing!" Kitty said and turned around to leave.

: Remember in your childhood dreams when monsters attacked you? Who
came to save you? Your grandfather of course and how did he protect
you? He used me! So don't you dare walk away from me!:

Kitty stopped and a tear rolled down her face. She loved her
grandfather very much and even though she never cried, somehow, this
time one tear escaped her. Could this stone have caused her to shed
one tear? She watched it roll down her cheek and hit the soil. Rapidly
sprouts of luscious emerald green vegetation erupted from the earth.

: You see, your great ancestor has gifted you and you are still in
need of training. When your ancestor created this stone he gated me
trough the abyssal plains and made me a home in this rock. When you
summon me you, I will join with you and we will defeat anyone that
steps in our path. It won't hurt a bit and you'll enjoy it. Trust Me.:
Aruven said in a persuasive murmur.

Kitty hated to say this but she nodded and picked up the stone. She
needed to learn from her gift and he was the only one. I have to be
strong and I won't show any sign of weakness. Oh Mother if only you
were here to see what I have seen! Magic power was still new to her
and even though she felt it before in her old world, she wasn't
prepared for the power that surged through her when she picked it up.
It felt so good!

: That's a good girl. Now we are of one spirit...: Aruven replied with
a purr.

Kitty walked into their camp to find everything packed up and ready to
leave. Neolith was already waiting for her and he was very impatient.
He pawed the ground with one hoof and blew air out of his nostrils at
the same time enlarging them.

: It's about time you showed up. I've been waiting for you for about
an hour and Anorak said that we are to follow him.:

:Where are we going?: Kitty asked as she slid onto Neolith's smooth
back.

: You are going to meet anorak and his lovely wife Nemesis and their
litter of cubs. : He explained. Neolith snorted and started at a
canter going north toward some cliffs. She loved the scenery a lot and
the air here was so free of pollution! A dream comes true...

Eve awoke in an alley and she heard the sounds of people laughing,
shouting, and the wailing of children not far off. Where was she? No,
where is Silver? She was alone but where? She stood up and supported
herself by holding onto a steel fence. She squinted as the sun glared
at her; she saw that she was in a city. It looked like Chicago...it
was Chicago. She wasn't wearing any normal clothes except her black &
red dress. It was a little showy, but she didn't care. She had to get
back home and see if there was anybody. Silver and Red said that her
parents would be waiting in the other realm. She walked to the end of
the alley and looked about. People stared at her and some that drove
by in cars yelled out catcalls at her. She covered herself with her
black cloak to hide her body from the autumn air. It seemed like hours
before a police car stopped her.

"Young lady? Do you know where you are going? You seem to be lost."
The policeman asked. He was in his fifties and he had a white
mustache. "Do you want a ride to wherever your home is?"

"Can you take me to the county of Lake in Indiana?" Eve asked. She
stood where she was and waited for the officer's answer.

"Indiana? That is a long way from here. I'll take you to a train
station. There should be a ride for you to Indiana and don't worry
about the ticket, I'll pay for It." he said.

"Thank you sir." It was all Eve could say. How could she repay this
man? She heard a jingle from her belt. There was a pouch full of gold
coins. Of course! She remembered tying it to her waist before she got
attacked. Wait a second, but wouldn't her abductor be with her? Unless
he or she just wanted to get rid of me...

"So what's your name?" the officer asked as she sat in the backseat.

"My name is Eve." She answered.

"Well hello Eve, my name is officer Samuel Dresden. Now what are you
doing alone in the vast & large city of Chicago? Someone could hurt
you or you could get hurt yourself." Samuel said. "If my wife Donna
saw you, you would get and everlasting lecture in why it isn't safe
for girls your age to be out in the streets alone." He explained
mimicking a different voice.

Eve didn't answer but only smiled. It was about twenty minutes later
when they arrived at the station. The officer bought the ticket for
her and said goodbye and to be careful.

"Officer? Here you keep this." Eve said as she dropped two gold coins
into his hands.

"My girl! I can't accept this? It's...it's gold!" he exclaimed. His
hands trembled and he looked at the girl. She was a strange one, but
where in the world did she get pure solid coins? They were engraved
with a dragonhead on one side and a serpent on the other.

"Please take this. I have seen that you are a man of honesty." With
that she turned around and boarded the train to Indiana. He watched
her go and after a couple of minutes he walked back to the police car.
"What will Donna say?" he said with a chuckle.

Eve sat down in a seat next to a window. There were many men on board
and she didn't like it. Some stared at her clothing and at her but she
disregarded there fierce look of inquisitiveness. A minute later a
young man dressed in ghetto clothes came to sit by her.

"Where you from girl?" he asked. He was about eighteen or nineteen
years old and his hair was spiky. His eyes were hazel and his skin was
a dark russet. "I said where you from? Do you speak English?"

"I speak the damn language! No leave me alone." Eve snapped at him.
She stood up and sat in another seat. He followed her and sat there
with her. She sighed, "What part of `leave me alone?' do you not
understand?"

"I saw you with that cop back there at the station. I also saw what
you gave him." He said. Swiftly he pulled out a gun and pressed it
against her side. "Now hand over the bag." He commanded.

"What makes you think that I am going to give it to you?" Eve snarled.
She looked at him her eyes neutral and he gazed at her.

"Your life is worth more than that bag if you don't give it to me." He
said. Sweat formed themselves on his forehead as he waited for her to
give him the gold. He looked at her eyes and leaped back.

"Nice try! Contacts are not going to scare me." He said as he sat down
next to her. "Now hand it over or else." A few other boys his age came
closer and waited for the final attack. Eve swiftly grabbed him by the
throat and held him in the air. He struggled to get her hands off him
but she was too strong. A sixteen-year-old girl was holding him in the
air single handedly!

"Now I don't want to hurt you, but leave me alone because you don't
know who you are messing with!" She hurled him down across the aisle
and watched him run off with his crew. Other people gawked at her in
alarm, how could a young delicate looking teen like that find the
potency to throw a guy across the aisle? They averted their eyes very
quickly as she peered at them with piercing brown eyes. Those eyes
could ice over ones soul to death.

Pathetic humans! Eve sneered in thought as she sat down in her seat
again. She felt anger coming back to her...before she found out about
the other world; she was a young girl who wanted to be something more
than a human being. Since the age of thirteen she started to hate
humans except for one person and that was Kitty: Her one and true
friend. Where was she now? Probably stuck with Tom somewhere, but if
Chris was Silver, then who was or is Tom? Could he be another one of
her kind? Or probably just a guy who wanted to come along for the trip
in the first place. Why was she even thinking about him?

Just then the intercom came on, "We will be arriving at Lansing
Station in a few minutes." The voice explained. The station neared and
Eve stood up to get off. The train halted to a stop and Eve quickly
walked onto the cemented ground. The journey was quick, but now she
had to find out how to get to Dyer. It wasn't that far away and a few
miles of walking wouldn't kill her. She started off and a black Toyota
pulled up beside her. The man inside was very ugly but he looked to be
about twenty-five.

"I have been expecting you for sometime now. Get in and I will take
you home." He ordered.

"I'm not going anywhere with you, you scumbag!" she spat at him. She
felt a black force or should she say a very unpleasant force. This man
was very bad and maybe something even more.

"You got no choice, get in.," he barked out at her. "I'll just keep on
following you."

Eve smiled and laughed at his remark. He didn't expect that and he
looked at her with a strange face. He took his black shades off and
Eve saw two blue and icy eyes staring at her. She laughed wickedly
while she looked around to see anyone watching. Satisfied to find
none, she blew flame kisses at his tires causing them to melt entirely
to nothing including the metal rims.

"Fine luck in pursuing me!" Eve said as she began her journey to her
old home again. She heard him cursing away and yelling at her to come
back. One comment almost shocked her; he said `Come back you dragon
bitch!' How did he know about that...unless he is something more than
a measly little human? On her way there she got more catcalls and
outrageous remarks. She wondered if Silver did love her and again the
question struck her like a cold dagger, was it love or just lust? She
knew that he loved her; the question was did she love him back? It
seemed like he wasn't the one. She shook her head as she finally
approached her old abode. She entered the back door because the front
entrance was locked. Her parents were gone and so was her little
annoying brother. They must have gone to the dragon kingdom after all.
She became a bit lonely as she searched the fridge for something
edible to eat. She found a few leftover perrogi. Eve placed them into
the microwave and set it on two minutes. She stared at the clock to
see that it was eleven twenty-seven p.m. The little light on the phone
was blinking rapidly and she knew that there must have been at least a
dozen messages waiting. She pressed the start button and heard a few
guys talking about fixing a car and they needed her father's help.
Then came a strange breathing sound and a raspy but harsh voice crept
through the speakers.

"I know you will hear this soon Eve...I'm waiting for you and I'm
watching you very closely." Then it ended. The rest were phone calls
from Kitty's mom asking about where she was and to call her. Damn! Her
mom left about eight messages! Now, who could be this stranger who
said that he was watching her? She jumped off the counter top and went
to the refrigerator again. There was a ton of stuff to eat but she
wanted red meat for some reason. She looked in the freezer and found a
bag with some uncooked venison still covered in blood. Eve put it in
the microwave and ate her perrogi. Silver...what would become of him?
He was nothing to her now, she knew that and they were not meant to be
together.

There was a ring that filled the house and she knew that it was the
doorbell and so she looked out the window to see a scrawny little man
in a trench coat standing there smoking a cigarette. Eve went up to
the door and opened it a bit.

"May I help you?" Eve asked. The man turned toward her his face was
ugly like a rat and his cold blue ice made her shiver.

"Yeah, I'm looking for the girl who melted my tires." He asked
angrily. It was the guy who tried to get her into his car!

"Go away!" Eve yelled out and slammed the door. She heard him cuss and
then he tried to open the door. She quickly locked it and put the
chain on. She stepped away from the door and thought. This guy is a
psycho! What the fuck am I going to do?

"I know that you are in there you damn dragon! You are mine do you
here me?! Mine! I'm going to smash this door down now if you don't
agree to come to me. I command and you obey!" he said. There was a
long pause and Eve ran into the kitchen, down the stairs and out the
back door. She ran into the back yard and hid by her dog's little
house. Her dog, Dino, came out from underneath the car and walked up
to her. His intelligent husky brown eyes stared at her with worry. The
night air became full of suspense. There came angry shouts after the
man smashed into her house.

"Oh no!" she whispered. She looked at her dog and unleashed him. "Now
go before it's too late!" she ordered. The dog would not budge,
instead he carefully grabbed her silk sleeve and tugged at the
direction of the forest. "Fine, let's go!" They raced toward the
forest and ran until they were far away from the house. Eve fell to
the ground panting and trying to catch her breath. She smelled smoke
suddenly. She forced her wings to come out of her back and she flew
into the air. The smoke came from her house and it was ablaze with
fire. A creature stood not far off screeching and looking around.
Probably searching for her. She hissed and let the wind carry it to
this newfound enemy. The creature stopped it's ranting and looked into
her direction. It's red eyes blazing with eternal hate. Oh oh! She
flew down and grabbed her dog and tried to lift him up into the air,
but he wiggled and growled at her. She put him down and he looked at
her with annoyance in his eyes. "Sorry about that Dino. We have to go
before that guy catches up to us or we are damned." Eve said.

"Fine! Then I'll have to change."

Eve stopped short and looked at her dog. Could he? No! It's not
possible. Her jaw dropped open at the idea.

"Stop gaping like an ape and close that mouth of yours! We are wasting
time. And my name is Ultimar." Ultimar said. He shimmered a bright red
and grew larger than before. He was taller then her, his body was
black and red, and his eyes were a gold and silver mixed together with
a tint of red in them. His fur became a bit longer around the scruff
of his neck and he looked more like a wolf then a husky. His paws were
scaly and he had long claws about the size of a four or five inches.
Instead of one long bushy tail he had three and they were flaming red.
Not to mention that he had flaming red wings.

"What are you?" Eve said as she took a step back.

"Like I said my name is Ultimar and I am a Wolver Warrior of my clan.
Now he is coming and you are a pup not fully trained to fight a demon
like him. You should have not followed Red, he is a sly and sniveling
cat who thinks he knows all. I was sent by our god to protect you. Now
we must go to Hell's Arch if you are to make it alive and for me to
keep my promise. Get on!" he commanded. Eve hesitated, but when she
heard the yells and bellows of the so-called man who burned her home
down, she jumped onto Ultimar's back. They fled through a wild trail
and she felt like there was something behind them. She looked back and
saw what humans would call, the devil himself! Ultimar swore something
under his muzzle and picked up his pace. They saw a cliff up ahead and
Ultimar howled a flute like sound. The tones reached different pitches
so fast that you could hardly know when they began and when they
ended. It was eerie and yet beautiful. A large portal opened in the
sky and they jumped into it. It closed behind them instantly barely
touching the tips of Ultimar's tails. The tunnel swirled with
different lights of colors; a few in particular were so new that there
were no names for them. The seconds past and finally they landed on
soft earth. Eve slid off Ultimar's back and looked around herself. The
trees were evergreens, yet they had red trunks and they had flowers on
them. They were so pretty and when she walked up to one Ultimar
stopped her.

"If you want to live, then stay away from the buds." He said.

"What are they? They look so innocent, so harmless." Eve said as she
looked at the overgrown wolf.

"That is how they were created. One sniff and you fall into a deadly
sleep. Then the flower vines will grab you and eat you up. When the
season turns they will wilt and that is when they are good to eat or
good enough to make medicine out of them." He explained. Eve backed
away and came up against Ultimar.

"What is going on? Who are you, I mean why am I being met by strange
creatures like you and Diana...was she just like you?" she asked.
Diana was her first best friend and a good dog at that too. Oh how she
missed her...

"Yes, my mother was just like me sent by the Wolver clan to protect
you. Then my father came a few years back and that is how I came to
be. The others like my brothers and sisters were stripped of the clan
mark and set to be dogs. I on the other hand was taught by Alias. She
knew her time was coming when she got that virus." He said.

"Her real name was Alias? I always called her Diana. I'm sorry. I miss
her so much and it probably pained you to see her go." Eve said and
she looked down on the ground. When she raised her head Ultimar wasn't
looking at her.

"The week before her death father came and stripped her of the Wolver
clan mark and turned her completely dog. Her spirit flew with my
father back home and now she rests where she belongs. Then a year back
I heard that my father died against a Pithead. He died a warrior and
he was honored, yet I wish he was alive."

"What's a Pithead? " Eve asked.

"A Pithead is a kind of lake snake. It dwells in lakes and rivers.
Very dangerous but very dumb when it comes to strategy. Old Farsi
somehow managed to kill my father. Poor Xenon." Ultimar said. "Anyhow,
we must get you to the Wolver Pack and now."

"O.k." Eve said and she hopped onto Ultimar's back and hung on as they
blurred into the forests. Eve fell asleep on his back and awoke at the
sound off low murmuring. She opened her eyes and came face to face
with curious little Wolver pups. They were all different colors and
some were beautiful. One in particular was a black and silver pup. No,
it was a young adult when she took a closer look at him. He looked at
her with his green flaming cat like eyes and she backed away and ran
into Ultimar's Fur.

"What's wrong pup? What has frightened you so? Surly theses cubs have
not!" he whispered.

"No, it's not the cubs..." she looked up at Ultimar, "It's that Wolver
over there sitting by a dead tree." She explained. They both looked at
the place Eve described and saw nothing.

"There's no one there. How did he look like?" Ultimar asked. Eve
explained to him the young Wolvers features and his eyes became
serious.

"That was not one of our clan and our clan is the only species in all
dimensions. There are about a million of us in this world and I know
all by heart. Well, not really but green eyes do not run in our
tribe." Ultimar said with an unease tone. One of the cubs came to them
and he looked remarkable. His fur was yellow and pure gold with
flames. His eyes were azure with the tint of indigo in them.

"The king has sent for you, Great Warrior Prince Ultimar." The pup
said and he bowed before Ultimar.

"Tell my uncle that I shall meet him when the suns combine." Ultimar
said. The servant nodded and left at a run. Eve looked at him and
smiled.

"Prince? What's that all about?"

"Well, my father was King and when he died I didn't want the throne so
I gave it to my uncle from my mother's side. That doesn't mean that he
is greater then me. I have the right to command him if I want, that is
part of the Wolver Law. Now come." He said as he stood up onto all
fours.

Eve did as he said and followed him through the forested city. The
wolvers had dens everywhere, not to mention that some looked like
hybrids. They stood on to legs like werewolves! They had wings and
they had all different colors. They looked like flaming angels! The
thing was everywhere she looked the people glared at her with hate.
She became uneasy and walked closer to Ultimar.

"Can you change into a hybrid? Like the rest of your kin?" Eve asked
as she looked away from a hybrid wolf woman carrying her pups. When
she looked at Ultimar he was already in hybrid. She jumped and he
smiled at her. His wings were beautiful and damn! He was well built
too!

"Did I frighten you my dragoness?" he asked and chuckled when she
stared at him in awe.

"No, it's just that you are so..." But she finished it with a smile.
She blushed and changed the subject. "So what's the name of the city?"

"This beautiful haven is called Wolver. Just like our race. This was
the birth of my great long ago grandfather and you don't want to know
how many greats!" he explained with a laugh. He went onto explaining
his family history and when he was about to explain her about they
came to her old world, Eve was hit by a rock in the back of the head.
She cried a chilling sound that only her hybrid form could manage.

"Eve!" Ultimar yelled out. He knelt by Eve's body and propped her head
onto his lap. He glared around and saw young Wolver clansmen staring
back.

"You!" he said and laid Eve down back onto the smooth soft moss
covered ground. "What do you think you just did!?"

"She is an outsider old Wolver, give her to us so we can kill her."
One wolver demanded.

"How dare you talk to me that way!" Ultimar growled. He was vexed
beyond the average temper of anger and his cat claws itched to strip
them of their hides.

"What are you going to do? Whip us with your tails?!" they sneered.
"Hand over the demon, our race has no place for demons like her. Look
at her, she is of dragon kin! Who knows maybe the devils own!" another
yelled.

"I command you to leave! Or I shall strip your hides and leave them in
the suns to dry out!" he warned.

"Command? Who do you think we are?" one with a deeper voice asked. He
must be the leader, Ultimar thought. This young pup was almost as tall
as he and his wild long red and black hair swayed behind him. His
wings were a green fire and his fur all black. His eyes were a blood
shot red.

"I am Prince Ultimar and as your prince consort, I command that you
leave or face exile." Ultimar said.

"Prince Ultimar doesn't exist, he became a humans creature way back
and died of disease. You are not the famous warrior that dates back
since I was ever born a cub." The leader said.

"Correction Siver, that is my nephew that you are talking about and he
stands before you." A gruff voice said from the pack. Hybrids and full
forms alike spread a path for the King. He slowly walked through,
taking one paw slowly with confidence. Siver bowed down, "Your
majesty, this imposter brings an outcast and demon into our realm. Not
only that he claims to be the great prince Ultimar." Siver alleged
without looking up at his sovereign.

"You pathetic pup! That is my nephew and the Prince! Go home before I
expel you from soldier duty permanently. As for everyone else, out of
your hybrids and back to beast now. If any spies see our great secret
of war we have no advantage!" Everyone did as they were told to and
went inside their dens. King Lithen turned around toward his nephew
and smiled. "You too my great warrior." Ultimar chuckled and changed
back into his beast form.

"We have to get my mistress back to the palace dens or she may never
awake." He replied.

"Ahh, so this is the chosen one that our god has foreseen to bring us
to our great and final victory in wars? She is a human, I thought she
was a dragon girl. Where are her features?" Lithen asked.

"When she was hit she transformed back into stage one. She has the
power uncle, and don't forget that. It is all-new to her though. Help
me get her to where it is safe and warm." Ultimar said as he dragged
Eve onto his back.

"Our flames do not harm her?" his uncle asked quizzically.

"No, she is a dragon woman and her elemental sign and possessor is
fire." His nephew explained.

"Oh. I never thought of that. Anyhow, I am glad to have you back.
People have almost forgotten you." The king said.

Eve awoke suddenly and she touched the back of her head. There was no
blood but it hurt like hell. She looked around herself and saw that
she was underground. There was no light, only darkness. It took a few
seconds for her eyes to adjust and capture as much light as possible.
The last thing she remembered was walking next to Dino. Or should she
say Ultimar. She stood up and walked around a bit, until she stepped
into water. She stepped back and touched her foot. Then she remembered
that she was in human form. O.K. how do I change into hybrid? It
seemed to her that she only changed when she least expected. She heard
a sound of someone walking not far off. She turned around to see a
silver shimmer in the wall and then there was an opening. Ultimar
walked in and she sighed.

"Seems to me like you have some major headache." He said. His flames
from his wings and fur lighted the whole entire cave. "We don't need
lamps as your old world has. We have our own way of seeing in the
dark." He chuckled. "Oh, so you changed again?" he asked. Eve looked
at her body to see it already in hybrid.

"Damn! I can never control it!" Eve hissed out between her teeth. She
walked over to where Ultimar sat down. She sat down next to him and
hugged him. "So why did you keep your identity a secret?" she asked.

"You weren't ready and plus it wasn't time." He replied. Ultimar
covered her in under his wing and she smiled.

"Sorry that you were always outside...and that I sometimes did not
come and play with you." She said in a whisper.

"That's all right. For the first three years of my life, I had my
mother and you always came to play with us. Then when mom died, I
hunted a lot. Just to have something to do. I knew that you would
hardly come...I know you miss her as much as I do. The thing is that
you have to let it out. Don't keep her memory a pain in your
heart...it keeps her around you and not where she can live with the
Wolver God's paradise. I know it's hard...it was hard for me too." He
said. Eve was already in tears and sobbing softly into his golden fur.

"I know it's just that it hurt so much and I broke my promise to her
that I would never cry. Look! I broke that promise!" Eve cried out.
Ultimar shifted a bit and brought Eve's wet face away from his now
soaked fur. With his paw he raised her head up and looked into her
eyes.

"She knows your pain, I know your pain and she doesn't care about your
promise, just as long as you are a happy pup." Ultimar explained. New
tears rolled down her face and he licked them away. She laughed at
that and hugged him again.

"Thanks Dino." Eve whispered.

"Your very welcome, now dry those tears. We have to say good bye to my
mother and your friend once and for all." He said. They both stood up
and left the room. The palace was remarkable! Ultimar went on
explaining that the palace was halfway under ground, and that the
other half was above. There were more then several hundred hallways
and passages. Several thousand rooms, not including the bathing
quarters! The chambers had different kinds of gems and minerals that
illuminated the lighting. They both walked into a very grand hall that
had water running down the walls in little trickles and there were
quartz rocks hanging about three feet down from the ceiling. It was
beautiful! In front of them were large glass doors, so thick that the
image on the other side was blurred.

"In there is where the portal to the spirit realm dwells. We must say
good bye to Alias and I to Xenon." Ultimar said in a whisper. Eve
nodded and walked quietly inside the chamber. At the far end of the
wall there was a wall of swirling lights and a pool in the floor. The
ground was all marbled and the walls were covered with diamonds. Not a
crack of dirt was shone, the area was spotless. The pool rippled
outward, yet there was no breeze but still air. The portal shuddered
and a figure emerged. He was a Wolver male. Ultimar suddenly bowed and
grabbed her hand pulling her down on her knees too. The image didn't
move, only a whisper flew into the dead air. Eve barely heard it,
something else caught her attention...a shadow...a shadow of ink began
to seep from her body. It wasn't evil...it was pure, so pure...

Eve felt the pain of something pure leaving her body and she wanted to
hold onto it. :If you want me to finally rest then let my spirit go.:
Eve closed her eyes and saw Diana in front of her. Her face rippled
and a beautiful wolver queen came into view. Her body was all white
and silver...her eyes were golden with brown and her wings flamed a
pure white. Eve nodded and let go of the pure feeling that was part of
her. She heard a sigh of relief. She opened her eyes and saw Alias,
not Diana, stand in front of her.

"I shall miss you pup. Be happy through out your immortal life." She
replied. Alias turned toward the tall Wolver who stood still on the
rippling water. As she walked onto the water's surface the Wolver male
walked to her and they nosed each other. The Wolver male must be
Xenon! Ultimar's father! Xenon watched his Alias walk into the gate of
Spirits. He started toward it himself but stopped and turned toward
Ultimar.

"Son, take what is rightfully yours when the love of your moon commits
to you." Xenon said in a flute like howl. "Farewell my pup." And off
he went into the Spirit realm. The gate stilled and became a solid as
the surface of the water. They both sat there searching the wall for
them, but they were gone into the heavenly paradise. Ultimar stood up
and helped Eve get up. He grabbed her hand and she smiled.

"My father is right, I must take my crown back. I have held it off too
long." He said with a sigh.

"And what am I to do? Everything is so new to me. Silver is home with
my parents and worried to death about me I have a demon on my tail,
what next?" she asked.

"I don't know, that we must go find the oracles. Only they know what
you shall come up against." He replied and left with Eve trailing
behind.

* * *

* O.k. I stop here and even though this is long I will finish it
someday as my first novel. It will become for FF later on with certain
characters from FF7 FF8 and FF9. Plus, the Squaresoft people own the
FF characters, so please don't sue me when the next half comes in,
O.k.? Please review and tell me what you think. Do I have the
potential? *