Aether Winds
Chapter thirty- Did You Miss Me?
By- IceWind

A/N:
This is my first fanfic for The Protector of the Small books by Tamora Pierce. The names, places, things, ect, all are credited to her. The word Aether goes to Juliet E. McKenna, but the way I use it and the gem idea is all mine. This fanfic is set in an alternate universe. I.E: Joren is NOT dead, Cleon and Kel are not together (hehe), and other incidents that have I messed up on and don't feel like making it exactly like the book. Please REVIEW *grins* and as long as its not flames on how Kel and Cleon should be together or something of that trivial nature, flames are fine. This story is PG-13 for anything that might come up lol.

Archer8: Right, this should be long enough x.x

Princess Sanidaylene: *shakes head* Nope, Joren wouldn't die if Kel did if the bond wasn't completed. And it's not always video games *sweatdrops* Sooner or later, all good things come to an end, and if Aether doesn't end soon, I think I'd scream. .__.

Avision: I know everyone is out of character --; I just hope I never said that they were in character. Because I would be lying.

Elfie: *blinks slowly* Queen of plots, eh? Strange, but I'm not one to pass up a compliment ^^ Hopefully my grammar gets better in the later chapters, if it doesn't, then I wonder what the hell I've been doing all of this time.

Rubber Duck: *wry grin* Slightly ooc? I think you mean completely and utterly ooc. ^^; But whatever you know? Can't exactly fix it at this rate --; Unless I revamp everything, I do think that I would go insane if I had to do that. I mean, going over all of my old chapters and seeing the… sheer terror of them… heh. Am quite aware that my writing is bad . . Though it does get a bit better in the later chapters. Hopefully.

"Daine!" came Numair's glad cry, causing everyone else to look up from their battle plans to see a sleek hawk hop through the window and onto the tall man's hastily protected arm. At his dark glare, they all turned away, giving time for the Wild Mage to change back into her original form.

At her delicate cough, the small group consisting of Joren, Rauol, Alanna, Raen, and Neal -Cleon had been hurt and was in the infirmary- looked back, seeing the slim girl clothed in Numair's cloak, her bare feet poking out from the swathes of cloth. She gave them all a tired smile and a half-wave, accepting a cup of warm tea gratefully from Alanna.

"Well?" Joren demanded, his ice-blue eyes ignoring the way the Wild Mage seemed to just wilt against Numair's frame, obviously tired. Really, like he cared, there were more important things at stake than one person's fatigue.

Daine just smiled gently at him, patting Numair's arm; "I got her out. Last time I saw her, she was on Arctic and riding like the wind to get here."

I wish you could have guided her The graceful hizar wound his way around until he was in front of Joren, his tail swishing left and right in slight agitation, Who knows what could meet her out there. It isn't safe.

Joren waved a hand, "Yes, yes, what's done is done." He paused, searching for a way to word his next question, only to have Neal beat him to it.

"How is she?"

Blasted… I was going to ask, he thought irritably to himself, but then shrugged off the feeling. A question was a question and besides, he had been struggling with how to word it. His eyes were trained firmly on Daine, waiting impatiently for her answer, his long fingers drumming on his pants.

She hesitated for a moment, as if trying to figure out what to say, causing Joren to narrow his eyes and spit out, "Well?"

Daine gave them all a troubled look, before giving a slow answer, "She was in a cavern, strange thing that, but that's not the point." She paused, still gathering her thoughts; "Kel was… tortured. Not a lot, rather light for torture really," she ignored Raen's growl, "Weak security, so I got her out quickly enough. We dispatched one of those… carzo beasts and bolted."

She then reached up to tug on a lock of hair, giving Numair a worried look, "But apparently the Great Evil locked away her powers, her magic."

Silence descended over the room, Daine looking down at the cloak she was wearing and toying with the hem. Joren suddenly started to spurt out series of curses, while Neal just sighed and leaned his head against a wall. Raoul frowned deeply, and Raen continued to growl.

Then Alanna banged her fist against the table, amethyst eyes unamused, "She'll be fine. I know that girl; I've been watching her. She'll be fine." The short knight looked down at the maps of the surrounding area, a faint frown on her face, "Well then, we can't rely on Kel's powers anymore. New plan…"

"That's it?" Neal yelped, his eyes almost betrayed as he stared at his former knight-master, "What about Kel?"

"…That's not going to help us in the coming battle," it was Joren this time, who answered, cold eyes staring at the other man, "We need to focus on more important things than worrying over Kel." Gods damn it. But it's true and we all should know that by now. He glared at Neal for even bringing the subject up.

The other man gave something akin to Raen's growl and seemed about to swing a fist at him, snapping, "You don't really care for her, you bastard! Kel's my best friend and I want to know more than just some piddling information that she's alive." Then Alanna's sharp words cut through the air.

"He's right, Neal, shut up and sit down." The small knight pounded the table again; "We're worried about her, but that's not going to help! You can find out more information from Daine later, if she's up to it." Eyes flicked over to the Wild Mage who gave a nod. "Now we need to know about what to do with the enemy forces, what our plans for tomorrow will bring. The final battle is coming up, folks. Everything has been culminating to this final event."

We need strategies To Neal's surprise, the hizar hadn't spoken up a word about Kel after his first few ones, the cat-like creature seemingly deep in thought, They outnumber our forces by almost two to one. Can we not gain more? He looked towards Raoul who spoke up.

"It was such a short amount of time… Arylanth put as many people as she could over here, and yet we're still lacking the men. And we have to tackle such creatures as… those carzos and whatever. I've been informing the men about them as new information comes in and the elves teach us, but many of them are just going on that knowledge, even with the battle today." The man sighed and rubbed his temple, staring at the map.

"They'll attack tomorrow, if not tonight as well," Joren spoke up, tracing several points on the parchment, "We need to build up defense here and here, heavy damage was sustain here…" he pointed at a wall of the fort, "And we need to find a way to break through the enemy so that the supplies for our troops can be obtained easier."

Where is the elfin queen anyway? Vague disdain still colored Raen's thoughts when thinking about elves, but the hizar and the other hizars had slowly warmed up to the race. There had even been some talks about a treaty between the hizar and the elves… a monumental event considering that the two races didn't like each other very much.

Neal answered, "She's tending to her own people. Nice queen, though I think it's still strange that Kel's her aunt."

Alanna gave a nonchalant shrug, "Everything in the past few weeks have been strange. Cope with it." Her gaze flickered around the room, "Now… back to the topic at hand… I want archers here and here…"

~

Night had fallen swiftly.

I wonder how everyone is… Kel mused silently; lying on hastily sprawled cloak, her hazel eyes staring up at the ebony sky before her, pin pricks of light littering the air as if sprinkled there by hand. By some sort of deity anyway. I know that Joren is alive, I'd known it if he died, Raen as well for that matter. But… what about Cleon? Neal? Owen? The rest of them that I have no way of knowing if they are dead or not?

She passed a hand over her eyes, feeling something soft nudge her. Kel flicked a glance to the ghostly looking Arctic Wind, the Kalyrath horse framed by the faint rays of the moonlight.

"Get some rest, Arctic," she called out softly, seeing the horse look at her with intelligent sky blue eyes, "We'll leave early, before dawn. I want to get back as soon as possible, and I'm sure that you do as well." A faint nicker was her answer, and Kel drew the cloak tighter around herself, ignoring the small sticks that pressed into her back, ones she had missed when she had cleared the area for camp.

Well, a hastily and roughly made camp anyway. She had been more concerned about her current situation than to make a campfire or to really clear off the ground. It wasn't as if she was planning to sleep for a long time anyway, just several hours… Just enough to briefly boost her flagging strength. Arctic had given her energy, but it wasn't as if it were a lot. The horse needed it more for the journey to Fort Wyrln and the upcoming battles Kel was sure that they'd get in.

They were so close though, Kel judging by the total distance they had ridden so far and the estimated distance that Daine had given them, that it would take about half a day to reach the fort. If they were lucky and didn't run into anything overly nasty while they were out anyway.

"I'll be fine…" technically she wasn't talking to herself because Arctic was here and currently looking at her with interest in those intelligent eyes, "I mean… Sure, I've gotten used to the magic, but… I've fought for years without it, right?" She threw her hand off her head, clenching it to her side, "It would have been nice having it, but I'm not some weak girl like Joren used to tease me about."

Kel felt Arctic step over to her, the white horse dropping down to the ground, nestling herself around the girl. She bobbed her head towards Kel, and let the girl bury her hands into her silken mane, giving a soft nicker in comfort.

"In fact, I'll take my non-magical self and completely skewer Tonshi, that sounds nice, doesn't it, Arctic?"

The horse blinked one sleepy blue eye at Kel.

"I can kill a god… no problem…" Kel was aware she was rambling and sighed, resting her cheek against Arctic's warm neck. "No problem at all…" she trailed off, closing her eyes in fatigue.

~

The sun was high over their heads, but at last Kel could see the fort. She was sore, she was tired, and she was still flecked with blood after a brief skirmish with several enemy soldiers. Now she was injured as well, a messy cut across her backside when one of them sneaked behind her and slashed at her with his sword. Of course she repaid him with a powerful blow to the stomach with her glaive, but that didn't take away the fact that her back hurt.

And she couldn't bind it well considering that it was on her back and she in just a bit of a rush to actually get to the fort. Idly she wondered where the enemy camped before Daine's quick words floated through her mind again. Hmm, they're camping south west of the fort. I'm arriving from the east… so I shouldn't meet up with many. Hopefully no more after that brief skirmish. Kel flexed her shoulder slightly and winced, reaching over to pat Arctic's sweat soaked neck who whickered tiredly in reply.

"Just a little more, girl," said Kel, whispering into the velvet ears, "Then I'll give you a barrel full of oats and let you nip at Raen whenever you want." She gave a faint smile at the memory of the hizar, and consequently Joren, I actually miss him. Gods help me.

The powerful stone walls rose before her rapidly as she streaked down the countryside. She was waylaid more than a few times by the Tortallan soldiers, but was let through soon enough. Apparently they knew that she was coming. It was nice not having to go through hours of security checks, as she would have considering she didn't have any credentials on her at the moment.

No, those were all stolen by Tonshi, that bastard.

She let Arctic drop off into a smooth canter, the horse nearing the gates of the fort, ones that were thrown open. Messengers had gotten to there before her, typical really with how tired Arctic was, and had informed the rest that she was coming.

That was nice too.

Neal was there, giving a whoop when he saw her, running up towards her and hugging her as soon as she got off of Arctic. "Damn Kel! Do you know how worried you made me and the rest of us?"

Kel winced in reply as his arms accidentally brushed a couple of her gashes, but stored the pain away, giving a silent vow to repay Tonshi for this and more next time she saw him. She gave Neal an awkward hug back, peeking over his shoulder to look at the rest of the people there.

Cleon grinned at her and gave her a wave, his arm bound in bandages, apparently he had gotten hurt in a battle. Kel just thanked the gods that he wasn't dead. Owen was beaming, as usual, calling out loud greetings, which she returned as heartily as she could. Then…

Her breathing stopped.

Alanna the Lioness stood there, leaning casually against a wall, watching with her famous purple eyes. Next to her stood Raen, the hizar suddenly running towards her and thrusting his slender head into her hands.

Your… hero? Kel knew that the hizar was keeping his thoughts private, Are you not going to greet her?

She just gave a sheepish smile, feeling Neal pull away from her.

"Hey, go say hello," Neal murmured softly, eyes glittering with mischief, "You'd think that our Yamani 'Stone' wouldn't seem so nervous."

Kel just rolled her eyes and stepped towards the Lioness, wishing that she wasn't so mussed, sweaty, or smelly, but hell, you can't come out of being a prisoner smelling like lavender. Not usually anyway. She couldn't help but straighten herself though, ignoring the twinges of pain, and hoped that her voice didn't seem squeaky.

"Ah, hello…" I sound like a complete idiot.

Then Alanna straightened as well, and Kel gaped at her.

The Lioness laughed, "What? Expecting someone taller, right?" Her purple eyes glittered mischievously as the woman cocked a brow at Kel.

Kel gave a sheepish grin, "I didn't expect the Lioness to be so… short," she stifled her laughter as Alanna mocked glared at her. Then the woman moved towards her with the grace of a cat, eyes just as curious, as she looked over the girl she had been keeping tabs on.

"Well," the knight said in a dry voice, "I'm just happy that knights aren't restricted by height." A sharp glance at Kel's… lack of clothing, and Alanna frowned, "But enough dallying, get yourself cleaned up and we'll talk strategy, Raoul tells me that you're somewhat good at it." The woman smiled and stepped away.

Strategy with the Lioness, Kel wondered, hazel eyes bright, "Of course."

"Auntie!" Something suspiciously near a squeal came from one of the turrets and a lithe figure came down the stone steps at a dead run.

"Arylanth…?" was all Kel was able to get out before the elfin woman swept her into a hug reminiscent of being crushed by a bear. She was sure that she squeaked a few times and that her ribs were going to break at any moment. Not surprising, the elf was stronger than she had suspected.

The woman gave quick steps backwards when she heard Kel's pained voice and yelped out, "Oh no, I'm so sorry, Auntie! Are you okay? Shall I get a healer? No! I'll get two! Maybe three. But you aren't that hurt, right?"

Kel gave the woman a mock glare, "You, my… dear niece, are babbling."

Consequently, Arylanth shut her mouth and stopped talking, taking several moments to calm herself down.

Then the elf flashed a smile as bright as the sun; "I'm so glad that you're fine… well, as fine as you can be after that ordeal."

Then wouldn't you agree that it would be best for my Mistress to see a healer as you previously expected? Though one would be enough Raen's mind voice was rather dry as the hizar settled onto his haunches, though his intelligent blue eyes were amused.

"Ah, yes, of course. I'll summon our best…"

"No special treatment, please," Kel broke in, her voice stern, "I know that you're related to me, Arylanth, but… Others were hurt far worse than me, there was a battle recently, wasn't there?"

The woman seemed startled, "Why yes, but how did you know?"

Kel smiled and waved a hand in Cleon's direction, more specific: his bandages. "That and the fact that more of the men were hurt, I couldn't help but notice." She gave a slight stretch, and winced as her tightened muscles slowly loosened, "And a bath wouldn't hurt."

~

Kel gave a soft sigh, sinking into the warm bath and slurring her words towards Raen who was currently lying down on the floor and looking bored, "Wonderful things, baths."

I'm sure that they are. He flicked his tail and watched it as it moved back and forth.

"Don't tell me that you're like most cats and detests baths," Kel almost sat up, except she decided that it was too much trouble and she was quite comfortable where she was, and sank down even deeper, "Are you?"

I don't see the charms of water as much as you do Raen replied, giving a stoic look at a wall, apparently a bit embarrassed about the subject, It's wet and it takes forever for my fur to dry. Hardly a thing that I enjoy waiting to happen. Do you know how much I'm weighed down by the water? I can jump only two-thirds as high when wet as when I'm dry. I don't see the purpose in such things.

Kel laughed, not able to resist splashing a bit of water in Raen's direction… which the hizar froze and let clatter to the floor.

"But it feels nice," she sighed again and started to scrub herself, giving an appreciative look towards several scars where her cuts had once been. Those healers do a neat work when their queen is breathing down their necks, Kel grinned.

Kel blinked at him, "But that's just getting wet. I mean really cleaning. Besides, I'm not going to live with a smelly hizar all the time. I expect you to take a bath once in a while."

Raen snuffed loudly and turned his head away towards the door.

"Don't you think of stepping a foot out of this bathing chamber."

He gave a mental sigh and settled down once more. Of course, how can I even think about doing so. I don't remember the boy getting all that concerned over my personal behavior

Kel stiffened as she dropped her soap. Raen floated it back towards her and she accepted it with a quiet, "Thank you."

"Nothing!" she gave a hasty reply, now it was her turn to look at a wall and pretend that the other occupant wasn't there with her. Look, that stone is jutting out a bit, though the rest are too, kind of. Sure are bumpy, I wonder if anyone would even bother smoothing them down… Oh wow, that ice Raen made sure is melting quickly, it's probably because of the heat in the room, even if it's made out of stone...

She shook her head, don't think about stone.

Is this about that boy? Raen asked tiredly, giving Kel a concerned look.

"No!" She dunked her head down into the water, quite forgetting that that wouldn't be enough to stop the hizar's questions, especially considering that he was telepathic.

Unlike him, Kel didn't have the luxury of being able to talk like he did considering what Tonshi did to her. She gave a silent curse and broke through the water's surface, taking a couple of deep breaths before grinding out, "No it isn't!"

The hizar gave her a smug look; You are upset that he hasn't seen you yet

Kel turned away instead of answer him, scrubbing more furiously than before.

After several moments of silence, she spoke, "If he doesn't want to see me, then that's fine. It isn't as if he loves me or anything like that. This soul bond thing just happened, not because he wanted it to." Her voice lowered, "That prick."

Kel twisted and gave Raen a hard stare, "I thought you didn't like him. So why are you telling me this when I don't want to hear it?"

We came to an understanding. Besides, I do not like to see you pretending that something isn't happening. I saw how your eyes darted around the area, even after seeing the Lioness for the first time. Though really, the boy? I still think that you can do better

"It wasn't as if I had a choice."

She gave a loud sigh, "You know very well that neither him nor I chose to have this soul bond or whatever. So how can this be a choice?"

Raen gave Kel a patronizing look, Just because it happened doesn't mean that it had been destined to happen. Your choices before that time… your thoughts and feelings… all of that gave rise to new choices and decisions. And sometimes those decisions are made without your prior knowledge that your choices may lead to that decision, understand?

Never let it be said that Keladry of Mindelan was slow, she scowled, "So it could have all been avoided? I don't understand, didn't we have that soul bond since we were born?"

It does mean that it has to awaken. In reality, there are many soul bonds in existence. What are rare are the people in the soul bonds realizing their feelings for each other, or even meeting each other, and then having the soul bond to awaken. You could have fallen in love with another before this, and that would have changed that part of your relationship with the boy. Raen looked upwards towards the ceiling, his mind voice thoughtful, Hizars do not believe in destiny. That is for those who feel the need to feel secure about the future. We know enough to know that it is us who decide our fate, not some nebulous goddess named Fate.

"So we decide our own future?" For some reason, Kel's voice seemed uncertain.

"Joren wasn't… forced into this bond?"

Raen suddenly understood and gave her a sympathetic look, Not unless you strapped him down and took advantage of him, Mistress

Relief was etched on Kel's face, before it changed into displeasure, "So where is he again?"

With Raoul and the rest of the tacticians, going over the plans. Your former knight master ordered him to do so, Raoul is, after all, the commanding officer in the Fort The slight disdain in Raen's thoughts showed what he thought of the situations, He would have ceded such control to Arylanth, but the elfin queen was against such things and protested that his men, the humans, wouldn't take so such a suggestion

"She's right," Kel's voice was soft.

She grinned at the hizar, for some reasoning feeling a lot better, "You do forget that I am human? Or at least half anyway, and the other half is your hated enemy?"

As if I can hate you, Mistress Raen's voice was haughty, tinged with slight carelessness, Besides, I am of the opinion that half of both makes a better breed than one or the other

Kel laughed.

~

Clean and feeling refreshed, Kel looked at the door Raen had led her too (where everyone else was still making plans) and took several deep breaths, trying to calm down her nerves for some reason that kept eluding her grasp. She saw them all before, right? No need to be nervous. Well, almost all of them anyway.

Mistress? Raen tilted his head to the side, dark eyes curious, already starting to nudge the door open.

"Don't worry about it, Raen," she said and swung the door open, brushing back a still damp piece of hair. Her eyes flicked around the crowded room, and she banished any embarrassed feelings she got when she noticed that everyone had paused to look at her, resolved to not blush.

Neal gave her an easy grin, "Better now, Kel?"

She gave him a wry one back, "Of course. Anything is better than staying chained to a wall, even looking at your ugly face."

He gave a mock gasp and held his hands over his heart, "I'm wounded, Kel, really!"

"Then why don't you just drop dead?" A smooth voice cut in, refined and very familiar. Joren looked up from the parchment he had been staring at, curling his lip in disdain at Neal before looking at Kel.

She almost felt naked by the way his gaze raked over her in a purely clinical manner.

"No hello?" Her voice was rather dry and she pulled up a chair and sat down gingerly, still mindful of the several large bruises on her body. She hadn't wanted to tire the healers by making them heal such inconsequential things; besides, she had to get used to the pain. A knight didn't always have healers at his or her beck and call, quite the opposite in fact.

Joren shrugged, "I knew you were alive, that's enough, isn't it?"

"Bastard," Clean hissed, eyes narrowing at Joren's form, "Can't you greet her at least? Ask how she were feeling? It wouldn't kill you."

Ice blue eyes narrowed back and Joren sneered, "As I would listen to you."

"Damn you! Just listen to him!"

Kel raised her hands and massaged her temples, waving off the worried look that Raoul gave her.

Raen snarled and a sudden silence fell over the room, then the hizar walked to Kel's chair and curled up around it, his mental voice low, Stupid humans. My Mistress does not need more stress than necessary

"I thought you were all right."

Joren's eyes were almost accusing and she gave him a steady look back, her voice calm, "I am. There's nothing to be worried about."

Raen's voice flickered quietly in Kel's mind, a private conversation between the two of them, He really was worried, Mistress, more than I thought he would be. He even asked your king to go out to find you, but your king didn't allow either of us to

She gave him a slight smile, whispering, "It's okay, Raen, I understand."

Her blond counterpart dropped onto a chair next to her, darting her a quick look before glancing away.

But she looked away, asking the quiet room, "So what's the situation? Any problems?" Business, she can't go concentrating on her own problems, with her lack of magic, her recent imprisonment. More things were at stake than just she was; she wasn't selfish enough to think that she was the only one that mattered. Because even if she died, the world would keep on revolving, just like it has always been.

A bit more silence before Owen broke it with a huff, his words still light and easy after all of these years, "We're short of men, the enemy outnumbers us, even with the elves help. It's a bit daunting to see a number twice the size of your own facing you in a battle field, though we've been trying to keep the morale of the men up."

"It doesn't help that some of the men seem to think that we can't win this war without outside, hell, unhuman, help," Cleon chimed in and then cast an apologetic look towards Arylanth, "Not that your help isn't very much appreciated, Queen Arylanth."

She sighed and ran a hand through her own hair, her voice weary now that the earlier excitement of Kel coming back had died down, "It's understandable. Even some of the elves don't understand why we're helping humans, in another world none the less. But myself and the rest of my officers have been explaining to them that we need to band together to even dent the Great Evil's forces."

"Tonshi," came Kel's soft voice.

The elfin queen turned towards her, blinking her expressive hazel eyes, "What?"

"Don't call him Great Evil, he told me that his name was Tonshi."

Arylanth seemed to falter, "You… met him?"

"You didn't knife him when you had the chance?" Joren muttered, still partially looking away from her.

"It wasn't under… pleasant means, Joren, I assure you," Kel said, her voice annoyed. Then she looked at the only elf in the room and nodded, "Yes, very self-assured of himself, isn't he?"

The queen's reply was faint, "Well, he is a god."

Alanna then clapped her hands, loudly, "Well then people, that brings up the question. Even if we do eradicate his forces, how are we supposed to get rid of this god? Kill him? Bind him like you elves did before?" Her purple eyes were probing as she looked at Arylanth, "Though you should have killed him when you had the chance."

"We couldn't!" Immediate and a touch defensive, the elf frowned, "He's a god, we don't have the powers… it took the life of our best magic user to even bind him… and that wasn't permanent, as you see." She sighed, "He wrought such terrible things and he enjoys doing it. Even when trapped, we couldn't just take a dagger and slit his throat."

"I don't understand why you have such gods," Alanna snapped, shaking her head, "And why drag our country into it?"

Arylanth stiffened, her voice high and stilted, "Because! He would have just moved onto this world even without our interference! Don't you understand? He already had agents on this world working for him and subverting order for him! Do you think we wanted to involve humans into elfin matters?"

The Lioness bristled in reply, but Kel spoke before she could, "But you need us, right, Arylanth?"

The queen visibly sagged in her chair, giving them a despondent look; "We also need a miracle. I had thought that our combined forces would be enough to stop him… or at least halt him for a little while, but even those hopes seem to be rapidly disappearing. Like sand running through my fingers." She gave Kel a guilty look, "I had also hoped that you would be able to help with your powers, Auntie, but with them locked like this…" she spread her hands out, at a loss.

Kel drew back a bit; not able to help but feel a bit stung, so you only liked me because I had powers, Arylanth? How… She bit her bottom lip but stayed silent.

"No!" Apparently the elf had seen the look on her face and was hastened to make things better, "I… I really did want to meet you, Auntie! Your powers, they were taken into consideration, yes, but I'm not lying when I say that I truly like you!"

She gave a faint smile, tinged with sadness, but she nodded, "It's fine, Arylanth, I would have thought the same if our positions were reversed." She watched as the queen seemed to relax. Not exactly the same though. I'm not one for relying on powers after all. But Kel was forced to admit that if the situation warranted, then she would have thought the same as the elves.

"Radock was the traitor," she said, eyes suddenly widening a bit as she remembered, "You know, Scanra's King's advisor?"

Joren sneered, "Knew there was something wrong with that bastard."

"You found out while you were… imprisoned, Kel?" Raoul's eyes probed hers, asking silently.

"He came in while I was there," Kel's voice was soft, evasive. Joren frowned at her, but she didn't look at him, keeping her eyes carefully on the maps in front of her.

"I see," Arylanth's voice was heavy and touched with melancholy.

Neal broke in, as if to clear up the heaviness in the air, "You know, everything seems a bit quieter today. Yesterday we had that rather lengthy battle, and we all thought that there would be more fighting today… I wonder why the enemy is holding off."

"It's probably to make us unsettled," Joren replied coolly, "It's called tactics, not that you would know anything about it." Then both boys proceeded to glare at each other.

Kel chuckled softly, breaking through the tension in the room as several pairs of eyes landed on her, she grinned and waited a few more moments for her laughter to die down. She tried to explain, "For all that things are going rather badly, I can't help but feel relieved that things haven't gotten so bad as for both Joren and Neal to get along with each other."

Owen snickered, nodding his head in agreement.

The blond boy just looked away, causing Kel no small amounts of annoyance because he really seemed as if he was avoiding her. He looked at Raen who was watching the proceedings without imputing a word, for once.

"Well? You heard from Ryan, haven't you, cat? What's the word on the troops by him?"

Ryan? Kel mouthed at the hizar, and Raen filled her in on the information quickly before replying to Joren's question.

It was at some words like that, which reminded Kel that not all of their concerns were just Tonshi or his troops, that the hizars were in this war specifically against Takashi, and on a smaller scale, against Medea's destructive god. It didn't mean that Takashi was more worrisome than Tonshi, but to them, it was just that more important to rend Takashi to pieces.

Kel laid a soft hand onto Raen's head and stroked his ears. The hizar looked up at her with slight surprise before leaning into her touch and giving something quite akin to a purr. It was… cute, to say the least.

"Well," Alanna gave a cough before speaking again; "It's the best we can ask for from the troops. I vote to call this meeting adjourned, I'm sure I'm not the only one tired," she flicked a quick look at Kel before moving her gaze away.

"Here, here," Neal said tiredly, glancing out the window, "Damned, so late already."

Dryly, Raoul spoke, "Time flies when planning for war."

~

Kel fell onto the bed in the room that Raen had led her too, stretching luxuriously on the cotton sheets and giving a loud yawn. Goddess this is nice… She buried her head into one of the pillows, ignoring the slight tickle of a feather that peeked out of it. She felt as if she could just sink into the bed and disappear, just sleep all of her troubles and all of her worries away.

Too bad she couldn't do that.

The door creaked open, and she rolled to her side and cracked open an eye to look at the silent Joren by the door. Kel blinked at him a bit, still feeling wonderfully languid, though awareness was prickling into her.

"What are you doing here?" The pillow muffles her words, but not by a lot, so Joren should be able to understand her.

He seemed to stiffen, his voice still ice cold, pity.

"You're in my room."

For some reason Kel didn't feel as if this was real just yet. She felt happy and warm and strangely content in this room with Raen looking at her from the side and Joren looking at her from above. Her eyes blinked again, as if they could send a message though it was really quite meaningless, "Oh?" she wondered, then gave a calm look towards Raen before returning her gaze back to Joren, "Strange, Raen led me here."

The hizar looked at her and then at Joren before getting to his paws and padding out the door, shutting it behind himself with delicate touch of magic.

"Why'd Raen leave?" Kel's words were slightly slurred, hazel eyes dreamy as she stared at Joren.

The boy -really a man, but whatever- seemed to shrug before moving towards her and peering down at her with something swirling in this lovely blue eyes of him. Certainly wasn't love, though it looked suspiciously like worry to her.

How cute.

She gave him a sleepy smile.

He hesitantly laid a hand on her hair and stroked it a couple of times, eyes bemused, "You're acting strange," he finally said, his words almost heavy in the silence of the room.

"Am I?" Kel considered propping herself up on one elbow, but decided not to, thinking that it was too much trouble and it was nice enough where she was, deep into the blankets and pillows, Joren's hand stroking her hair.

His voice was dry, "Yes, you're not nearly as playful when you're fully awake." His hand dropped and he shucked off his tunic before climbing into the bed next to her.

"You weren't very nice to me when I first came here," she muttered, but obligingly scooted over for him when he prodded her with a finger. She felt his smirk rather than saw it and sighed, eyes closing once again, "Want me to change?" She would, at least, she would try. Even if she didn't feel like changing at the moment.

Joren fell silent before replying, "No, it doesn't matter."

"Hmmm…" she murmured and turned to pillow her head against his shoulder, "Why were you mad at me again?" She gave a soft yawn, "You'd think that you'd at least show some relief."

He grunted in reply, muttering, "I should have found you, standing around doing nothing but planning was more than a bit annoying."

Kel chuckled, drawing the sheets tighter around herself and Joren, "Does that mean that you missed me?"

A pause before Joren replied.

"Maybe just a bit."

IceWind: *yawns* I was going to actually try to finish this story in this chapter, but apparently I couldn't do it, unless people expect to wait another week or so for me to make this into twenty some odd pages --; Though waiting half a year? Is really rather bad, even for me. Sorry everyone.

And yes, I'm still going to finish this blasted story if it's the last thing I do.

Next chapter should be the last one before the epilogue, but I'm making no promises. Like with the time frame. I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can, but… you know how bad I am with that *sighs* Though I do want to finish Aether, I know exactly how everything's going to turn out too… well, most of everything anyway.

~

Seibutsu Bond: A bond between a creature and a humanoid. It is less powerful then a life-bond yet it is strong none the less. The bonded can thought-speak to one another and they also feel the others emotions. If one of the bonded dies, the other feels a deep and wrenching pain in themselves, but they don't die also.

Seibutsu Items: These are the items that Raen and Kel got when the bonding was over. Kel had gotten a dagger and Raen a chain. If one of them breaks it symbolizes that one of the bonded has died.

Hizar: A highly intelligent species who are organized like wolf packs with a dominant male and female. All

hizar are black and look like large cats, panther sized. They are lithe and graceful, all of them agile and fast. Each one has their own type of magic and that type, and power, is shown by the color of the gems on their forehead. When using their power the hizar's eyes turn that color. The types of gems are fire, water, earth, air, light, dark, ice, lightening, psy, and a silver unknown color. The alpha males must have the silver kinds of gems to lead; the alpha females can have any kind and are chosen by the males.

Jerogil: A type of creature in the world of Medea. They are usually peaceful animals and tend to stay away from others except their own kind. Their color range from black to a muddy gray and they have large eyes for seeing at night. Their tails are curved like a monkey's and can pick things up in that fashion. All over their body they have hard plates for armor, something not easily dented or broken through. Running along their backs is a series of sharp spikes.

Elves: They are tall human like creatures with pointed ears. They all live extremely long lives and each one has magic gems, such as the ones the hizars have, only their powers are stronger. They are a peace-loving race, but they will fight if they have to. They have one king and one queen, both who watch over their lands justly.

Soul Mates: Soul mates are extremely rare in any type of creature. Two people share one soul, literally. They can feel their beloved's emotions and in some occasions, talk to each other mind-to-mind. If one dies, the other dies also because half of their soul just died. You do not know you have a soul bond until you and another acknowledge your feelings for one another, you may go through your entire life without knowing that you have a soul bond. As soon as you acknowledge it, your souls connect and you cannot stay away from the other in a great distance for very long or else you get weak and might even die after an extended period.

Kalyrath Horses: These are extremely intelligent living beings with high stamina and running speed. These horses all have blue eyes, in varying shades, but it is all blue to symbol their purity. They chose their rider, and only one person is allowed to ride the kalyrath horse that is bonded to you unless you are soul mated to a person. Occasionally, there pops up a human/humanoid that can talk to their kalyrath horse, and the horse can talk to any of its kind up to a certain distance. Kalyrath horses are in-tune with their rider and it's rare for any none elf to bond with one since they usually only dwell in Elfin land. They are adept at fighting with their chosen and can be extremely protective depending upon their nature. It is said that they were a gift from the great mother goddess of the elves and they cannot be subvert by any dark magic for that reason.

Aether: The last element, the other nine elements are- fire, water, air, earth, psy, lightening, ice, dark and light. This element is the strongest by far and rare for hizars, extremely rare for elves. It controls all of the elements and its color is always silver for hizars and either a silver or white for elves. White is the most powerful, but none knows why. Aether is not an element known too much about, especially for the elves, all they could discern is that it has something to do with stars… The last elf to have this kind of gem died in a great battle, saving the world of Medea from certain doom.

Carzo: Vicious, mainly amphibious creatures that lived in the world of Medea before being brought to Tortall by the Great Evil -or Tonshi-. They are of a mottled green and blue color, with six yellow eyes. They stand at around a tigers' height at the shoulder with two tentacles on the side of their small and slightly blunt head. Carzo have long webbed feet -strangely able to run quickly still on land- and gill slits on the side of their body. It has a long, thin tail, sharp, which could cut through a multitude of things, the least of which is flesh. They have long, jagged, serrated teeth, made for tearing and ripping. They usually live in pods of about five, and they move so quickly together that it is hard to site one and focus upon it because it then drops back and blends back into the pod.

~

My e-mail address is [email protected] and put Aether Winds, so I know what the e-mail is about. Anything you want to add/criticize/comment/whatever you guys just review it… please? Thanks for listening to me ramble for that you get some snickers. *hands person some snickers*