Aero and Tajy ~Birds of a Feather~

Lena walked in awkwardly behind Talos, leaning against the door frame. She knew Talos must have noticed her hesitation and went in before her. Sighing at her social issues, Lena nodded as a forced smile graced her lips. "It's nice to see you again." Lena let herself stay in the doorway, decided to keep her distance from mother and son.

~*~*~*~

Kol leaned back against a tree with a sigh. He had announced the end of the raids rather abruptly to his brothers. His sisters did not care to attend the meeting, probably thinking it was another raid meeting. He bore angry and confused looks from each of them and Enitan even left the room, slamming his bedroom door behind him. While Kol was spending time with Mai, Enitan had been holding down the fort and leading the raids. But Kol couldn't let them continue, not if he wanted to stay with Mai. She really disliked the fighting between them and saw no point to it. If giving up the raids meant staying with her, he would do it. Lost in his thoughts, Kol enjoyed the cool breezes that occasionally brushed against his face.

~*~*~*~

Hyo walked out of his home in a blind rage. He was the fourth oldest child with dark brown hair. His eyes, normally large and bright was currently a turbulent sea of blues and greens. His wings were interesting in that there was a solid white layer of feathers at the base of the wings which half way down turned solid black.

How could Kol just stop the raids like this?! As he passed by an innocent rock, he kicked with with all his fury, sending it flying into the bushes. He needed to get away from the house, the people, and even more then that Kol. He probably just adopted some sort of slutty pacifist who found out about the raids and refused to put out unless he stopped. Why he would go that far for a girl was beyond Hyo's understanding but perhaps she was kick ass in bed or something.

Finding the nearest tree in the middle of no where, Hyo slammed his fist into it. He felt warm liquid run down his knuckles as a throbbing-burning pain blossomed in his hand. Ignoring the pain, Hyo slammed his hand back into the bark and this time felt the crunch of snapping bone. The ruby red liquid ran down the bark slowly as if it was sap and pieces of bark lay at Hyo's feet. Nothing could sate his current rage. Nothing.

Talos nodded to his mother's explanation and gave her a quick hug. "I'll go and find them, then. Lena, if you don't want to come, you can stay here with ma. I'm sure she'd be happy for the company." He gave Lena his best grin and patted Lena on the shoulder as he left the house out into the village, his mother striking up the beginnings of a conversation he would probably rather not hear as he left.

First, he headed to the market, where he figured Arthulur would be. He saw one of his younger brothers, but the eldest didn't appear. After asking around a bit, he found that Arthulur had left the market on a lunch break after completing a job lifting crates. He took flight then, heading for the forest. It was the time of year when wild fruit was ripening around Turich, and all the Estoen kids knew just where to locate these fruit bearing trees and snatch a few lunches before the hard-core harvesters came through and took everything.

*~*~*~*

If Mai hadn't been looking out for Turich, she probably would never have noticed the flying figure that was heading toward them, flying low to the trees and winging over the forest with lazy languid flaps of his wings. Without hardly even thinking, Mai swerved violently off of her course, half grabbing, half tackling Kol and plummeting toward the forest and away from the flying figure. Before they were in emminent danger of crashing, she pulled out of the steep dive, and frantically gestured to Kol to follow her down into the safety of the woods, landing at a run and looking relieved when they were under the cover of the canopy.

Looking a touch wild, she shot Kol an apologetic glance. "I'm sorry I dragged ya down so suddenly like that. I sawr Talos comin' from town, 'an didn't want 'im ter see you me with me. The last thing I need if fer you and Talos to be fightin' over who knows what..." She looked nervously to the sky, searching it for her older brother, than searched the forest. "I suppose that we can walk from here..." Mai mumbled, looking back to Kol.

*~*~*~*

Arhulur was wandering the forest, looking for the fruit bearing trees that would signify a free and easy lunch. The sounds of the city were gone now, replaced by the peaceful natural serenade of the forest. As he walked, however, he began to hear something that was a little out of place and went to seek the noise out. He caught a bright flash of color flickering through the trees, and with his curiosity piqued, snuck toward the source of the unusual color. He was rewarded with the sight of one of the Serenoa clan members pounding on a tree for whatever reason, looking pretty ticked. He immediately knew it was a Serenoa from the black and white wings, the expensive clothes, and that lingering air about him that just screamed wealth and snobbery.

Caught by a sudden anger at seeing the Serenoa all alone, he looked around and grabbed some sort of fruit that was only half-ripe off of the tree nearest him, stepping out into the clearing with a scowl etched on his face. With all of his strength, he chucked the small round fruit at the boy, just hoping he would hit him somewhere. "OI! Serenoa! You best be getting yer snobby ass outta 'ere. It ain't dark yet so ye cowards cain't sneak up on us!"

Lena watched as Talos left, and she opened her mouth as if to say something but stopped herself and let him go. She turned her glance back to his mother and leaned against the wall. She really shouldn’t be worried, she had known this woman for a least a couple of weeks and she had never lashed out at anyone before…Even when her boys did some stupid things. Lena walked over to the never ending pile of clothing and starting folding without a word. If the woman wanted conversation she would have to start it, she didn’t exactly want to say…”Oh. By the way. Your son was almost killed three times, all of them my own fault…oh and when he was finally healed, I had sex with him. After a huge fight, of course.” Saying it in her mind sounded just….wrong. Their whole relationship was a little weird, but when she thought about it…as frustrating as the man could be she had fun with him. A soft smile came to her face as she thought about it and she set down the worn looking piece of material she was folding.

~*~*~*~

Kol, suddenly dragged from his thoughts, quite literally, was shocked when Mai’s small form had latched onto him and forced him down through the canopy of the trees and onto the forest floor. Kol wasn’t as graceful in his landing as Mai, opening his wings just ten feet before he hit the ground only slowed his descent slightly and he landed on his rump, hard. Before he even got a chance to ask Mai what crazy idea she had in her head to knock them from the sky, she had motioned for him to follow her. Letting out an exasperated sigh, he obeyed. When she finally explained she had seen Talos, a sigh of relief escaped him and he placed a hand on her shoulder. “I see, it is fine Mai.” He reassured her. The thought of seeing Talos came with mixed emotions. The normal, instant rage that bubbled up when thinking about the stupid hick came…but then a sudden and odd guilt seemed to spread slowly in the pit of his stomach. He knew if the two of them got into it, Mai would never forgive him. She was a family oriented person and her family always came first. Kol walked with his arm gently round her shoulders, massaging the back of her neck in an attempt to calm her a little.

~*~*~*~

Hyo had been so concentrated on bashing in the poor tree; he had not caught Arthulur’s scent or hear the object flying at him until it had stuck the side of his head. The small fruit came in contact with his head with a thud, and then landed limply by his feet. Hyo stumbled back a moment, and looked down to see the fruit and back up at its thrower. As soon as Hyo’s eyes made contact with Arthulur’s his pulse suddenly pounded and his heart began to race. His entire body felt as if it was on fire and Hyo threw it out as rage against the hick. “Why can’t you all just go away already?!” The boy yelled at him. Hyo stood still as he felt another pulse go through his body and then suddenly….he lost himself. His eyes turned a blood ready and his normally trim nails grew to almost razor tip points.

He breathed heavily as the ground below Arthulur began to shake. “Die!” He commanded. When the boy spoke this time, several hundred tree roots burst from the ground and ran through Arthulur’s body. Hyo, smelling the freshly spilt blood, grinned ear to ear in the ecstasy of the kill. His smile was short lived as pain rushed through his body. Dropping to his knees and hands Hyo screamed through the pain as his wings suddenly began a transformation. The soft black and white feathers dropped all around him as a black membrane began to emerge. He was soon left with a pair of bat wings as he stood where he was shaking from the experience. A dark haze filled his now red eyes and Hyo stood and stumbled towards Arthulur’s body. He did that, he was able to command the trees. Who else could he kill? Everyone. Everything. He needed no one. A suddenly chuckle left him which soon became a cackle. He would never been looked down upon again!

Arthulur had expected anger, would have possibly even welcomed it. The long-standing hatred between their two families had gone on for a long time with no actual physical violence between the two since his father had killed the Serenoa clan leader. What he didn't expect was the surge of magic that suddenly appeared from the young Serenoa boy. He only had a moment to feel true fear as the transformation took place, literally frozen in place as he watched the boy's eyes glow red with a demonic sort of malice, his face twisting into a look of utter rage and claws springing from his fingers. Then, there was pain. Agonizing, complete pain.

His breath left him as the first of the spear-like roots jutted from the ground, stabbing through his legs, arms, chest and wings. He couldn't breathe, couldn't speak, could hardly think, and his vision was quickly going dark. Vaguely, he realized that he had been lifted off the ground by the roots, and that's when it struck him... he was dead. There was no coming back from this. His life extended for a moment longer, enough to see the young boy's wings molt and be replaced by the leathery bat-like wings before he slipped into oblivion. Arthulur, the oldest son of the Estoen clan, was dead.

*~*~*~*

Heaving a small sigh, Mai relaxed into Kol's touch, walking along the forest floor in the general direction of where she knew Turich to be. They hadn't been walking for very long when they heard some ungodly noise from within the forest depths. Instantly on alert, Mai's eyes went wide, searching for the source of the sound. She sped up her pace, her gaze sweeping from side to side, always looking for something that was out of place. Her eyes were attracted to some sort of movement, and she headed toward it to come onto the grizzly scene that had unfolded between her brother and Hyo.

Arthulur was a few inches off the ground with what appeared to be roots from the nearby trees supporting the entirety of his weight... but there was something fundamentally wrong about the whole picture. Arthulur's body was limp, his eyes closed and head lolled back. The roots were red, slicked with her older brothers blood. Mai collapsed then, her eyes instantly tearing up and an anguished cry leaving her lips. "Brother!" She half screamed, half sobbed. She didn't even pay attention to Hyo, or what had been Hyo before his feathers had been replaced with membrane and identity discarded in a storm of hatred and rage.

*~*~*~*

Now, where could he have gotten off to? Talos wondered as he flew over the forest, eyes scanning lazily for the sight of brown wings amongst the foliage below. He didn't think that Arthulur would have gone that far away from town. Their family was one of the hard-working sort, so putting in as many hours as could be gotten were essentially second nature. The air was nice this afternoon, so he didn't much mind taking a few moments to look for his elder brother. His attention was caught by some sort of sound from within the forest, and banking, he turned toward the strange noise, curious as to the nature of the beast that made the sound.

Kol walked with Mai in comfortable silence until suddenly a nauseating stench of blood filled his nose. His stomach rolled as he followed Mai to find the source of it. Kol was shocked when Mai collapsed in a sobbing heap and screamed something about her brother. Confused, Kol got closer. He couldn't see as well as Mai but could easily make out someone standing and someone well, not.

As he stepped over a few random bits of forestry Kol stared onto a seen he could of sworn wasn't real. He felt as if someone had punched him in the gut and could no longer breath. His brother Hyo, was standing over one of the hicks bodies and his normally two toned wings were replaced with a black membrane. Kol had been told stories of long ago when people of his family had used magic. They were great elemental users and had taken pride in their craft, until wars or fights would erupt. The magic they were blessed with had turned itself into a curse. After so much magic had been used something snapped in the user and they lost control. Red eyes and bat wings as black as the night sky itself. Kol had thought these made up stories into scaring children and had never expected them to be true, let alone find out it is from his own brother.

"Stay here." He said to Mai, realizing she probably couldn't hear him at the moment anyway. Biting back his emotions, Kol strode toward the boy and into the clearing. "Hyo, look what you have done to yourself..." He said with a wealth of sadness coating his voice.

Hyo looked up from the mangled body he had destroyed and met with Kol's eyes. He said nothing but a twisted grin came to his face. The ground below Kol shook, and a hundred new roots shot from the ground. Kol leapt from the ground but was not quick enough to avoid one of the roots piercing his shoulder. Biting back the growly yell that would have erupted from his throat. Acting quickly, Kol cut the root from the ground and let it hang on his back as he took to the skies to avoid another barrage of tree roots. Swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat, Kol drew his sword and drove straight for the boy, snapping out his wings at the last second, Kol came in on an angle and ran his blade deep into Hyo's chest. He landed hard just behind the boy and looked up to see him squirming in pain for several seconds before he finally stopped moving.

"Hyo..." Kol said, emotion overwhelming him. He looked down at his blood covered,shaking hands and realized it was his brothers blood covering them. The blood flowing from his shoulder had never touched his hands. He sat still for a long time, as he let the emotions wash over him. Tears streaked his face as she silently wept for the loss of his brother and the innocent blood spilt from Arthulur.

She was speechless. After all, what could be said after that? There was so much blood, and now her dear dear brother Arthulur was dead, his mangled corpse still hanging morbidly from the deadly roots that had speared him. At least his killer had met a swift end, but it was little consolation. She knew Hyo only in passing, and as her body shivered with grief for her own brother, she did not think to blame curses on the boy. The look on Kol's face staid any bitter thoughts she may have had, his grief very clear. Her brother was dead, but at least she had not been the one to slay him.

At that moment, Talos flew over the clearing in which the bloody scene had taken place. At first, he didn't know what to make of it, and circled back around once before landing among the carnage, hardly able to believe his eyes. The first thing he noticed was that Arthulur was dead, his body hung and bathed in his own blood. Mai, just off to the side beyond some trees and looking like an utter wreck, crying her heart out with her face in her hands, shoulders bobbing with the loud choking sobs that emitted from her tiny body. And then there was Kol.

Talos met the eyes of his longest hated foe, absorbing with a striking feeling of numbness the tears the coursed down his face and blood-spattered front. In front of him was some sort of creature that appeared to have been human, run through now with blood on the ground and Kol's trademark sword stuck through it. Closing his eyes to the depressing scene, he walked toward the corpse of his older brother, unsheathing the axe-knife that he obtained from the pirate ship and began hacking through the roots. Arthulur's blood coated his hands and knife, but eventually he got the body to the ground and re-sheathed the knife, still bloody. He looked once to Kol, still looking dumbfounded at the corpse, and Mai, who was still sobbing, but had put her hands down and was watching him with red-rimmed eyes.

Bending down, he gingerly picked up Arthulur's body, and felt the first waves of tears that threatened to fall from his eyes. His older brother looked so helpless and small now, his face pale and totally blank of expression, his eyes mercifully closed. Turning slightly, he made eye contact with Mai. "I will... see you at home. Ma should... she should..." He choked over the rest of his sentence, and took off in a flurry of wings, rocketing into the sky despite the extra weight that he carried with him, his path leading him back to Turich.

On shaking legs, Mai managed to stand, walking slowly over to Kol where he sat on the ground. She knelt by him, within arms reach, but couldn't bring herself to reach out and touch him. What were you supposed to do? To say? "Kol..."

A blissful numbness layed over Kol as Talos had entered the field. He looked at the man, and had no intention of going near him. Their hatred had run deep, but never had their spilled blood, or at least nothing past a bloody nose or cut. Kol took to looking back at his hands once again and blocked out the scene of Arthulur being cut from the deadly roots. He starred into nothingness as tears gently rolled down his face and onto his shirt where more blood covered him.

As he heard Mai approach he didn't look up until she had said his name. His green eyes clouded with pain, and concern and he had no problems showing the tears on his face. He took noticed of her own tear streaked face. Placing a clean hand on the side of her face with infinite gentleness, he spoke. "I'm so sorry, Mai..." He took a moment to hold back more tears that wanted to escape his eyes. "You should be with them." He said as he let his hand slip from her face and back into his lap. He would have to take the root from his shoulder soon before infection grew or he lost too much blood. That would not be a pretty sight. He also had to take the sword from Hyo's body and bring him back home.

~*~*~*~

Lena laughed as she folded yet another piece of clothing. She had been talking with Talos' mother the entire time Talos had been gone. It was weird, because Lena wasn't used to feeling comfortable in someones presence alone for such a time. Standing to stretch her stiff limbs she looked around the room. "I don't know how you do this all day..." She found her thoughts drifting back to Talos as she leaned against the door frame.

For a long moment, Mai simply leaned into the contact, then couldn't bear looking at Kol's pained expression any long. She leaned forward slowly, wrapping her arms around his neck and letting her slight form press against him. He spoke the truth, she really needed to go home and be with her mother, Talos, and all her other brothers and sisters that would be taking the news of Arthulur's death. But Kol was here now, and looking more vulnerable and hurt than she had ever seen him. She wasn't the only one that had just lost a brother, after all. "I'm sorry too Kol... This shouldn't have ever happened. Arthulur 'an Hyo..." She trailed off, buried her head against his shoulder and squeezing tighter.

"Take 'im 'ome, 'a get 'im buried proper..." She leaned back and kissed him briefly on the cheek. "I'll see you soon?"

*~*~*~*

Enita chuckled, folding someone's pants over her arm before setting it aside in a pile of like-colored garments, all freshly cleaned and folded. "It grows on ya, dear. When you've been lookin' after yer kids for 23 years, ye get used ter it, 'an don't think 'bout how repetitive it is no more. I'll tell ya what though, the first few years? I hated it. Loathed settin' foot in this room. But, someone's gotta do the laundry, 'an I'm the only one-" whatever she was about to say was abruptly interrupted by the sound of the front door slamming open and heavy slow steps across the squeaky wooden floor. Looking concerned, Enita left the room and hurried out into the main lobby, her loud gasp able to be heard throughout at whole house. "Talos!" She fairly screamed, her hands flying to her face as she beheld the sight of him.

Talos looked ragged and worn, his face drawn and a pained expression on his face. His whole front and arms were drenched with blood now, Arthulur's limp form in his arms, hands on his bloodied mangled chest. "Ma..." Talos' voice was quiet, barely audible in the now very silent house.

"Oh my baby boy." Enita whispered, walking to Talos and placed her hands on Arthulur's cold face. She began crying then, the tears flowing down her face freely and unchecked. "Oh my baby boy... What 'appened Talos? 'Es got-got 'oles all in 'is chest 'an 'an..." She leaned her forehead against Arthulur's placing a kiss there. "Oh my boy..."

Talos watched the spectacle with that same look, his gaze following Enita as she moved. "It was one of those Serenoa boys." He hissed, anger flaring to life in previously rather dead eyes.

Enita looked stricken by the statement. "Naw, couldn't be!"

"I saw it, ma. Kol had... had something, someone that he had killed there. I think it was one of the younger boys... But his wings weren't feathers ma. They were like a bat." He watched with detached interest as all the color drained from Enita's face. He didn't know why that small fact should be so important to her. It had been disturbing in person to see for sure, black and white feathers strewn all around the forest floor, blood seeping from the body, his hands clawed like some beast straight out of hell... But Enita looked like she knew some sort of horrible truth about the transformation. He just didn't have the heart to ask her about it. "We need to bury him, ma."

Kol returned Mai's embrace gently and then nodded at her question. He waited for her to leave and had noted her hesitant movements but said nothing. This day was only going to get harder for the both of them once the boys were brought back to their perspective homes.

Grabbing at the root in his shoulder, Kol bit down on his lip and then in one swift motion, removed the foreign object from his body. He let out a pained grunt as his life blood spilled from the hole and onto the ground. Pushing back the pain, he stood and walked over to his brothers body. Staring blankly at the boy he removed the sword and flicked the blood from it before sheathing it on his hip.

Kol gently picked up the transformed body and with a single hard stroke of his wings took to the skies. His flight home was almost surreal somehow arriving at his home before he even realized it. Walking in the front door, with some struggle he might add, Kol put down Hyo on the couch in the main hall and stared at his pain expression for a long moment. He was disturbed from his thoughts when Ren walked into the room and let out a shocked cry at the sight of her brother. "What happened?! Kol?!" She asked, running to her brothers side. She put a hand on the side of his face and the tears just began to fall from her face.

Kol stayed silent as the rest of the family began to pour into the room each with a similar reaction to his sister. He looked upon the angry, sad, and hurt faces of his siblings. Enitan finally broke the silence, "Kol...What happened?" He demanded.

"Hyo got into a fight with one of the hicks....Except..." Kol paused looking down at the body of his brother. "Somehow he used some sort of magic and turned into this. Kol released a sigh and looked himself over. He looked terrible, covered in blood and dirt.

Quiet suddenly Enitan slammed his fist upon the nearest table. "Enough! Never before had blood been spilled on their sides, so why now?! I say we no longer stand for this, I say we revenge our brother!" Enitan's short speech was rewarded with the cheers of his siblings. He turned a cold eye back to Kol after seeing the hesitancy on his face. "If your bitch of a girlfriend won't allow you to revenge your own brothers death then you are no longer a brother of mine." Enitan growled, and motioned for the rest of the group to follow him to the armory.

Kol opened his mouth to say something, to stop someone, but no sound would produce from his throat. Once they had left the room Kol picked Hyo back up and walked him to the back yard. At the edge of the forest where was a rather large tree stood, Kol stopped and gently put down Hyo's body. Kol knew he didn't have much time before Enitan had decided to move out but he needed to bury his brother. It saddened him to think his family was so blinded by hatred that they would not think to bury him first before taking revenge. It hit him that he too had been filled with such hate before he had met Mai in that the very sight of Talos would send him into an instant fire filled rage.

After some time, Kol had finally got Hyo buried and had gone back inside to clean up and redress. He had patched the hole in his shoulder to his satisfaction and made his way out. He needed to warn Mai at the very least that shit was about to go down. Not in such a crude manner, of course. Pumping his wings hard he took to the skies in a few short strokes.

~*~*~*~

Having heard the cries from Enita Lena rushed into the living room. She stood shocked in the doorway to see Talos holding Arthulurs limp body. She walked over to the sobbing woman and awkwardly embraced her. She looked at Talos with concerned eyes but said nothing. In the time she had stayed here last no blood shed had ever taken place. But this, this was far beyond the normal bickering and dog whistles that had usually taken place. Something went horribly wrong. Damnit, she was fearful of something like this happening.

By the time that Mai got home, the house was in a flurry of activity. Apparently, Talos had gone out and found all of their siblings and brought them back home. Arthulur's body had been set on the kitchen table, the corpse draped over with a white blanket that covered his face. Her brothers were standing silently in a group on one side of the kitchen, doing little more than nodding in Mai's direction when she came in the door, lost in their own whispered conversation. Her sisters were clustered around her mother, the two younger girls comforting each other while Enita cried over the body of her son quietly, her face buried in her hands.

The door slammed open, and all faces turned to look at what had caused the noise. Her father, Yorin, stood in the doorway, his face set in a scowl as he walked over to the table where Arthulur lay beneath the blanket. There was silence now, even Enita had stopped her whimpering, gathering her youngest daughters to her side as Yorin folded back the blanket, revealing the Arthulur's ashen gray face, spattered with his own blood. All eyes were on Yorin's face as he observed the face of his eldest son, the scowl now curiously blank as he shaped Arthulur's face with his hands. "How did it happen?" He asked finally, voice rough and eyes fixed on Arthulur.

"Kol and one of the younger boys were in the forest." Talos replied, stepping forward out of the ring of brothers, head and shoulders taller than the rest of them. "I came in after it happened. By the time I got there, Arthulur was dead, speared through by... tree roots, it looked like. The younger boy was dead too, 'an he'd turned into some sorta monster. He looked like a monster straight from hell, he did."

Yorin mumbled something under his breath and folded the blanked back over Arthulur's face. "There'll be no end to it now..." He whispered, voice harsh and turned to look at his sons. Yorin was not a tall man, nor was he a fighter, but he was built from years of hauling crates to support a family, and had an air of gravity around him that made people stop and listen when he spoke. "There needs to be 'an end ter this fightin'. We're gonna put a stop ter this now. We've been under their thumb fer too long! They fly down 'ere when ever it pleases them 'an do what they want 'an when they want to. We strike back! Come wit me boys, 'an we'll go 'an do our name proud. We'll get revenge fer all they've done, 'an get revenge fer yer brother!"

There were cries of assent to the short speech, and they filed out of the door quickly, off to grab whatever could serve as a weapon for the upcoming attack on the Serenoa family, adrenalin running high.

Enita began crying again, the two girls in her arms hugging her tightly as they joined her. Standing alone in the kitchen, Mai's eyes widened with a mounting sense of horror, her body trembling with the implications. She knew that her brothers and father could stand no chance against the Serenoa family. Her father had killed Kol's by sheer dumb luck, and Talos was the only one with any real weapons or real fighting experience. Her feet were moving faster than her mind, carrying her out the door and into the street, flapping hard to get airborne as she took to the sky, flying for the Serenoa household deep in the mountains. She had to warn Kol, tell him to get his brothers out of there before more blood could be shed between their families.

Turich was far behind her when she saw black wings on the horizon, and at first her heart soared to think that Kol had somehow known to come out and meet her. However, she quickly realized that this was not the case, for it was not just one set of wings that had appeared in front of her, the blonde boy leading them a far sight younger than Kol was. She ducked low and flew faster, hoping to keep out of sight with her heart pounding loudly in her chest. So, it really was to be war, then? With both families off to kill each other, there was only one possible outcome... She would see her brothers dead in the morning, and Kol would be burying a few of his own.

Frantically, she kept flying, and was relieved when she finally saw Kol winging his way toward her. She hailed him and landed amongst the forest, waiting pensively for him to land so that they could talk.

*~*~*~*

Talos spared Lena a long look, an apology in his gaze as his brothers moved out in front of him, their father leading the way. "You can stay here or... leave or... I'm sorry. I know you didn't like the fighting but this is... He's dead, Lena." Talos gestured at Arthulur's body, an even mixture of rage and sorrow on his face. "We can't do nothing about this." His voice held a slight tinge of self-justification as he said this, and looked like he wanted to add more to his statement. But he turned abruptly instead, leaving after his brothers and slipped his bow off of his back, taking to the air and flying the short distance to the weapon-smith to check the progress of his repaired arrows. He left the store with only half a quiver, but it was enough, he thought. If he could get some damaging shots on the Serenoa's without missing, then he wouldn't need the whole quiver.

He looked to the skies and saw someone taking flight. At first, he assumed it was one of his younger brothers heading off before the others, but was mistaken. The ashy rose wings that quickly rose toward the sky belonged to Mai. Concerned and curious, Talos took off after her, keeping a safe distance behind her so that she wouldn't notice his pursuit. As it turned out, he didn't have to worry about that. She seemed determined to get wherever it was that she was going and didn't pause even once to look back. Suddenly, she dove for the forest, and Talos followed, landing a fair distance away from where he had seen Mai land. He could walk through the forest to find what it was that she had come all the way out here for.

Kol was less then shocked to see Mai flying towards him and then her flailing motions to follow her down to the forest floor. Once he landed he saw the panicked look on her face and realized she may have the same sort of news he had for her. "Mai..." He said simply as he walked over to her and pulled her into an embrace. He held her for a long moment and released a sigh. "Mai, I'm sure you saw my family heading to Turich...And I have a bad feeling your family is mobilizing as well..." Kol pulled back and placed both of his hands on the side of her neck, his thumbs brushing her jaw. He leaned forward and rested his forehead against her own.

"...We should leave..." He whispered after a long moment, holding her to him. "I love my family, Mai, but they will never accept us being together...I love you too much to lose you..." He sounded almost pained, closing his eyes as he nuzzled against her forehead.

~*~*~*~

Lena stood where she was, shocked to hear what Talos just said. Never, since they had met, had he given her the option to leave. She didn't really have intention to do so, but this showed he was being pushed too far. She leaned against the door frame and sighed, she couldn't leave now. Dumb man, he better not get himself killed.

She could only nod dumbly when he assumed that she had seen his brothers taking wing toward Turich, still a little shell shocked from the whole ordeal and frightened to her core that her prediction would come out true. Mai's eyes met Kol's when he placed his hands on her neck, but she let her lids drift close when he leaned his forehead against hers. She wrapped her small fingers into the material at his chest, breathing in deeply the smell of him. His proposal to run away from it all did not fill her with shock or disgust as it might have under different circumstances. She simply sighed into him, opening her golden eyes to stare deeply into his green ones. "You're right." She said, her voice filled with a surprising amount of conviction. "They'll never stop fightin'. They're so caught up in it all that they can't see 'ow stupid it all is... All 'o this over what? 'Cuz some old legend said yer family kicked mine outta the mountains? It can't be... worth all 'o this." She was trembling now, though not because she was sad or about to cry. She was angry. "Why do they 'ave to be so pig-headed 'an blind?"

*~*~*~*

Talos worked his way through the forest, walking quietly through the underbrush, knowing that if he made too much noise, his sister would hear him coming, and he would probably never find out what it was she had come out here for. Then he heard a voice through the trees, but it was not the voice of Mai, it was Kol's. Instantly, he felt anger pour over him and he gripped his dirk, making his way through the trees as quickly as he dared. He hid behind a tree when he saw the two, Kol's hands on his sister's neck. At first, he thought that the man was going to choke her, but Mai didn't seem frightened, nor did she move to pull away. Instead, the blond man leaned forward that the two pressed themselves together, Mai reaching up to tangle her hands in his shirt.

What was going on? He nearly lost his grip on his dirk, so dumbstruck was he by the sight of the two together. Talos was dense, but he was not blind. Obviously, the two were in some sort of relationship, and probably had been for a long time. A memory floated to the fore of his brain: that night so long ago when Mai had stumbled in long after dark and told him that she had been rescued from an angry dragon by a man. After that, she had been coming home late all the time, had disappeared every free day that she had off from work. Had this been the reason? That she was secretly meeting with Kol this whole time?

His quickly spinning mind was put to brief pause when the words "We should leave" floated to his ears through the branches. Instantly, he was on high alert, listening intently, staring without a wavering gaze at the two as Kol, that dirty bastard, spoke. "I love my family, Mai, but they will never accept us being together...I love you too much to lose you..."

Talos held his breath, waiting for Mai's words, expecting, hoping that she would say no. That she would turn away from the madness and come back to her senses, see through the charm that Kol had obviously put over her. "You're right." His heart sank, his stomach clenched and for a moment, he felt nothing. As his sister continued to speak, venting her frustration against her family, anger began to bloom within him. No, not anger, that was not potent enough an emotion... rage. She stood there in the arms of their greatest enemy while their brothers and father went to battle against impossible odds, and Talos did not fool himself, they really were impossible. Without Kol in the picture, it would be an easier fight by far, but that did not compensate for the fact that the Serenoa rats had actual fighting skills and real weapons to boot. She was going to run away and abandon them to the fight without even seeing Arthulur buried.

His pulse raced, and power thrummed in his veins as he re-sheathed his dirk, walking forward with purposeful steps. Something old and anchient had been woken up within him at that moment, something dark and vicious that wanted out. Words sprang to his lips, and before he knew it, he was speaking them without thought, simply letting the power humming in his body out in the form of spoken word.

Mai visibly tensed as the wind picked up, her skin prickling with fear and cold. The wind whistled in her ears, and above the howling, she thought she heard a voice... Angry, spiteful, and woefully familiar to her well-tuned ears.


Her eyes widened as she looked to the source of the voice, spotting Talos standing among the forest with an air of power thrumming about him. The wind subsided as he stopped speaking, and she realized that it was no coincidental wind, it had come from Talos. Something arcane had awoken in him, and she felt the effects of his curse immediately, going weak in the knees and clinging tightly to Kol, lest she fall. Her breath came quick and shallow, her heart pumping fast as a dreaded weight came over her. She knew. Somehow, inexplicably, she knew that Talos' words were not a simple rhyme. Deep within her very soul, she could simply feel that by morning, she would be dead, one way or another, and there was no undoing the curse.

Appearing satisfied with the deed he had committed, she watched helplessly as Talos turned and took off into the sky, leaving behind a small flurry of feathers that had dropped from his wings. Looking up at Kol, she gripped him all the tighter, a horrified expression on her face. "Kol I- this is... We're going to die."

*~*~*~*

The flight back to Turich was made in a haze that lingered somewhere between weariness and pain. Talos could barely track a straight path back to his town, his wings feeling like lead and body only responding sluggishly. Pain echoed in stabbing waves with every beat of his wings, and it took a moment to realize that for some inexplicable reason, he was loosing feathers as he flew. One or two of the soft plumes would detach from his wings, floating behind him on the breath of the wind. What had happened? What was going on with him?

By the time that he landed at his doorstep, he was panting and felt as if he had been flying for a day instead of just a few minuets. Talos opened the door slowly, and looked up, surprised to see Lena in the living room, his mother and sisters apparently absent from the scene. They were probably still in the kitchen, for all he knew.

When Mai had agreed to come with him, he thought he would be elated, relieved, something. But the emotions never came, running away was not something he was used to and their families meant the world to both of them. He did feel his heart go out to Mai for her bravery. He listened to her as her anger had grown but remained silent, letting her vent. He was about to say something when he heard someone speaking. Taking in a few deep breaths he realized instantly whose scent this was. Talos.

As the wind picked up, Kol wrapped his arms around Mai protectively and stared at him as the words began to pour from his mouth. Power pulsed and crackled in the air and as the words were finished being said, Kol had to brace himself when Mai almost collapsed. His own legs felt like jello and his heart beat in his ears. A heavy weight sat on his chest and would not budge.

He looked down to see her horrified expression and almost on deaf ears that they were going to die. Wrapping his arms around Mai tighter, he slowly took them to the ground where he could keep both of them from collapsing on each other. He held her even closer to him, never had he thought he would be dying so soon. Never had he thought he would find someone like Mai, but even if they were to die, he would follow her into the afterlife and choose to be with her.

~*~*~*~

Lena was sitting in the living room, rather unsure of what to do with herself. The other girls were gone and all the men had long since been gone to fight a pointless war. She had been pacing for several minutes before she heard someone coming. While she was relieved to see Talos, she was rather worried about his condition. Quicky making her way over to him she place a hand on his chest and looked him over frantically. Feathers were dropping like mad from his wings and he looked pale. "Talos, what happened to you...?" She asked, sounding distracted while she looked for wounds.

It was probably a good thing that Kol had got them down on the ground, for Mai could no longer support her weight. The dreadful weight of knowing loomed over her like a fell cloud, clinging to her every breath and making it hard to take air into her lungs. Only Kol's reassuring presence kept her from breaking down completely, but she could feel the tears coming. "I don't want to die..." She whispered, burying her face against his chest, clinging to him with all the strength she had in her arms. A rough chuckle half smothered by her tears rose from her, and with a weary grin, she sat back and looked Kol in the face, wiping away her tears with the palms of her hands. "Ma was right, it seems." She sniffled, another half-chuckle, half-sob escaping her. "I really am gonna die unmarried. A maid 'till the end." It shouldn't have been funny, in fact, it was really just the opposite, but for some reason, Mai couldn't wipe the small smile from her face, despite the hopelessness of the situation.

*~*~*~*

It took Talos a moment to even think of attempting to reply to Lena. Her question seemed so impossible to answer, so he didn't try. Instead, he simply extended his arms and pulled her slight form against him in a crushing hug, burying his face into the crook of her neck. "I don't know what to do anymore..." He whispered, his lips moving against the soft skin of her neck, his arms caging her against him. He didn't know what to call what had just transpired. Magic was probably his best guess, but how could he cast spells? He had never before, didn't even know that the ability existed. What's more, the spell, or hex, or whatever it was hadn't been good. Somehow, he had cursed his sister to death. Not just any old death, either. He had cursed her to kill Kol, and in turn be killed by him. And all because he saw them together, sharing an intimate moment during a crisis in which both of their families had set off to war against each other. Nothing was simple and clean-cut anymore.

As Mai was speaking, an idea came to Kol and without even thinking about it, he pulled back and looked down at her. "Mai..." He took a moment to consider his words now. "Marry me. Even if we depart from this world when the sun rises in the sky, you will still be my wife." To his own surprise the bad taste in his mouth that came with speaking about marriage didn't bother him at all. In fact, he was rather comfortable with the idea. Spending his last hours with his wife at his side seemed... right. Kol kept his eyes locked with her own, she seem hysterical with her half laughing at crying that he wasn't sure how she would take to the idea. It's not like she'd have time to regret it...

~*~*~*~

Lena stood, caged by Talos arms in a tight embrace, unsure of what just happened. He seemed to...hurt...and confused. She couldn't fathom what could have happened in the short time he had departed to reduce him to this state, but she wrapped her arms around him and returned the hug. "Talos, what happened? Your a mess..."

For a while, Mai simply stared at him, too shocked by the proposal to do little more than breathe. Even her tears had been stopped, her body still and the forest around them silent as if waiting for her answer. "Oh Kol..." She whispered, bowing her head to think over the matter, searching deep within herself. It's not like it was an abrupt request... they had certainly been together enough, but the question was, did she love him? With a sigh and a smile, she lifted her head, placing her hands over his and squeezing them gently. "Yes Kol. I'll marry you. Be it tomorra' or ten years from now... I wanna die as your wife."

*~*~*~*

"I don't know." Talos replied, his voice holding a wealth of truth and uncertainty. "I don't know what's going on, or what happened or how or..." He trailed off, squeezing her once again, seemingly unable to let her go. Lena was tangible, physical and real, something that he could understand and comprehend, not whatever sorcery had gone on in the forest before. Abruptly, he pulled back from her just enough that there was space between their faces, looking down at her with eyes that were filled with conflicting emotions. Then he simply closed the physical gap between them, pressing his lips against hers in a crushing kiss. There was desperation there, a deep emotional need that needed to be filled, and in that moment, he was under the impression that only Lena could relieve him.

Kol couldn't help the smile that formed on his lips as he leaned down and gently pressed his lips against her own. He lingered for just a moment before pulling back suddenly, taking her hand and dragging her off the ground. "I know there is a minister on the other side of the mountains who could wed us." Kol gave her hand one more squeeze before taking to the skies. The weight that had been previously sitting on his chest was now a simple acceptance. Never had he of accepted death at the hands of Talos, but this was completely different. Now he was to be wed to the love of his life and die with her in his arms.

The flight took around an hour to arrive in the rather small village nestled in the vast expanse of forest between the mountains. Almost half the time spent getting there was finding the damn place. Despite knowing the layout of Dragons Cove, this little village had not been marked on the map and Kol only knew of it from passing travelers.

Landing just outside of the village, he waited for Mai and entwined his hand with hers once more before walking into the quite area. An older gentlemen walked in their direction, carrying a basket of ripe fruit on his back. His clothing was simple, brown pants and a light blue peasant top of sorts. His white hair looked as if a giant white ball of cotton sat atop of his head.

"Excuse me, good sir, but I was told there is a minister in this town, might you know where to find him?" Kol asked, keeping Mai close to his side.

The old man looked confused, as if he hadn't heard the winged man correctly. "Sunny boy, this entire village is full of 'em. Why, this here is a training village for minsters and priests. So, you could ask any of 'em if you really want....Though...Renji would be your best bet. He is on the far side of the village... Congratulation..." The old man said before shuffling away from the two. "Ah...to be young and stupid..." The old man mumble when he thought he was out of ear reach.

Kol shot the man a glance but said nothing as he made his way across the village, many of the men they passed by gave a friendly smile or greeted them as they passed by. Kol noted that he did not see a single woman in the entire vicinity. What a terrible shame to have to live your life with out the company of a beautiful woman at your side. Sighing contently at his thoughts, Kol gave another gentle squeeze to Mai's hand.

Talos kissed Lena's neck softly, pulling her thin form against him in a gentle hug. He buried his face in her hair and inhaled softly, taking in the scent of her. "Lena, I-"

Whatever he was about to say was abruptly cut off by a stern knock at the door. He nearly bolted upright at the sound, having almost completely forgotten that someone else lived in this house and had probably heard everything. "Talos?" Oh God, it was his mother, of all people. "Talos, when you're decent, I need to talk to you about something important."

Heaving a sigh, Talos reluctantly let go of Lena, moving off the bed and collecting his shirt and pants, both of which he shoved on unceremoniously. He didn't even bother to tuck in his shirt as he headed for the door. "Hopefully, I'll be back shortly..." He mumbled over his shoulder at Lena before departing with a shrug, making his way out of the room.

Enita was sitting in the living room, her daughters no where to be found in the vicinity. They had been banished from the immediate vicinity, apparently. When she saw Talos walk in, she gestured to the seat next to her, a somber look on her face. "Talos, my boy... there's a few things that I prolly should tell ya."

"Before that ma," He interrupted quickly, folding his hands in his lap and taking a preemptory breath. "I've got a question of my own. I don't know how to put this exactly but... I think that I can use magic, or something. I- I think that I... well, I think that I accidentally did something terrible."

Enita studied her son carefully, a wealth of sadness in her gaze as she looked him up and down. "Well, I was gonna explain a little bit 'o that ter ya too. How do I start this... Yanno that birthmark ye got on yer leg?" Immediately, Talos clapped his hand to his left thigh over the palm-sized discolored skin there. Of course he remembered it. How could he ever forget? "You didn't inherit that birthmark from yer pa... Well, I mean, ye didn't get it from Yorin."

Silence stretched between them for a while as Talos tried to figure out the hidden meaning behind her hooded gaze. "So? That means I got it from you, right?" There was a prolonged silence, and his heart began to sink. "Right?"

"Talos... I'm not sure how ter break this ta ya, but Yorin ain't yer pa." Enita twisted her hands nervously in her lap, watching Talos carefully as he absorbed the news. His expression was curiously blank, and for a moment, she thought that perhaps he had simply not heard her.

"What do you mean?"

She sighed, foreseeing a conversation happening with Talos like it had for Mai, and internally prepared herself for Talos to go storming out very soon. "Talos, after Arthulur was born I started... seein' someone, aside from yer father. An' then you were born an' I knew you weren't Yorin's 'cuz of that birthmark on yer leg. It's very... special."

Talos' eyes had gone wide at the revelation that he really wasn't his father's son. They had always joked that because of his extremely different appearance from the rest of his siblings that he was a product of the milkman. Finding out that this was true, however... That was a whole matter entirely, and he felt a little winded at the realization. "Special how? Who's my father, ma?" To think that Mai and Arthulur and everyone else were only half siblings...

Enita took a deep breath, calming herself before releasing the information. "You gotta promise not ter get too angry Talos." She said, but didn't wait for him to actually promise such a thing. "Hyten Serenoa's yer father, Talos. Yer last name ain't really Estoen, though we brought ye up as one an' Yorin don't know that you ain't his blood son. Celo and Kol and Enitan... They're yer brothers 'an sister too, Talos."

Shocked was not an appropriate word to use for the feeling that Talos was experiencing right now. He almost felt physically ill by the startling revelation, weak at the knees and at the same time wanting to get up and storm out of the house immediately. Kol was his brother. The one man that he had hated with a furious passion above all else for most of his life had suddenly been revealed as a blood relative. They shared a father!

Enita took advantage of his dumbfounded silence, taking the opportunity to get a few last words in before Talos finally snapped. "All of those that are born with Serenoa blood have the mark that ye've got on yer leg. Yers isn't nearly as visible as Hyten's was, 'cuz yer only half a Serenoa. An' the curse that comes with it, I don't thing that it effects ye as strong as it does one of 'em."

"Now there's a curse, too?" Talos groaned, rubbing at his temples and closing his eyes, trying to process all of the information. Essentially, his whole life had just been revealed as a lie. Given the circumstances, he was taking it very well.

"Yes... it's an old curse, one that the Estoen ancestors put on the Serenoa when they took our mountain away from us. Back in the time 'o the legend, both the Estoen and the Serenoa could cast spells an' the like. The Estoen magic was hexes an' curses an' things like that. They called 'em indirect curses. But the Serenoa, they had elemental magic, 'an could hurt ye directly with it. So, when our ancestors got kicked outta their homes, they hexed the Serenoa. If the Serenoa tried ter use too much of their magic, they'd turn into monsters 'an go outta control like. That's how... how Arthulur got killed." She dipped her head slightly in respect for the dead, then soldiered on, her eyes trying to meet Talos' if he ever opened them.

"Well, that explains everything." Talos muttered with a dry chuckle, finally looking up to meet his mother's persistent gaze. "I can hex then, I suppose. And you know what my first spell was? I cursed Mai to die. She and Kol will kill each other tomorrow morning if I can't make a reversal spell." Another bitter laugh escaped him, and he ran his hands through his hair, messing the long locks up thoroughly. "I one fell swoop, I've cursed my brother and sister to death!"

"Y-you've used magic already?" Enita gasped, gripping her long skirt tightly. "Then it's true!"

"What now? More doom and gloom?" Talos asked dully, his voice curiously monotone again.

"No no... this might be able to help! Talos, you're the answer ter breakin' the curse!" When her son only looked more confused by this statement, she began to elaborate. "I don't know any counter-curses, 'cept one. It's the counter-curse that'll break all spells, includin' the one that's bindin' the Serenoa in the first place. It'll stop 'em from becomin' monsters when they use magic, 'an it should get rid of the curse ye put on yer sister in the process." She was excited now, watching Talos carefully and wondered why he wasn't perking up. He could save Mai now!

"An' why hasn't anyone done this yet?" He simply asked with a weary voice.

"Well, that's part 'o the original curse. The only way that it can be undone is if someone who's shares both family's blood can recite the counter-curse an' make it do anythin'."

Again, there was a long silence between them, then Talos heaved a small sigh, burying his head in his hands again. "And this'll save Mai?"

"It should." Enita replied. "Will ya hear it?"

Talos remained quiet, thinking over his options carefully before nodding. "Yeah, tell me what I need to know."

*~*~*~*

If Mai had thought that Turich was out in the middle of the boonies, then this place was a whole other category of small. It was easily smaller than half the size of Turich, and everyone seemed to be staring at her. Like Kol, he noted the blatant lack of women in the village and began to wonder why. Before the issue could become overly taxing to her mind, Kol had led them through the village, a very short journey indeed, with their hands linked as they walked. Mai took comfort in the contact, and was able to push aside any feelings of dread she had about their impromptu wedding. After all, it was Kol she was getting married to, and how could she ever hope for better?

They entered a small chapel in which there knelt a single man at an altar, praying in a monotone voice in a deep bass rumble that was barely audible. As the two walked closer to the man, it became easier to see that he was incredibly old and decrepit with a long flowing white beard and wispy tufts of hair on his head. When he finally finished his prayer, he stood and face the two with watery eyes, looking them up and down carefully. "And wot awe you here fowe?"

Mai blinked, caught a little off-guard by his strange accent, but recovered quickly, squeezing Kol's hand and took a small step forward. "We're lookin' to get married, sir."

"Fathwa." The old man corrected mildly, searching Mai's face. "Face each other, and I shall begin the ceremownie." He cleared his throat, shuffling off to get a huge dusty tome as the two young avians did as was asked. Apparently, he correctly assumed that they weren't there for the whole reading, and so gave them the short and sweet version, skipping over the objections line completely. When the "I do's" were over with, he declared them man and wife in his old deep voice, and watched with those same watery eyes as Mai and Kol kissed, signifying their marriage.

Mai couldn't help the single tear that escaped from her eyes. It was normal for brides to cry after all, but she was secretly glad that they had to elope like this. Having to go through the whole ceremony and being given away by her father... It might have been more than she could have handled. Added to that the extravagance that Kol probably would have demanded for their wedding day, and she probably would have been completely overwhelmed by it all.

To say that Lena was startled when Enita came knocking on the door was an understatement. She had jumped at the noise and was happy that Talos had been holding onto her, for if he hadn't she might have jumped straight off the bed. When did Enita get in the house? For a hour or so she was alone in the living area she didn't remember seeing anyone in the home...but she couldn't exactly say she was looking when Talos returned.

Releasing a sigh as Talos left her to dress himself, she propped herself up on her elbow and watched him walk out. "Might as well see what this is all about..." Lena mumbled as she began to search for her clothing. Her pants were easy enough to find, the crumpled material was laying right next to the bed. As she wormed her way into the form fitting clothing, she began to look for her shirt. With several moments passing by without any luck and Lena nearly tripped over the shirt near the door as she was about to give up. How...? She shook her head, not finding the answer important and finished dressing herself. She left all the belts in the corner of the room and then checked herself over.

A hiss of displeasure came as she fingered the thin material. The top had already been ripped and was starting to show cleavage but now the damn thing had ripped far enough down to expose a fair amount. God damn it was going to be a cold winter if she didn't find something new fast. Stupid man. Lena knew what little money she had was spent on her last trip with Talos. Sighing, she walked out into the doorway of the living area and leaned against the wall. Enita had already started talking to Talos but it seemed as if she hadn't missed much. Apperently Talos' father...was not actually his father and he is now brothers with that Kol fellow. Hm. Not so bad sounding, minus the deep hatred thing...The man was rich after all.

Now...the part about him cursing people, that sparked her interest. So that was what was upsetting him so much when he came in. It's not like Lena had ever expected Talos to share his feelings with her...but to mention he hexed someone might be a good start. Even more so when that someone was his sister...and new found brother. ....Sister and brother...together...Something didn't click for Lena and she found the thought to be rather perturbing. Well, at least they weren't blood related...She supposed. She continued to listen while she remained silent, at least Talos was willing to fix his mistake...might make up for the new rip in her shirt.

~*~*~*~

Husband. The word rang in Kol's mind as he kissed his wife to make their marriage official. He smiled gently as the few tears she shed ran down her face. He took a hand and wiped them away. "I love you Mai..." He whispered as he leaned down to hiss her once more. "Lets go home..."

Kol gave his thanks to Rengi for the impromptu ceremony as the sun was beginning to set and he knew Mai would be virtually blind soon. Taking her hand, he led her out of the chapel and towards his home. He wanted to be somewhere without their bickering families, without the disapproving looks, somewhere he could express to Mai how much he loved her in the short time they had left with one another.

Once in the large home, Kol directed her towards the west wing of the house. This was the most unused portion and had several rooms, chambers and living spaces where they could be alone together. He opened the nearest door to him and it led to a bedroom similar to the one Mai was in her first night there.

Kol walked into the room and walked over to the large windows. Odd to think after the sun would rise he would no longer be living. What good was his wealth if it couldn't save his life, or Mai's? Mai. He turned around and faced her, his green eyes piercing her own golden orbs. He walked back over to her a placed a gentle hand on her neck. "Mai, my wife...my love, friend, and soul mate...I'm glad to have met you, no matter our out come..." He leaned down a pressed his lips against her own, putting every bit of emotions he couldn't convey into it.

As Enita began to impart the counter-hex that would undo the mother of all hexes, they could hear a general commotion outside the door, weary voices talking amongst one another. "They're back..." Enita breathed, standing quickly and heading toward the door, opening it to the sight of her husband and sons, all of them looking battered and rough around the edges. There was blood on most of them, long lines that were the evidence of sword cuts that they had taken during battle. "Oh by the gods, get in here, an lets get you cleaned up." She half screamed, throwing the door open as widely as she could get it and ushered the wounded men inside. "I'm just thankful that nobody's up 'an died yet."

Talos watched silently as they filed in the door, all of them hurt and missing feathers. Even though they had probably been beaten badly, they didn't look defeated. In fact, there was a fire in their eyes as they trudged through the door and sat wearily around the kitchen table, all of them silent as they began to strip down and examine their wounds. Yorin was the last in, the father of their little brood walking proudly, despite the purplish bruise in the shape of a fist on his left cheek. "We'll need ter get out the hammers 'an any extra nails we've got. We're boardin' up the 'ouse tonigh'. That Serenoa scum won't be happy just leavin' it as it was today." When he spotted Talos, the two men had a brief stare down, each of them sizing up the other. "I didn't see ya out there today son." Yorin said calmly, placing his hands on his hips and waiting for an explanation.

Talos nearly choked when Yorin called him "son", and had to steady himself against the wall to keep from falling over. Enita gave him a warning glance, and a sarcastic smile spread across his face. "Ma will explain it to you, pa." He said simply, casting his mother a meaningful glance before removing himself from the wall, tapping Lena's elbow lightly as he passed her on the way to the door. "Come on." He whispered softly, and walked right past Yorin, the two men avoiding eye contact.

Outside, the night was cool and calm, a drastic change from the dim interior of his childhood home. Talos breathed in deeply, closing his eyes and seemingly completely unworried about the fact that the sun was rapidly descending on the horizon and he would be very blind very soon. He just needed to be out of that house, away from the terrible realization that he wasn't as much a part of his family as he had first thought. "So..." He hedged, turning his face slightly to where Lena was, a faint air of forced humor in his voice as he spoke. "I don't suppose that you were expecting that or anything, right? Like some sort of huge joke that only I wasn't in on?"

Lena looked over at the door to see who entered the small home. All of them had wounds, most of them not too serious but it was obvious a majority of the blood covering them was their own. How stupid. They knew their fighting skills were inferior yet they fought anyway. She had to keep herself from letting a scowl come to her face as she thought about the battle that had just ensued. The tension that hung in the air was uncomfortable as Yorin spoke to Talos. The unsuspecting fellow knew nothing apparently about Talos' actual father or Enita's true self. Or past self. Lena shrugged it off, she took people as how they were so if they had a past, it wasn't much of a problem to Lena if it didn't effect the present.

Lena was relieved when Talos had her follow him out, she had never been much of the big family type and it was even more awkward feeling around someone else's family. Even if they did accept her as part of the pack. At Talos' question, Lena shrugged. "I couldn't say I was." She looked at him apologetically and moved closer to him. Lena wrapped her arms around his waist and sighed, unsure how to convey how she was sorry for him. Never could she say she could understand how he felt, but...she was at least sure the contact might be comforting.

At first, he was a little surprised that Lena would willingly hug him, but then he wrapped his arm around her slim shoulders and dropped a light kiss on the top of her head, closing his eyes and squeezing her gently. "Everything is going to be different." He muttered into her hair, sighing softly before straightening again though he still kept his arms around Lena, glad for the physical contact. "He's a terrible person, and I hate him, but Kol is my brother... I suppose that I'll have to go find them and undo this-this whatever it is." A a scowl, he gestured vaguely into the night almost expecting magical sparks to fly from his finger tips. "I guess that I'll actually have to do this... Whoever she's with, Mai doesn't really deserve to die for trying to be happy." Talos looked down at Lena then, as if trying to get an approving word from her, but stopped dead once he saw her, an eyebrow arching in curiosity. "Lena... did something happen to your shirt? It seems more... low cut than normal."

Lena listened as he reasoned with himself that this was the best course of action. "My moral compass may not always point north, Talos, but...it seems the right thing to do." The encourage felt awkward coming from her, but she was trying and he better be pleased with it. At the mention of her shirt, a dry look came to her face. "Yeah, about that. When you hastily took my clothes off and threw them across the damn room it ripped. So now, I will have to go all winter with cold boobs." She somehow had said that with a straight face as she watched a person go by who had over heard their conversation and was now confirming the story with an odd glance. The dry look on Lena's face only grew once she saw the man and gestured with her finger towards him. "Oh, and that will happen. So do try to play nice with the rest of the village, k?"

Talos blinked at the sudden venom in her voice, a touch of color staining his cheeks when she brought up his rough handling of her in bed. Not like she hadn't enjoyed it or anything, but really, she didn't have to get so angry, or express the dilemma she was in in such clear terminology. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the fuzzy outline of the man leering at them and made a shooing motion that was accompanied by a very nasty glare. Getting the hint, the man stalked off, which left Talos to deal with he shirt problem. "I suppose I'll have to make it up to you for that..." He replied with a soft sigh, running his hands through his hair again and scratching at the back of his scalp. Well, taking an extra job or two to pay off for a new shirt was certainly an option but... and here a sly grin came to his face as he considered a brand new option. "Well, seeing as I suddenly have family in high places, I suppose I could always just grab one from the Serenoa family for you. Not like they'd miss one shirt." Here, Talos rolled his eyes of the thought. He could probably get lost in one of their closets, let alone trying to find anything that was half-way normal. He had only seen the youngest daughter of the Serenoa family a couple of times, and on both occasions she wore nothing but frilly lace and dresses with exotic trains and complicated embroidery. This Celo girl that was apparently his half-sister he had yet to lay eyes on, but assumed that she was cut of the same cloth so to speak, and donned similar fashions as her little sister. He would probably have better luck raiding the closet of one of the males of the family to find something that Lena would even consider touching.

Lena sighed. "Perhaps first you may want to ya know...save your brother before asking for hand outs?" She suggested, and was sure to receive a dirty look from Talos but knew he would agree. Lena wasn't much for taking things from people even if they could afford it.

~_~_~_~

And with that, Lena found herself in the home of the rich dirty bastards once more. In fact they had been in the house for over an our now, searching for the two lovers. Where the eff could they be? What made it worse was Talos was blind as a bat. No, worse then a bat. Several times he had tripped over things and complained that she should have warned him. Hey! Not many people are just blind at night. You freak of nature you. Was her thought processes until she simply started messing with him. She would say there was a chair on the right, when it was on the left...and he would promptly trip over it. He would go to glare at her from behind and she would no longer be there. Sometimes she would stop talking for several minutes until he got nervous that she left. She just couldn't help herself and for the time being she was safe from any sort of revenge he might place on her. They had checked almost the entire house but the west side and were slowly making their way in that direction.