Chapter Five

Alone in her chambers at the age of sixteen, she allowed herself tears. The stored tears continued to flow and the sobs wracked her body, robbing it of the ability to speck - barely allowing a breath to be drawn from her lungs. Only when the temperature in that medium sized room cooled to the touch, she turned her attention to what was in front of her, then quickly wiped the tears from her stained cheeks. Valerian Crow, with his cute, innocent and charming smile, appeared in her vision, burning every emotion that caused her sadness, as she stood from the bedside. ''Forget those guys out there!'' he shouted. ''You aren't useless. You have your mind, you have your determination! I'll bet you could wield a dagger better than half of them anyway!'' His voice melted the ice from her bones, as it slowed. ''Whether you believe me or not, you should stay, stay and show those stupid assholes, they didn't ruin you.'' She laughed. It hurt her throat to laugh, but she laughed.

That distant memory played in her mind more times than she ever admitted. She felt the pain that came with such a memory, the blood that came along with it, from all those late night practices, the hard dried blood still lurking under the half recovered bruises. She'd been there. Witnessed. She'd been there, watching her parents take their last, and final breaths. If she wanted too, she could probably tell you what their blood smelled like, as it redecorated the white, title, flooring. After that, sleep hadn't come to her for weeks, months even. Sleep hadn't come to her until the first time she met the boy, who'd become her closest fiend in the future. Valerian Crow, she owed her life too.

''Sometimes,

it happened like this.

''One day you meet someone and for some inexplicable reason, you feel more connected to this person more than anyone else. They may even be as close as your parents, as brothers and sister, as closest family. Perhaps this person carried within them a snow angel - one sent to you for some higher purpose, to teach you an important lesson, or just to keep you safe during the perilous times, when destiny becomes to much to bare. Either way, sometimes beautiful things slip into our lives out of nowhere. We can't always understand why, but we have to trust in them, because the good parts of life aren't always able to be answered with Why.'''

A kind of light spreaded out below her. And everything change color. The world opened up, as the day of sunshine came to awaken all around her. Faith felt something comfortable and warmth underneath her body, though as she tried to move, she was limited by her muscles, and bones crying out, screaming at her to stay still. In the corner of the room she could see a pearl, white, balcony, along the balcony was pure, snow, white railings and crests of sunset symbols along the flooring. The symbol was sheer gold, heavenly, and shinny to the very edge.

The air is still, cold even, the cooling of the earth radiated by vibrant colors, and lower layers. Sounds of air carries excellency over a level surface. The vibrant color[s brought the peace to her drums, pink, orange, purple. The beautiful shade of purple was overall her favorite. Every time she saw the color, she swore she could hear her mother's laughter, her fathers gentle smile, and the warmth between hugs welcoming her home. Faith drew one foot down, sliding it down past the comforters and blankets, as she tried to stand. She wobbled a little, but eventually she reclaimed her footing. The outside winds blew in past the chestnut curtains, as she drew towards the balcony. There she saw the glossy, crystallized decorations of the stain glass windows, drawing her attention past them, only for her eyes to drop down, down to the ground where she could see trees, bushes, and a bright blue sky. The brightest shade of ocean blue she'd ever seen. ''Beautiful? Isn't it?'' Faith didn't need to turn around to recognize who the voice belonged too. She sighed dramatically, cuffing her chin in her hand, as his tone sounded just as warm, like she'd been hearing his voice, for her entire life.

''You know, in the fairly tales, the poor girl smiles when she becomes princess, but right now, I don't know if I'll ever be able to smile again.'' she whispered.

''Where'd you hear that from?'' he asked, standing far away behind her.

''Heard it in a book once, for some reason it spoke to me? So I made sure to memorize it.'' She turned away from the balcony, just as she turned around, she was startled to see he'd moved closer. A part of herself that desired to be desired imagined the warmth of his soft hands around her waist for the second time. She imagined his breath smelled of honey, and something spicy. Almost like she could compare his breath to a childhood sour candy. He smiled as he met her eyes, and that's when she saw a row of perfectly shaped pearly white teeth. She felt like her mind was going to melt right then, right there, he truly was perfect.

Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is always the beginning to something stronger.

Something inside her made her fall apart. Something inside her made her fall apart, like a pit that had been broken years ago, but somehow managed to cling back to its previous shape, but only one someone nudged it. As warmth as Faith felt, she knew she couldn't continue like this. This man had kidnapped her, knocked her out, and brought her somewhere, very beautiful! But unknown still the same. She watched him closely, as he licked his lips at the sight of her, watching the honey from his lips, as she remembered she probably had dried blood, and dirt covering her face. Frowning at him, she rolled herself, before kneeling down onto her knees, bowing her head to the ground in front of him. ''What're you doing?'' he asked. ''You took my weapons, you kidnapped me and my friend, left me defenseless, I don't know what else to do....I ask that you release us, before the Arrows realize I"m missing, and take this as a opportunity to attack my camp.''

''Arrows? What exactly are Arrows?''

''Seriously! You don't know what Arrows are?! Where have you been for the last two years? Living under a rock or something?!'' She frowned at him, studying his next words as close as she could. ''What ever these Arrows are, I assure you they don't come around here. No one does. No one really knows about this place. Well,'' he hesitated. ''Except you and your friend.'' The human side of her hated his tone and the truth of his words even more. His people never had to deal with the Arrows, a world in which the Arrows didn't exist? That's she's ever wanted for her people. A safe and protected environment where Elmon can grow up, safely and protected. ''Hey, are okay?'' He spoke the words in the same cool, detached tone that she recognized from their interactions in the forest, which made it almost to easy to trust him. ''Are you just going to stand there? Or are you going to tell me your name?'' Quickly she pulled her hair back into a proper ponytail, with the same pale, white scrunchie, growing nervous for the first time in a while, as her voice got cut up in her dry throat.

''My name is Faith.''

''Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Faith. One question, are you all right, Faith?'' With a nervous glance at the pair of large, locked doors, she began realize this was probably not going to be a day she'd live to see the end of if she didn't try to cooperate with him. But she wasn't sure how to do that. The last two days were that of the worst of her entire life, ranking in at a close second to her parents and the slaughter of her village. The time with Cardin, the time in which they spent engaging in - The thought was just to much for her, that she pushed it away quickly, and regained any confidence she could find. ''What role do you play in all this, Faith?''

''What role do I play? What is is? Some sort of video game? I wasn't assigned any sort of role. My name is Faith Collins, I am the commander of the remaining survivors of the human race. We built a protective base not to far past the clearing, where we live, and defend ourselves, while fighting the Arrows, mutant enhanced demons and immortals, from a time in the past, almost millennia ago.''

''I don't know why I've been brought here, nor do I seek any explanations at this moment, but I will ask for one thing.''

''And what's that?'' he answered.

''I wish to know what was done to my friend? The friend I was in the forest with, I believe one of your partners did something to him, before I passed out. I wish to know what has become of him? I can promise, if he's harmed in any way, I will not hesitate but to throw you off the balcony myself.'' Faith could see he was somewhat wild, just like her from the wicked smile that played over his once calm demeanor.

He was wild, like her, with the kind of profile sculptors liked to cast in bronze. A fiery young man chiseled from the elements of diamonds and gold. Even in moments of laughter, she could sense his peaceful and gental side, clawing to resurface. ''You won't do that. You'd be insane to even try! I"d just help myself, and I"d be fine.''

''Really? Alright, but what would you do if I somehow lost my footing - and -

Faith drew her arm behind her body, unbuckling her belt from her waist, as the belt dropped to the ground in a thud of pericing noise, and sharp metal. The grim reaper followed her down, as she jumped from the balcony, pen and ink in hand, ready to drag her to the underworld where she belonged. Ready to bring her wherever it was dead commanders went to go for their sins. And Faith Collins, wasn't a victim of committing sins. She'd made so many, to count them all, would take half of three months. Her nostrils took in the beautiful smell of mountain air, as with the ongoing breeze, the wind touched her cheeks. Running her fingertips through her locks of brown hair, she pulled tightly as she tore a white scrunchie from its place. Waves of air pulled in all different directions as it bathed her in heaven's cloud of light. The air was cold. Brisk even, as it pushed and pushed to take up room against her cheeks, the winds were capturing playful amounts of what appeared to be falling snow, gathering in bundles of groups, swarming around one another, like the wind was being controlled, like it was summoning towards where she was falling, swallowing her up, inside the snow, as butterflies filled the hole in her stomach, where her nerves should have been. The weightless feeling disappeared from her almost as quickly as it came. Her eyes had to adjust to the bright lights all around her, and as they finally did, she tried to help herself to her feet, but surprise wavered through her body, as she found him, his purple eyes were on her.

He looked nervous and uncomfortable as he held her, but he didn't seem to wanna leg go of her. And when her eyes awoke from the darkness, warm and safe in his arms, he was still there, holding her hand clasped to his chest, bodies pressed into each other. He was gorgeous, sexy, and compelling, but a part of him was lethal, deadly, frightening to her. That part of him was the most frightening, the part of him in which spirited wings. Sticking out, wide, from his back, was a pair of big, black, hawk like wings. Shaped and curled at the edges, covered in a blanket of black feathers. As if on Que, panic and shock rose up inside her, surviving to the top, as she tired to control her breathing. Terrified, pushing then clawing away from him, she broke the grasp, as her eyes turned to the right. On her right was a quality as handsome looking guy as the man who'd saved her just now. There was something just as trusting about him.

The sounds of snow crunched under her feet and quickly soaked into her flimsy, black boots. The temperature around them, felt different, almost colder. The beat of snowflakes, carried the space between them, in drizzles above her head that once touched crystallized into sparkles of stars.

''That's enough, LIarrin, we'd better alert the commander about this, he'd wanted to be notified about Faith right away.''

''Of course, Valdin.'' Nodded Liarrin as he whisked himself away from them.

Faith turned to look at him, questions and theories taking over the reality of the situation, as her voice broke out in soft whispers. ''My god.'' she breathed, stopping in the middle between where they stood. ''No, just me.'' Valdin whispered, a smile capturing his face, as he gestured for her to come to him. As the air around them became damp, Faith's world shoot, as fury and fascinating wages war in her thoughts. The Arrows seemed to be the least of her problems, now. Today she discovered not only is the past reliving itself, with the Arrows, but with Gods as well.

* * *

After a nice warm, relaxing bath, and a good night's sleep, she returned to her room, eager for something to eat. She had her hair wrapped up in a towel when she got back to her room, the imagery of the green gems reflecting the sunshine, shimmering through the clear bath room, it was so enchanting she couldn't seem to stop thinking about it. Breakfast was on the table when she emerged from the bathroom, in only a couple minuets, she'd wolfed down the sandwich that was made for her, unable to remember the last time she'd eaten anything so delicious. Anything that wasn't water soup, or some stew made from animals. The sunshine air was warm against her skin, as she stepped in the middle of the room, where the rays were coming down around her, the warmth was particularly pleasant with the invigorating freshness of the snowflakes that had crystallized into beautiful stars, in her hair. Following into this morning was flashes from the previous day. Falling her to the edge of her bed, as a fresh breeze whipped past her bare, damp, skin. The winds brushed past her cheeks, than wrapped around her bare shoulders, till she washed the warmth of the towel around her. There weren't just Arrows invading her home, but gods as well? But they might just prove to be useful? They might just be the key to riding of the Arrows? She might actually be able to grant Elmon the normal life, he once had.

Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity.

Thoughts of Cardin came flooding back, invading everything, and sending her once, enchanted smile to a twisted frown of sadness and drowning. How she missed him. How her heart pounded softly at the thought of just his name, his name casting a wonderful melody through out the darkness inside herself. A soft, well placed, knock on the door, caused her to jump a little, but after a few seconds she was calm again, and turning her eyes to the pair of doors to the right of the room. She made sure the towel was firmly, and tightly wrapped around herself, before she saw the door open, it opened slow at first, then creaked open the rest of the way. Faith's small vision was able to pick up on two people, entering.

She recognized one, being Liarrin, then next to him, she saw Valdin. The man responsible for drugging and kidnapping her. Not only did he do all that, but he also helped rescue her, when she'd jumped from the balcony. if there was one thing about Valdin she would never forget, it was his wings. The melted chocolate bars that made up the color of his hair, reminded her of her own, just a little bit lighter, as his purple, violet, orbs burned into her mind, replaying the first time she'd truly stopped to notice him.

''Slowly with the care of prey beneath his predator behavior, she turned her head, then stopped, meeting the gaze of the elegant man, staring down at her, restraining her, but staring at her, all the same. She found herself drawn to the kindness in those violet, purple orbs, the hard line of his jaw, which moved only when his face was still. She didn't know if it was the freckles lining his light brown skin, or the way he looked when the sun drowned his face.''

Liarrin approached where she sat on the bed, slowly, eyes full of softness as he walked towards the large, cuffed bed. He lent his arm out to her, smiling as he said. ''How are you this lovely morning?'' He spoke so softly, so gently, it was like every time he opened his mouth to speck, ray of sunshine escaped, covered in his sentences. ''I hope you were able to see my present, I left outside your window.'' Liarrin's beautiful bright blue/green eyes turned from her, the solid black in his hair shinning, like it was absorbing the sunshine itself. Faith was starting to believe all the gods were going to be enchanting and handsome in some way. A sudden sharp breeze of cold air rushed past her, storming through the inside of her skin, her vision stumbled a little, as she re-opened her eyes from the harsh wind. Valdin's expression seemed to stiffen at the sight of her, those violet eyes seeming almost sharp and wild now. As if behind his stare, were daggers ready to stab her. His jaw tight, and sharp, studied her, as silence pushed its way past the three of them. Faith wrapped her arms tightly around the front of the towel, as anonymous footsteps backed her mind into the lonely, shallow corner, leaving her in sheer darkness, and full of questions she wished for the answers too.

''What is supposed to happen here?'' her voice caused her ears to ring a little, as she cursed under her breath, sure of the fact there must be some bathwater still stuck in her ear, from leaving her head under water for much to long. Valdin's expression shifted this time he looked almost concerned, like he was worried what was next to her. It was as if he was being protective of her. She wasn't sure if things were really going to be okay, but something deep inside her, told her to trust and believe in him. Unsure whether to move away from the both of them, or verbally fend them both off, she decided to neither of that, and just glanced at him, unsure what it was that had him so bothered, so protective, and concerned for her. She closed her eyes for a moment, pushing all the thoughts she had from the front to the back now, so she couldn't get distracted, as she captured two tiny breaths of oxygen she had held in her lungs. A sharp pain in her ribs told her to take it with ease, as her eyes closed again, with pain.

She wasn't stupid, she could tell something was wrong by the way the two gods looked at her. She wasn't going to pretend there wasn't something worrying them. But before she knew it, she was drawing another breath, painful this time, into her lungs to replace the others she lose, taking in all the pain that came with the swelling, as Liarrin's crystallized stars came flooding back, acting as comfort for her. Anything to keep from letting the pain have its way with her.

Valdin looked unsure of what to do next, but finally he approached her with a cold and silent determination while trying to ignore Faith's staring. ''You're going to have to come with me,'' His words brushed against her skin, as he slid his hand down under her arm, pulling her slowly to her feet. Faith's face twisted with pain, as Valdin slowed, watching her as she blew through the painful breaths. ''Don't worry, everything will work out fine.'' Was what she wanted him to say, but instead he just guided her across the floor, her towel still wrapped around her bare body, as her cheeks turned pink from exposure. How she wished he'd given her a minuet to get something proper on. As she followed him closely, across the flooring, she had a wild urge to just throw her arms around his neck, and demand he take the worry and fear away, but she didn't do that. Instead she said something to him, she desired to hear with his voice.

''You don't have to worry, Valdin,'' she said as she watched him, pushing the door to her room open, the cracks and creaking sounds erupting through the wide walls, causing a small echo, that took the ringing from her ears away.

I want to be happy ans not have to worry about creatures trying to kill me, or how often I"ll be wandering into one of your massacres! That sounded a lot like something Valerian would be saying to her, if he was there right now. As she walked she imagined Cardin's pretty eyes growing dark, her lips lightly kissing his forehead, eager to prove to him, a part of her truly did care about him. But the thought of Cardin melted from her mind, as the thought died on her lips, as she was forced to take in the worry line, and gaunt features of the man standing before her. She stopped dead in her tracks, glued behind a musty, old, looking door, Valdin's eyes were drawn to her, as she swallowed the stiffness in her throat. Everything was proven right then and there, Valdin was leading her somewhere, dark, and hollow. Somewhere she was sure was going turn out to be with deadly consequences. The worst part of everything, she had no idea how to prepare...or what to expect.