Kiran was got to his feet and looked at his captors. He would have ran, but the events were curious, so he stayed with them. He looked at the woman calmly, "Can you feel it?" he asked, looking to the ground. Perhaps he could gain her trust and through her, the man's trust. Naclia nodded, "It's not that loud, but it's there," she said. She looked at the horizon over Marmo and saw something large flying towards them. "What is THAT?" she asked. As it came closer, she could see the outline of a dragon. But which could it be? They were all dead except for Mycen. The dark dragon flew closer and she could barely make out a red underbelly. It looked like Narse, but he had died. As the huge creature flew overhead an overwhelming smell of rotting meat wafted over the group. Naclia raised her hand to her mouth and covered it as she looked away from the rotting beast flying overhead. She felt bile rise in her mouth and forced it back. "What the hell...." he said in shock as he saw the dragon approaching them. "That dragon ...could it be?" he said in shock. He covered his mouth as the dragon flew over them. "What a stench!" he said barely able to hold back from vomiting. Kiran had the same reaction his captors did. After the smell was blown away by the wind, he looked down the road and saw two people walking towards them. By her movements, he could tell one was a woman. Her companion was taller and he could see his white hair at this distance. Then realization began to creep over him. They were elven. The woman had long blond hair, "Mia," he whispered. "What?" Naclia saw the dark elf watching the approaching people. She grabbed his arms, "Hey! Do you know them?" she demanded. Mia looked ahead on the road to see three people. One was an elven man and as Mia walked closer she realized who he was. "Fou-Lu!" she turned to him. "It's him. He followed us!" Kiran didn't answer the woman. His possessiveness for Mia took over; he had to get her back. He grabbed her arm from behind him and pulled her against his back. "You have to let me go," he whispered through clenched teeth. "That man is dangerous," he warned her of Fou-Lu. "Yeah, well we can handle ourselves," she replied to Kiran. "Now let me go!" she wrenched her arm from his grip. Kiran growled slightly, the whispered the summon for a fire spirit which appeared in his hands and burned the rope around his wrists, as well as Naclia's arm and the back of his shirt. Naclia released him when she was burned. Kiran then turned and grabbed the hilt of his sword, which hung from his belt swung over Naclia's shoulder. Fou-Lu looked ahead after hearing what Mia had said. "Damn it how could he have found us!" he said unsheathing his sword. "Well don’t worry I wont let him get to you." he said Talen looked over at the dark elf and Naclia. "Do you think we should trust him?" he asked. After the dark elf made his move to free himself from Naclia he unsheathed his sword and pointed it at the dark elf. "Stop right where you are!" he said. "This doesn't concern you!" Kiran said and knocked Talen's sword away. He rushed toward Fou-Lu, completely forgetting about the wound in his leg. Mia drew her daggers as Kiran charged them and was ready to defend herself. She was certain Fou-Lu could handle Kiran again, but she didn't want to take chances. Naclia looked at her arm, luckily her glove had protected her skin. "Talen, maybe we should stay out of this. That's another dark elf and I think the woman is one too," she explained as she took off her glove and examined her arm. Fou-Lu stood in front of Mia ready to defend her to the death from Kiran. "I won’t let you ever harm her again!" he said as he held his sword up ready for battle. He charged at Kiran and clashed swords with him. Talen looked over at Naclia. "Perhaps that would be wise, this seems like a personal matter between them," he said as he walked over and picked up his sword then watching the battle between the two. Kiran growled slightly as his sword locked with Fou-Lu's. More than Mia, he wanted revenge. He realized more and more that he would never have he back, but he still fought. Kiran jumped back and swung at Fou-Lu again, but only scratched his armor as he tried to stay out of range of the elf's broad sword. Fou-Lu clashed swords against Kiran once again. "I swear I will never let you hurt her again!" he said as their blades were locked. He pushed Kiran's blade away from him and ran at Kiran knocking his blade out of his hand. Kiran tried to dodge Fou-Lu, but his injured leg protested and he stumbled to the ground. He rolled back to his feet when he hit the ground and drew a dagger from within his boot, then hurled it at Fou-Lu. But his armor deflected the poorly aimed dagger. Kiran then dove forward and picked up his sword again. Fou-Lu ran at Kiran as he retrieved his sword. He swung his sword and clashed against Kiran’s again. He was determined not to let Kiran get anywhere near Mia. Kiran held his sword locked against Fou-Lu’s again, then jumped back and swung again. Mia jumped in at this time, drawing her dagger across Kiran's side. "Enough of this!" she yelled at Kiran. Kiran backed away from her and Fou-Lu and looked at the cut on his side. Mia had meant it as a warning, but she still stood nearby with her daggers out, ready to defend herself. Kiran considered attacking her for a slight moment, but decided against it. He looked at Fou-Lu, breathing heavily and with his sword still held out in defense. Fou-Lu still held his blade and looked at Mia as she jumped in. "Get out of the way Mia, if we don’t finish this he will follow you for as long as he lives." he said as he stood ready to attack if Kiran tried anything. Kiran still stood with his sword ready, "Well, if you wish to continue, come on," Kiran said to Fou-Lu. Mia stood to the side, letting the two dark elves duel. Kiran waited for Fou-Lu to make a move, he wasn't really fighting for anything now, but his pride wasn't going to let him backdown. Naclia stood by Talen and watched the fight. Then the second quake hit. It was more powerful than the first and Naclia fell to the ground even though she tried to keep her balance. Some of the burnt out houses nearby were reduced to rubble and several trees fell in the wooded area nearby. "Damn!" Naclia exclaimed, looking at the damage around them and the waves cresting high on the beach. Fou-Lu held his blade up ready for Kiran’s next attack. "You don’t understand anything except how to be possessive of someone do you, she has tried to get away from you for so long yet you never let her leave, you are nothing but possessive, you don’t care about love!" he said Talen tried to keep his balance after the next quake hit and he fell forward to one knee. "Damn it these quakes seem like they're getting worse!" he said trying to regain his balance. "This isn't about her anymore!" Kiran yelled at Fou-Lu before he was thrown to the ground by the quake. Kiran surprised Mia. As she crouched on the side of the road, she watched him. Did he actually regret what he did? She hoped so. After the quake passed, Mia and Kiran got to their feet. Down the road, Naclia was still watching, but a sound in the forest caught her sensitive ears. She looked into the forest and saw a large rack of antlers through the brush. "Huh, a deer," she said absently, then the beast came into view. Its throat was torn and its body was ripped as if it had been the half-finished meal of a pack of wolves or dogs. Naclia saw it's dead eyes and screamed, jumping back and bumping into Talen. In the forest and ruins of the small village nearby, came more sounds. And out of the ocean, skeletons began to emerge, long dead warriors of Marmo and Kanon who had been thrown overboard or killed on the beach during the wars of the last 16 years. Naclia fought off the shock and loaded her bow. I hope I'm going crazy...she thought as she began to fire at the dead stag that had started to charge her. It lowered its head and picked up more speed, Naclia drew her arrow back far as possible and released it. The arrow hit the stag in the dead center of its head. The deer was knocked to the ground by the force, but got to its feet again and started to charge. Naclia dropped her bow and drew her sword instead... "Then why are you following us?! If this isn’t about her then you should have gone on with your life instead of following us here!" he yelled. He barely kept his stance during the quake and stumbled a bit but kept his stance. Talen unsheathed his sword after seeing the dead stag still rising to its feet after being shot straight in the skull. "How can it still be moving after that?!" he asked as he held his sword up. Mia looked all around her and saw the undead attacking the elf and human Kiran had been with. "Hey!" she yelled at the dark elves. "There are more important things to think about than revenge!" she pointed to the undead coming up all around them. Kiran didn't have an answer for Fou-Lu, but followed Mia's order instead. "Let's put this aside for now," he said and turned his back to Fou-Lu to fight the approaching undead. Mia went into battle mode, attacking the closest undead human. 'His' broken armor was that of Marmo. It swung its broken longsword at Mia, who blocked it with one dagger, then kicked up at its head. Her kick knocked the zombie's head off, but it made no difference. It seemed to know exactly where she was. Kicking, punching, stabbing and slashing, she went through the undead knocking them apart the best she could. In a brief moment, she looked back at the others. "We have to get back to Roid! It's probably under protection!" Naclia fought her way by sword to the dark elves. She followed the woman who seemed to have taken command of the situation. She swung her sword at a decaying Kanonian, cutting what used to be a her in half at the torso... Fou-Lu held his blade up as the undead began to surround them. He ran and attacked the undead approaching them, he ran at one slicing the undead soldiers head off yet it still had seen him like it still had eyes. "This could be a slight problem.." he said as he held his sword ready for the others approaching. "Mia lets help the others and fall back to Roid!" he said as he ran into another group of undead creatures, swinging his sword slicing into them. Talen followed close by Naclia’s side watching her back and cutting any monster that got near them in half. "We have to get there quick, they are building up around us and we may not be able to take them!" he said as he continued to slash at the undead. Mia was panting from her exertions. Her daggers were basically useless against the undead which needed to be knocked apart to be defeated. Kiran saw Mia's trouble and rushed toward her, defending her with his sword. She looked at him with a little surprise, but accepted his help. Naclia started running and caught up with Mia, Fou-Lu and Kiran. "Gods, I wish we had a horse," she muttered. Then spotted the skeleton of an undead horse. "Real funny," she muttered. Fou-Lu continued slashing and tearing into the undead creatures. One of them swung their swords slashing Fou-Lu in his side. "Damnit!" he said as he held his side and he slashed the undead in half. Blood slowly ran out of his side as he continued to fight. "This isn’t going good, at this rate we will be overrun." he thought as he began to cast a spell. While he was casting the spell a creature dashed out among them jumping on a creature approaching Fou-Lu from behind with his sword drawn. Fou-Lu turned around to see Lucied behind him. "Lucied...good you made it!" he said as he continued to cast the spell. Lucied tore into the undead with his claws and ripped it apart then standing by Fou-Lu to guard him from any attack by another undead. "Lucied!" Mia smiled when she saw the wolf. He had been hunting while they traveled. She and her old enemy returned their attention to the road and continued fighting back to back. Naclia stood close to Mia and Kiran, fighting with them. "What should we do?" Naclia asked. "Help me summon Aruku," Mia asked Kiran and Naclia. "He should be able to clear the path for us," she explains. "Fou-Lu, help us!" Mia joined hands with the two other elves and they spoke an incantation in unison.... Fou-Lu’s body began to glow a dark red as he casted his spell. "Oh phoenix, king of fire spirits i call to you now, clear a path for us through this group of undead monsters. I call to you now Phoenix!" he yelled as a large firebird appeared in front of him and flew at the group of undead blocking their way to Roid. The firebird struck them engulfing them in its flames. He breathed deeply slightly as he looked back to Mia and the others then looked to the sky seeing rain of fire and hail, thunderstorms all around them. He ran to them and joined hands with the elf and the human and began to summon Aruku The king of the wind created a shield around the group of six while pushing the undead back that surrounded them. Mia noticed the storm around them, "Do you think you can keep up the shield?" she asked the other three elves. "We can trade off by twos," Naclia nodded. She could tell the other elven woman was tired and needed her rest. "I think Kiran and I can handle it," she looked to her former captive and he inclined his head to her. They focused their mental strength on the shield as Mia and Fou-Lu released theirs. Mia sighed in relief, the looked to Fou-Lu. "What could be so powerful to do this?" she asked Fou-Lu, but not expecting an answer. She reached down and absently scratched the wolf's head and they started walking at a fast pace to Roid. Fou-Lu looked over to Mia. "I have no idea, something to have this much power must be like a god." he said. He looked over Kiran and the elf woman, "Hopefully then can hold, if not I will help." he said. He looked down to Lucied. "I’m glad you made it friend," he said as he scratched his head. Mia leaned against Fou-Lu as they walked. She was so tired from the fighting. "As soon as I get my strength back, I'll help too," she said softly. Kiran felt somewhat angry seeing Mia held by the dark elf, Fou-Lu, he knew his name was now. Kiran distracted himself, this wasn't the time for jealousy so he focused on the wind shield. Fou-Lu picked Mia up in his arms and held her. "Don’t worry, just get some rest for right now. When they need help with the wind shield I will help them." he said as he continued on. She smiled, and laid her head on his chest, relaxing his arms as he carried her. Kiran felt another pang of jealousy, but fought it back, focusing his attention on the shield. Fou-Lu smiled at her then twitched a little from the wound in his arm from the undead’s attack. His wound was still bleeding and it had not stopped for awhile. Still he looked down at Mia and smiled carrying her in his arms. Mia felt his arm twitch and she looked up at him, "Are you sure you want to carry me? I think I can walk on my own if you need to rest your arm..." Did they have to be such happy lovers in front of him? Kiran watched now with a sense of annoyance more than jealousy. Naclia had been focusing most of her attention on the shield during their walk, filling in when Kiran got distracted. She nudged the elf in his ribs with her bow sharply to get his attention from the two lovers. Mia laughed a little, "We're safe with this shield. If do get into another fight, I'll need to be covered. These daggers aren't meant to be used against undead," she said. "Go ahead and put my down, I'll take care of your wound." Fou-Lu smiled at her. "Thank you Mia." he said as he gently set her back on her feet and took off his clothing over his arm revealing a deep wound in his arm with a trail of blood streaking down his arm. Mia examined the wound and ripped off a piece of cloth from his sleeve, the wrapped it tightly around his arm to slow the bleeding. "As soon as we get to Roid, we can take care of it better. And I can get some sleep. Feels like I'm covered in bruises." Kiran started to think about Mia again and was reminding about all he did to her. He actually felt sorry. After this, he would leave her alone for good. Naclia nudged him in the ribs again with her bow and he returned his attention to the shield. Fou-Lu stared at her as she tended to his wound. "Yes hopefully we can get to Roid soon, then you can get some rest." he said as he smiled slightly at her. He reached up with his other hand and brushed his hand across her face. Talen continued looking on at the elves as he walked up by Naclia. "I have no idea of what is going on, but something big is about to happen, we had best be prepared Naclia." he said Naclia nodded, beginning to sweat. "Damnit Kiran!" she yelled at the dark elf next to her, "Pay attention to the shield! Trying to cover your half is tiring me out!" Kiran nodded and looked down at the ground, focusing on the shield after Naclia's reprimand. Fou-Lu smiled with a wince of pain. "Don’t worry Mia, ill be alright, I want to protect you more than anything right now Mia. But if you want to walk on your own that is fine with me." he said. Talen watched as Naclia and the dark elf held up the wind barrier. "They must be really strong to keep this up," he thought as he looked to them then to the other two elves. "Things are going on so quickly I don’t even know what’s going on, but I knew it...that dragon was..." he said his thought trailing off. Fou-Lu looked over to Kiran and the elven woman. "They seem to have this covered. I doubt they will need our help with this," he said as he looked back to Mia. "Yeah, we would have this under control if he would pay attention," she glared over at Kiran. Kiran looked away from her again. Fou-Lu continued to stare over at Kiran and the elf. "Well I thank you both for this." he said silently. He then looked back to Mia. Mia smiled weakly at him and continued walking in silence, up ahead, the met more undead. Mia added her strength to the shield and they continued on, the undead clawing at the shield. Eventually, they made it into Roid. Priests working hard at keeping up a holy shield welcomed them and the group released the sylph spirits.