Illusory Convictions

[saerwen]

The cold wind blew over his face. It was so relaxing to be in the surroundings that he loved most. He had become so used to being warm and having to work to maintain a normal body temperature that this was like a relaxing vacation. He had never really noticed how hard it was because he had grown so comfortable with it, but now that he had tasted the cold bite of snow and ice again, he would dread going back.

The sun was so blasting hot, melting everything in its path. Snow couldn't survive a sunny day, ice would melt even in a liquid, it would melt away, leaving nothing but its residue of condensation. Heat was utterly destructive, at least to his kind, his type.

The mountains, although subject to the rays of the sun, were completely impenetrable. The higher pressure and the colder temperatures at the extended height were enough to ensure that the mountains stayed cold for forever. That was why they comforted him so. Everything was quiet, comfortable, and cold. This place would never change. Despite what people might say about global warming, there was nothing that would shake these mountains into a melting mass. If there were, then he would not be alive to see it. He would die first before the mountains could even think about their demise. They were a strong tower to him that would never be shaken. In fact, any range that was icy and strong was enough to reassure him for a long time. It gave him a feeling of safety only to be found in a solid ground that you knew would never turn to quick sand.

He had worked hard to find him a comfortable place on the mountains that would serve his needs perfectly. It was a large cave, hewn into the side of the largest mountain. He could fit perfectly well inside of it and he could also see the road that led to the mountains from there. It was like a natural made lookout. The cold stone might have contrasted with his white form, but the snow that lay around the entrance and over the top of it gave him perfect camouflage. He just looked like another part of the mountain.

He was now sitting in this cave, watching the road, looking to the other white peaks, and then to the slightly green valley below. It was tainted by the sun also, but it was so close to the mountains that the chilly breeze cancelled the heat completely. Damion still had fears of sunburn though. He had come to think, but no thoughts came to him. He had come here to decide what to do about Eventide and his apparent problem with her. It was impeding his relationship with Miriel, which meant more to him than the world. This meant that in order to overcome his issue and put Miriel back in first place, he was going to have to start viewing the problems of the past as not nearly as important as she. He had been so rooted in his hatred that he had not really stopped to care for Miriel. It was selfish and it had utterly destroyed him for the past few weeks. He had to come back to reality.

He had come to the mountains with that purpose in mind. It was the perfect place for him to sort everything out. Indeed it, was the perfect place for everything. He was also there. While he knew that he could not forgive Eventide, he knew that this quarrel had nothing to do with Miriel, and while he would protect her from Eventide, he would also come back to her as the man that he had been. He didn't need to drag her down in hatred. He didn't need to drag himself down in hatred. He was going to be a better man for her than that, and so he would have to be able to rise above his desires.

Just as he stared out at the road for the third time since he had come to the place, he saw the one person that he had been worrying about, feeling guilty over, and loving from a far. It was time to put a stop to this madness. It was time for him to deal with his own problems like a man and not bring Miriel into it. She would get her Damion back and he would get the woman that he loved most in his arms.

He didn't know why she was here, but he didn't want her to come up to the mountains. She might be enough to melt them...He smiled to himself as he thought about that. She was so to and yet her warmth was so wonderful. She could kill him in an instant if just too close. A hand just too warm over his heart would be enough to weaken him for a few days. She had just done such a thing not too long ago. It was time that he see her heat again. The only heat that he loved.

Still in his dragon form, he spread his glorious, long wings and flew down to the ground bellow, slightly in front of Miriel. He was anxious to see her. He wanted to say he was sorry and actually be able to offer a remedy that was plausible this time. Once planted safely on the ground, he changed forms, his snowflakes falling to the ground and actually lasting a little while since the weather was so cold. He looked at Miriel with a large smile, happy to see her and know that he would not injure her this time. At least, not intentionally.
*********
Not far away, a black cat with a forked tail hid behind a small cluster of trees and bushes, hidden perfectly by the foliage and the dark hue of her pelt. She stared eagerly as she watched her prey leave his hiding place. She hadn't been able to find his hiding place before. If she had she would have stalked him and killed him when he least expected it.

She had come here early, laying patiently in wait for her prey to come. And now she was here. The stage was set and so she began her evil. Setting this up was going to be so much fun. Her eyes focused on the white form of Damion and soon her magic began. Miriel would see not the ice dragon that she knew and loved so well, but rather an ice phoenix with a fury and hatred unlike anyone had ever known. He would attack her and then he would be killed by a her fiery anger. Eventide's worries would be over, and no one would ever know what had happened.

[»Míríel«]

Cold air, how refreshing it was. Even to a creature of fire like Miriel. This was probably one of the first times she had traveled up these mountains and it was most definitely the first time she had been up so far. Her footsteps paused for a moment as she looked out from the mountain at the world about it. It was so small, she oculd see for miles. A thrill went through her, this was almost like flying, yet her feet didn't have to leave the ground. Eventide had been wise at picking such a place.

The farther she traveled upward the colder it became. At first the change was welcome, it was cooling, but then it decreased at a steeper rate. It was as if the mountains were telling her to turn back, that she didn't belong. Those proud mountains wanted to protect their bright crowns of snow. She shook her head and allowed her body temperature to increase, the mountains would have to live with her presence for a bit. She had an important meeting to go to. Eventide had arranged a meeting for Damion, herself, and Miriel to talk and smooth out what had happened. So Miriel forgot the cold and pressed onward.

Her mind was full of thought, it had kept her busy and her mind off the exertion of walking this far. First there had been the fight with Damion, then the talk with Eventide, and the mention of ice phoenix's. That very thought caused chills to run up her spine and the cold seemed denser now, than before. She hated those creatures, more than anything else, for what they had done, what they were, everything about them. Her eyes closed for a moment as she rested for a moment, she must clear her mind of such a thing, she must. IT wasn't good to dwell on the evil creature or what it was capable of. No, she would think of Damion and how things would be set right again, and soon.

The sound of wings beating in the air caught her attention. IT sounded like dragon's wings, or some other large creatures. Could it be? A smile came to her face as she lifted her gaze, what she saw caused it to freeze on her lips. The icy white form of an ice phoenix was before her, wings spread, mouth open, coming closer. It landed and was striding toward her. Miriel's face paled and she took a step back, then another. Surely this couldn't be true, surely it couldn't, but it was. Fear and anger boiled within her, no blazed in her soul. "What are you doing here?" Flashed came before her eyes, memories, water, sadness, death, ice, cold, the bitter cold. Now the temperature around her was growing to much to bear. She increased her body temperature even more and was growing ready to flee to her true form. "How did you find me?"

Was this why Eventide had brought her here? Surely she had noticed how she hated ice phoenix's surely she wouldn't have drawn her here to see one. Miriel's senses were taunt and the air about her was strained with tension. No Eventide wouldn't have, she must not have known, she had been trying o help, yes trying to help.

"Nevermind, you know what you did and you committed the deed knowingly. Curse you. Curse you." Her eyes were glistening. "I trusted you...and you betrayed me." The phoenix, which was Eventide's illusion had reshaped itself in Miriel's mind to be a figure of the past. "You hurt me and I can never forgive you for that, ever." She shook her head. Miriel's loose black hair blew about her and hid half her face. Her eyes slanted downwards for a moment and she bowed her head. "You will pay...You will pay." She didn't care about any outcry the other would give, or any pleas, she would end this, and gain revenge, once and for all. "Enough talk, it is time for action." Her eyes snapped up and her arms were held out. She was wreathing in fire, and now her form melted into that of a fire phoenix's. The snow below her melted with her fury and shades on blue flame were seen striping her tail feathers. White eyes glared at the opponent, "Defend yourself." With that she flew toward him, beak open in rage.

[saerwen]

Damion was surprised to say the least. First off was the alarmed questioning of how he had found her, what he was doing there...He was bewildered even more when she began querying him on things that he obviously had no idea about. It was like she was in some other world. He knew that their last parting had been harsh and not as sweet as he might have liked, but he really didn't think that it was meriting this kind of behavior.

Her words might have puzzled him at first, but then they began to strike home with him. Was she talking about accidentally attacking her? That was all that made sense. Either that or she was under some false pretense. Someone must have told her something that wasn't true. His mind raced with thoughts of what in the world could have made his beloved act like this. He had been expecting their reunion to be joyful, that they would come to terms with each other, that he could explain what had been going on and how it wasn't going to be that way any more. That was what he had wanted more than anything else in the world.

You will pay. That wasn't his Miriel talking. That was something else. This was something else. No matter how angry she might have been at him, he couldn't have ever imagined that she would say something so darkly to him. It just wasn't in her nature unless there was some over-arching plot behind it that he didn't know about. How was he supposed to defend himself against something that he had no idea about?

"Miriel, what are you talking about? Do you even see me? What on earth has gotten into you? I just wanted to talk to you! I just wanted to say that I have fixed things. I'm back to normal now! Isn't that what you wanted?" his voice displayed the stress that her current emotions towards him had placed on him.

However, somehow he knew in the back of his mind that talking was going to be useless. He was just going to have to roll with whatever she did. He vowed that no matter what she did, he would never attack her again. He would never hurt her again. Even if it meant his death, he wouldn't do it. As she changed forms her realized that his human form was not going to be enough, so he also changed into his own form. He knew that he was going to have to be very careful with this. In order to win this kind of fight, he would generally use basic magic and absorb the enemies attacks and use them against the phoenix, but he couldn't do any kind of attack. He was going to have to run and block a shield, which would be quiet hard,considering that Miriel could just melt her way through every defense that he had. As she flew at him, he darted up into the air. Rising quickly and steadily higher. He just barely missed her flames. He knew that she wouldn't be far behind. He was going to have to think of a plan faster. As he did he put up a slight shield that would protect him from one hit at least before falling. Hopefully that would be enough time. If not, he was going to be longing for some more snow.

Snow... A thought had come to him. Because he was so close to the mountains, he could take advantage of their icy provinces. He could use his magic to cover their terrain in storm. Although she could burn straight through it, it would hide him well. This would work for long enough to stratagize. His eyes glowed an even brighter white-blue than they already were and the clouds that had settled over the mountain began to grow thicker, rushing towards them with an unnatural speed. Snow began falling and then, it became harder and harder until everything was either grey or white. Miriel was in the midst of another one of his blizzards.
*************************************
Eventide watched as Miriel began to freak out. Her illusion hardly had to do any work. Damion had no clue what was happening, nor why his lady love was so angry at him. She made sure that the illusion stayed strong, firmly displaying that the ice phoenix was using the blizzard that soon appeared as an attack on Miriel herself. It was meant to harm her fiery person. Everything that the illusion did played on Miriel's hatred. How could Eventide not win?

[»Míríel«]

"Do not call me that, do not call me by that name. You have lost those rights. I will not talk, not after what you did last time." A white speck of fire fell from her eye, and fell on the world below, leaving a little puddle. "No, you have started this fight, so now I will end it. I wish it hadn't gone this far, I really do." Her voice was laden with betrayal. "Things will never be normal again. Never."

Damion darted into the air, and Miriel followed the illusion she saw him as. Rage glistened in her eyes but sadness filled her heart. She was going to do something she never thought she would have to, kill something. She sent a blast of fire from here, trying to consume him, but just as she sent it snow started falling. She paused for a moment, thinking. Everything had turned white around her. "A game of hide and seek eh? Very well then." She eyes narrowed as she looked about her. This blizzard, it reminded her of. No she couldn't think of him right now, she couldn't. If he knew that she had killed something, or someone, what would he think? What would he think if he saw her in such a rage? She had been confused when she had seen him in a blind fury, what would he do? No, this was something she wouldn't tell him, plus she would protect him. An ice phoenix would be dangerous, especially this one, and how could they talk and resolve things if this thing was flying nearby? She would end this quickly and get everything out of the way. Then she would concentrate on Damion, and Damion only. With that she blocked all thoughts of him from her mind and focused on one thing, getting this icy bird out of the skies, forever.

She couldn't see anything, the bird had learned a few new tricks. "good for him." She shook her head. IF she couldn't see, surely he couldn't either. So she climbed upward, fought against the wind and the snow's fury, then wrapping her wings about her she allowed herself to plummet and fall at a diagonal through the storm. Her wings and the flames about her had grown as she sent fire out in random directions from her. He must be struggling in the wind, he had to be, just like she was, and hopefully he would run into one of her flames, if she didn't hit him first.

[saerwen]

Damion was glad to see that he had puzzled Miriel and that she was unable to see. While the wind did beat against his form, it was mostly blocked because he was the center of the storm, right in the eye of his home made blizzard. It wasn't so bad. If she ever figured out that he was the center though, he would be in trouble. This trick would stop working instantly.

He had known that it wouldn't do much to stop her, and he now saw how she was trying to fight her way through it. She was just trying to burn the torrential down pour of snow by melting it all. However, she probably would have seen him dodging out of the way of one of her streaks of fire. It was a narrow escape and the heat that had grazed over Damions form left a slight stinging sensation on his body. She wound never be able to imagine how badly fire hurt him, although he could always recover. That was the great thing about ice dragons. Even if you burnt them, their scales, and even the skin of their human form would heal completely.

He moved to a new hiding place and the storm became a bit thicker. He could see Miriel's bright and shining form perfectly well. It was like a bullet, rushing through the air, and he was in awe of her beauty. However, it was a haunting beauty for him since it was such a fatality for him. He was still trying furiously to think of a way to stop Miriel and protect himself. It was starting to look impossible by the way that she was acting.

What is it, Miriel? I understand that I have been pretty difficult and very unreliable the past few days but is that really enough to start such a fight, my love? He shook his head. This was not what he had wanted. He suddenly realized something. Maybe it would be best if he changed forms and went to the ground. He had hidden himself again from her blaze, so she would never know that he had gone back. Then he thought the better of it. Instead of changing forms, he would simply land.

He gracefully fell to the ground, sure to be quiet. Over the sound of the wind and the lack of visibility, she would not find him, for a little while at least. He needed something else to do. Some other form of defense. He needed something that would stop Miriel. The only way that he could stop her though, was if he knew what was wrong with her. Perhaps, once she finds me, I could ask what it is that I have done. As curious as he was, he would not dare sacrifice his hiding spot to find out. He was praying that it would keep him hidden for long enough to have Miriel cool off.

[»Míríel«]

Miriel had seen him dodging her fire, she had caught it out of the corner of her eyes. Banking to the left she whirled around and headed his direction once more, before she got there the storm grew more furious and the wind was causing her trouble. It had been a while since she had flown and she had grown slightly rusty. Finally she made it over there, but when she had, Damion was no longer there. HE had found a new hiding place. She flew through the storm, through the thickest and thinnest parts of it but he wasn't there. He must have flown, left the area. "Coward." She hissed.

No doubt he had found another hiding place, somewhere she wouldn't expect, but where? All this hiding was getting under Miriel's nerves. She wanted to get over with this, be done. She wanted to see Damion and rest in his arms. It was strange that the phoenix was hiding, that usually wasn't in their nature, being emotional beings they usually fought back, especially when challenged by another of their species. Miriel had tried her best to break herself from it, but now she was finding pleasure in it once more. As she was diving through the storm once more, searching for the icy form, the wind caught her wings in an awkward way, carrying her toward the ground. At first she fought it then the idea came to her. Where else to hide other than the storm than the ground? Eyes narrowing against the flakes she embraced the fall, and spreading her wing she whizzed past the ground, gracefully dodging rocks, boulders, trees, anything that hindered her as her keen eyes searched around. IT would be hard to see the fiend, a white bird on a white landscape, she she did what she knew best, burned. Her fire was already bright, considering her anger and the snow threatening to put it out. So in compensation she blazed brighter and brighter, delighting in the warmth. Snow she passed melted, trees were singed, grass was released from its icy home. Even avalanches were started because of the sudden shift of snow to water to steam, not to mention her screeches in the phoenix's language to face the fight and come out. She was scouring the land, and so far she had come back fruitless.

So the mountains were filled with the sound of chaos, the screech of a maddened phoenix, the roaring of an avalanche, the stench of burning wood, and the cold of the peaks. Miriel wasn't growing calmer the more she flew and couldn't find him, she only grew more furious. He wouldn't escape her this time. Just as she was making another past a glimmer of something caught her eye, it hadn't melted when everything else had. She mounted in the air, eyes glimmering in satisfaction, she glanced back, it was him. Mounting upward, she circled around, towards his back and then pinned her wings. She sped from the sky like lightning, heading toward Damion. She was silent most of the way, being cautious, but about 3/4's of the way down she let out a screech of satisfaction.

[saerwen]

Damion was thinking furiously now. What was he going to do? Miriel only became more and more angry. It was like there was nothing stopping her from killing everything in her path that even remotely resembled him. Things started falling apart all around him. The snow that he had created was melting, and with every pass she came closer and closer to finding him. Damion knew that he wasn't going to fight back, but now he also knew that it might cost him his life. She was just to warm, just too angry.

His heart was in turmoil and he didn't know how to fix it. He didn't know anything and that was his problem. When she came around on her last pass he noticed that she was looking straight at him. Oh great, and I still haven't thought of anything to do. Come on brain, why aren't you working? He sighed waiting for her to come on the attack. It didn't take long. At least I know now that, for the most part, she can take care of herself.

He hadn't heard her shooting down at him, but he heard her screech, which was just enough warning to get him out of the way in time. He barrel rolled away from her, glad that he had been ready for that. He knew that it wouldn't take long for her to start attacking him. He needed to get back into the air. He also needed to stop his storm. He needed that as a last resort. If she figured out that he was the center then he couldn't use it to escape should he need to. He tucked that card as a last resort into his pocket, and took off from the ground, feeling the heat from her feathers scorching his side.

Now back up in the air, the snow began to fade, the blizzard being silenced in just a few moments. He was like a sore thumb, shining in the sunlight, a blue tinted diamond in the sky just waiting for Miriel to send her fire to him. It was going to come soon and he knew it. He braced himself and prepared his magic for it. He only had one shot at absorbing her power because of the amount of magical energy that it took up. After that it would have to be a counter with pure ice. Perhaps if he could generate enough, it might melt into water, but there were no reassurances of that. It would probably just turn to steam against her. If he put magical elements into it, then it would hurt her, but not enough to really do anything, and even more than that, he refused to hurt her. There were so many things that he could have done to beat her, after all, phoenix's had been the practice of his earliest years. He had taken down quite a few because they didn't know his weakness and he had learned to hold his tongue against their painful fire.

He waited, praying that Miriel would stop, but he knew that was a bit too much to hope.

[»Míríel«]

Miriel pulled up just in time to save herself from crashing into the ground. Then turning she went after him. Her form could be seen streaking towards him, quickly catching up the ground she had lost. The storm was fading fast. "Good, perhaps it has taken to much from his energy bank." It still concerned her how the bird wasn't fighting her, it was only fleeing. Perhaps if she struck him in the right way, she could get him to fight back. If he didn't then so be it, she was going to end it here no matter what.

Closing in she sent fire flying towards him in a powerful beam. The beam split down the middle and headed for either side of him, then split again until there was one above, one below, and on on each side of him. Then the fire closed in like and struck. Meanwhile Miriel had climbed up above him and beating her wings fast over took him, turned and faced him, sending another blast towards him. The first attack would do little, being annoyances mainly, if they did hit. Though that didn't mean they wouldn't sting, or wound, there was just no way of them being fatal, or close to it.

[saerwen]

Damion had known hat she was going to start attacking him, but he had not really expected it to come so quickly and furiously. She was sending raging streams of fire all around him and he had no idea how he was going to counter them. Since they split, he was able to get ready because it took them a little longer, and they became weaker, but he was going to have trouble getting all of them away. Knowing that it was going to be harsh, he just decided to do the most damage that he could.

Coming straight from his mouth, a large glowing ball errupted, springing into action not long after that. It radiated a pure white beam straight into the first fiery beam. It then spread into the second and the third. However, it was not enough to take out the fourth. It grazed over his side as he tried to push out of it's way.

Sheesh, she keeps getting closer and closer. Does she really want to kill me? What is wrong with her? Is this what a phoenix in love does when the one they love has a slight mental break down. I am going to have to make a note of this.

The pain from his knew wound was harsh and it bit into him, but he couldn't focus on that any longer. She had another attack coming for him. He sighed and focused on that one beam of fire. It was coming soon. Almost too soon, but he would have time. He used his large claws to form an orb, as though he was holding a ball, and then, it grew larger. Larger and larger until it was big enough to capture the beam of light. The entire thing faded into the orb, which flew back to Damion. Although it sucked the magical life out of him, it restored him to perfect health every time. That was why he could only use it after being hurt.

Even though he still had energy left he knew that whatever else he did would be either a direct attack on Miriel or a botched block that would only protect half of him. If he kept using the energy ball, then he would inevitably run out of magical energy after two or three more. This was a losing battle because he refused to fight. But that was what was to be expected he supposed. He was fighting his greatest weakness and refusing to go on the offensive. Her tenacious attacks were biting through every wall that he put up. It was just a matter of time before he lost. The one thing that he prayed was that she would not hit him where it would hurt most. One hit to his chest and he would be downed, maybe even flipped into his other form with no energy to change back. He would might even die before he reached the ground. However, if that was the end of this fight, he would just be glad that it was him, and not Miriel. He turned and waited for her next attack, relying on the shield that he had placed on himself for whatever came.
**************
Not far from there, a little ways off in the woods had been the familiar form of Jaedon. Her lithe black form had been creeping through the woods in search of lunch. It was about that time anyways. She had been very satisfied with a rabbit and a deer. It was a nice day for hunting. The sun was fairly warm, but the breeze that was around this place was enough to cool anything off. She had been enjoying the peace.

However, her peaceful meal had been disrupted when she heard the angry scream of a large bird and seen the dark shadow of a dragon flying into the sky. It hadn't been much later that she had been buffeted by storm force winds and snow. She knew only one person that oculd cause a storm that suddenly and that could actually survive very comfortably in it. She doubted that it was him because he wasn't one to go picking fights and randomly making snow storms for his own pleasure.

She had finished her meal quickly and run out into the open to see what was going on. The sight that met her eyes was rather haunting. Fire and ice in a combat that appeared to be to the death. She knew the two warriors as her own dear friends, Miriel and Damion. She couldn't fathom how those two had started fighting, or how they were continuing to fight. It had seemed so impossible. They were both so sweet, so agreeable, so steady, it was like nothing could ever ruin their day, or their good opinion of everyone, let alone each other. They adored each other.

Her mouth fell open and she sat in horror. There was nothing that she could do. There was no way that she could help to stop the fight. She couldn't even reason out how they had begun to fight. Her eyes were filled with confusion, almost on the brink of tears.

What is heaven's name happened? How can this be happening? I thought this was impossible!

She hadn't noticed the two other presences in the near vacinity because she was so enraptured. However, her ears picked up a harsh rustling and her head jerked around, happy to leave the terrifying sight that was above her. Her green gaze fell upon a pitch black wolf. He was much larger than most wolves and he had wings. She was rather shocked by his appearance, and she unknowingly gritted her teeth together. She happened to hate wolf-like creatures very much, but she was trying not to let that show. He had strange blue eyes that seemed to mock and comfort at the same time. It was like an ocean, angry but welcoming, calm but threatening. She couldn't put her finger on it. They almost looked like they were swirling around. She pulled her head back a bit and gazed at him with apathy. After seeing her two friends fighting, nothing held significance for her.
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He had sensed all four of the other presences that were in this area, but a little too late. No matter how much he wanted to avoid them now, he had been seen. However, he was curious about the pair fighting above and from the panthers previous thoughts, this seemed rather out of character for both of them.

He had been surprised to see who the others were. He had expected something a little less...predatorial. The panther could have given him a run for his money in a fight simply because of her size and agility. The other one was so humanoid-like that it discussed him. Her forked tail interested him. She was too small, and as it appeared, to preoccupied to be a problem. His gaze stayed focused on the larger cat. She was beautiful, no doubt in both forms. She seemed well practiced in the game of combat from the scar that ran down her leg and the obvious development of her muscles. She was used to working alone as well. Her fur had a strange natural gloss to it that made it really look like some liquid. It shone so brightly in the sun that his nocturnal eyes were almost pained by it. Her tail flicked very aggitatedly and she seemed to darken at his arrival.

He walked up to her and sat down a few feet away from her, ignoring the existence of the other completely. Both had control over the mind, but one was using illusions and the other simply persuasive or meddling techniques. He knew a variety, but he knew general communication very well.

"You seemed rather distressed by the fight that happens to be going on above our heads, might I ask why?" His voice held an empty, almost apathetic tone to it, but it was also rather commanding.

"Who are you to care?"

"I care only for the fact that there is a fight and that there might be the possibility of it being for naught."

"Why that should bother you I don't know, but if you must know, this is the first time I have ever seen the pair fight. What do you mean for naught?"

"There is a spell caster interfering in this fight. I am wondering if one of those two is fighting something that is not real.

Jaedon raised an eyebrow. She knew he had entered her mind the second that he did it, and she was rather surprised, but she was also impressed. It wasn't every day that you found a person very capable of telepathy and actually applying it well.

"You mean that someone is causing an illusion? Can you tell what it is?" Jaedon knew that this guy was fully capable of seeing that illusions were being used and destroying them, but she wondered if he could actually see what the illusion was.

"Oh yes. Your fiery friend thinks she is fighting a long gone foe. An ice phoenix to be exact. If my mythical history is correct, ice phoenix's and fire phoenix's weren't on friendly terms the last time I checked."

Jaedon's eyes widened and she rotated her head to look back. Damion had just used his absorbing ability to take one of Miriel's hit's. This was getting too bad. He wasn't going to last much longer.

"Please destroy the illusion. They wouldn't ever fight each other normally. Damion won't last more than another 10 minutes because he refuses to fight back. Miriel would probably go suicidal or insane if she found out that she killed Damion for no reason." Jaedon wasn't begging, she wasn't desperate, because if he wouldn't do it, then she would go and find whoever it was that was causing the illusion. She would kill them and the illusion would be gone.

The wolf blinked at her and then turned his eyes to the sky. They suddenly took on a hazy look, almost like a mist had shrouded them. Aeryn was working on destroying the illusion. It didn't take long. Whoever had made that illusion had been good, but they had no control inside the mind, just on what the mind thought it saw. He was glad that it hadn't been any harder because the fight looked to be getting much worse. Indeed, he hoped that he wasn't too late.

[»Míríel«]

It was time. The phoenix was loosing chances, he had been running away and now he couldn't hid. Now he would have to fight back or die. Miriel could tell that her chances of winning now were strong, her opponent had used up precious energy on magic to absorb her attacks. "You would be wiser than that... I thought." Narrowing her eyes she sent herself barreling towards him, and sent out a pillar of fire spiraling his direction. Then she dodged past him circled and hit him from below. Her sharp talons tried biting into the scales and her wings bent around. It was time.

Time seemed to freeze for a moment as Miriel got ready for the final blow. Could she bring herself to do this? Could she really kill another phoenix? It had been a thing that she could never have brought herself to do before, even in the worst of times between the ice and fire phoenix's. She had been teased and ridiculed. Now she would show them, she would show all those who had called her a coward. "Father, I do this for you." These thoughts had only taken a fraction of a second, and closing her eyes she drove her beak at the "Phoenix's" chest, at the heart. Whether it was luck, fate, or because her eyes were closed she missed the mark and hit on the right side of the middle of the chest.

Miriel's eyes opened to see if she had done it. Satisfaction glimmered in her eyes, but only for a moment. The feathers, those icy feathers, where had they gone? Now they were...scales? Something wasn't right. Letting go of her prey she pushed off and hovered in the air. It was an ice dragon. "Damion?" Horror filled her heart as she fluttered in the sky. Suddenly she felt the cold about her, and her mind was whirling. How could it have been Damion. She had just seen an ice phoenix. Surely she had attacked him not Damion, no not Damion. Things started clicking into place, the reason the phoenix hadn't fought, the questions, the bewilderment, the confusion in her opponent. Why hadn't she caught on before, she should have realized something was up. "You didn't because you were blind, blind in rage and fury."

Miriel was in the sky stunned, her wings went from a striped blue to a deep red in just a fraction of a thought. What had she done?! She looked, perhaps Damion would pull out, he would pull up and recover. He had to, he must! She watched what he would do with avid attention, praying that her blow wouldn't be that strong, that his scales would protect him. Deep down she knew it would take a miracle for that blow not to do serious damage, if not kill him.

[saerwen]

Damion knew that Miriel was coming in for the final attack. She had to be because he had nothing left to do. Either that, or she would finally wake up from this dream...nightmare...whatever it was. She was such a different person when she was angry, but this only made him feel guilty for being just the same about Eventide and his past. How could he have been so heartless as to bring her into such a mess.

The first attack took out the shield that he had had ready. He knew that he needed something else, but he hadn't had time. Miriel was far too quick. He felt her flame's rising closer and closer to him. He was about to fly away when she attacked. Every time she touched him, it left scorch mark on him, her talons causing obvious damage. Damion had to clench his teeth to keep from letting out a sign of pain. Then the worst part of all. Somehow he knew that she would do it. It was bound to happen, and it did. He felt like the wind had just been knocked out of him. He couldn't even breath. Not only were the flames from her body lapping at him and burning every part of him, her beak had pierce through the soft scales that gave poor protection to the most vulnerable part of his body. The change in strength was immediate and painful. He was melting again. Melting from the inside out. He let out a gasp and felt everything within him buckle. It was an immediate crippling device. He started to get dizzy, his vision blurred, he couldn't think, everything was happening at one time and it was going to kill him. His heart beat was speeding up, faster and faster.

Unable to keep his body in the air because of their sudden lack of strength, his wings became limp, and his body began to plummet to the ground. The falling sensation was scary at first, but then it became relaxing as he closed his eyes. Perhaps if he fell asleep he wouldn't feel the impact. Perhaps it would be better that way. He could die a fairly peaceful death. His chest was in so much pain that words couldn't even express it. It was like everything in his body was burning, especially his chest. His breathing was labored and becoming slowly impossible. He was out before he hit the ground. However, he did manage to change forms, even while half way comatose. That was more of his own bodies defense against the fire that was spreading through his form. He couldn't feel the change and he certainly couldn't feel the impact. Darkness had captured him and he wondered to himself if he would ever see the light of a natural day again.
*********************************
Jaedon watched in horror as Damion fell from the sky. Her eyes wide in fear and grief. She had seen what Miriel had just done. She knew what was going to happen. She had melted Damion's heart. He would lose his magic, he would lose everything. When he hit the ground, the whole surface rumbled from the impact, knocking Jaedon and Aeryn a little off balance. However, the both kept their poise and when they recovered, both looked up. The icy white dragon was losing his his diamond like appearance. It was fading to pale blue scales. His chest was glowing a hot red that was visible from their current positions, quite a ways off.

"Oh no! Oh Lord no!" Jaedon let out under her breath as she took off running for Damion's burnt and slowly dying body. It was not going to take long for the fire to spread and consume him. Jaedon just prayed that she could get him to change forms. "Damion!" She said no more, seeing that he was completely unconscious, probably on his way into a comma. "Crap," she whispered to herself. She swiftly changed forms, using her hands to unbutton the blue striped shirt that he was wearing. She then ran from his form and scooped up a large amount of ice and snow into her hands, and after running back, dumped it onto his chest, where his heart was still glowing a violent orange. The snow and ice just turned to steam and Jaedon let our another curse as she ran to get more. She needed someone to help her. She also needed to get Damion to Cecily. She looked up to the sky, but then returned her attention to Damion as she piled more and more snow and ice onto his chest. All of it melted, turning into steam, and some into water.
**************
Aeryn watched the girl as she worked furiously to try and undo what her friend had done. The ice dragon was in bad shape. However, this was not his fight to fight. He was more interested in catching the skulking creature that had started this whole mess. She needed to answer for this, since she had almost killed someone. He was sure that the phoenix would come to aid her friend soon, and so he left, turning and walking into the woods. He began sniffing the ground, trying to catch the feline's scent. He grinned as he flew slowly up into the air; she wasn't going to be able to hide forever, unless she was also good at teleportation.

[»Míríel«]

What had she done, what had she done? Miriel looked in horror as she watched Damion fall. By the time she got out of the shock and dove to try and help the impact from being as harsh it was to late, he had already changed forms and hit the ground. So she landed, clumsily and abruptly a little way away. Her forms changed and she was seen crouched on the ground. A large puddle around her was the only sign of the fire she had just been. Pulling herself up and grasping the nearby wall she looked around her.

Trees were singed, their green foliage turned black, the ground was no longer a smooth sheet of snow, but was splotched and mangled with patches of earth showing in strange places. Winter and summer had warred here, and now the earth had to deal with the consequences. She had done this, she had ruined everything. Damion Her feet carried her closer to him, but then froze when she saw him laying there with Jaedon running from him to the snow around her frantically. He was so still, so quiet. His skin was singed, burnt. His pure white hair lay about his head like ice itself. He looked dead. Tears came now, gathering in her green eyes and flowing freely down her now pale face. What had she done? Miriel raised a hand and covered her mouth.

She took a couple steps closer, Jaedon would probably sense her now. "Is he..." Her voice was a whisper and her eyes were large with horror. "I didn't...I can't..." Her face was growing as white as the snow about her. She felt sick, sick to the stomach and soul. She was going into shock, her mind was short circuiting. "Damion?" She spoke his name softly, lovingly, and mournfully. She had forgotten Jaedon's presence as she looked at her beloved's quiet face.

[saerwen]

As soon as Jaedon saw Miriel she knew what the poor thing was thinking. She was wondering how on earth she had been attacking a hated enemy and then turned to find that it was Damion. Jaedon didn't have time to explain right now. She needed to get Damion help and help quickly. She only knew so much to do. When the fire in his chest died, Damion would start to bleed, and they would have a hard time stopping it. He was so burnt that his body would be unable to heal itself, and he would have to constantly be kept cold. She knew that these mountains were the safest place to keep him as far as the cold, but she didn't know who to get help from. Miriel wouldn't be able to heal this because her healing ability was rooted in fire, which wouldonly make this worse. She could take him to Cecily, but she was so busy with Neron that it would make it much harder on her. She hated the thought of bringing two patients to Cecily at one time, but it she didn't, Damion would die.

"Miriel, I need you to stop thinking and just do what I tell you. There will be time to worry and cry and apologize later. Right now, I need you to help me get him over to Cecily. He are going to have to go quickly because he doesn't have much time. He needs to get out of the sun, and he needs something to cover this wound because it is fixing to explode in a river of blood," she spoke gently, knowing that her words were falling on a broken and confused soul. That was why she had told Miriel not to think. She just needed obedience from her friend in order to save her friend.

"Help me get him up, Miriel," she turned her head to her left, "Cecily's house is that way. It is about a 400 yards from us. Let's go."

[»Míríel«]

Miriel was visibly shaking now. Her hands trembled by her side and she lifted one to tuck her hair behind her ear. Jaedon spoke to her and this snapped Miriel's attention away from Damion to Jaedon. Stop thinking? Miriel blinked and then let her gaze shift back to Damion then to Jaedon. "Oh... Okay.." Her voice was distant. Blood, a river of blood, the very thought made her want to get sick, her stomach churned but she refused to loose her stomach. She needed something to bind the wound with. Miriel looked about her for a moment before remembering that she had a jacket on she didn't need. It was a beautiful green sweater, which had been one of Damion's favorite, it always brought out her eyes and her hair when she wore it. To think that just a few hours ago she had picked it out so please him and now, she had almost killed him. Edging closer to Damion she loked at his form with deer-in-headlights eyes and froze. He was still so still, she felt like he would open his eyes at any moment and smile at her. "Stop thinking, just stop thinking." Twisting her mouth into a straight line she wrapped it around him and tied it tightly. It wasn't much but it was all she had. She hoped it would help. She had tried to gather the extra cloth, being the body of the jacket over the wound, making it the densest amount of cloth there, then the arms wound around and tied in a knot. It was tight, but not the best bandage.

"It's all.. I have." Miriel tired to explain and then Jaedon talked about getting him to Cecily. Yes Cecily, she would help, she would care for Damion, everything would be alright. She hoped this was true, but that dark side of her was whispering it wouldn't be. She couldn't think about it, no JAedon told her not to think. So she helped JAedon get Damion up, trying to master her shaking hands, which had steadied a good bit with something to do now.

[saerwen]

Jaedon watched as the rather frazzled Miriel wrapped her jacket around Damion's body. Jaedon shoveled one more handful of ice onto his chest and then watched as it melted away. About half way to Cecily's, his chest had done exactly as Jaedon knew it would. The heat was no longer the thing to worry about. His body was fighting desperately to stop that, and hopefully the ice would have aided in that fight, but now, he was bleeding profusely. By the time that they reached Cecily's the jacket was soaked in hid blood, overflowing. The red liquid had begun to drip from his body. Jaedon had never seen anything this bad happen to Damion before. He had never been this close to dying. She was worried to say the least, but there really wasn't anything more that she could do other than hope.

The End