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Snow groaned in pain, his arms were pulled uncomfortably above his head. His muscles were on fire, the ground was sliding roughly under him his feet dragging through the ground. He tried to shift his arms but they seemed held fast, tried to get his feet under him to ease the burning scrape of rock and twig along his back.

"He's waking up" A voice snapped near him. The ground mercifully stopped sliding him along, he gasped in pain as his back and head met the earth unmercifully. He opened his eyes, groggily staring at the tall shapes of trees and the dim light of the lingering day filtering through its canopy.

A head came into view, a woman's. Her long auburn hair fell like a waterfall down her neck and onto the dusty brown of her shirt. Her glimmering green eyes stared into his, for a moment he thought they were Tess's. Her eyes burned with malevolence and a tinge of fear though, cold where Tess's had been warm with mischief.

He saw her slim hands reach down, felt their warm press against his temples. Cold clarity washed through him at her touch, the sudden memories of the scaled creatures and this woman behind them burst through him like an over ripe fruit fallen from a tree to the unyielding earth. He shook her hands off his face glancing around in the hope of seeing his brother somewhere among them.

All he saw was the woman and her three companions before pain filled him from ear to tail.

He cried out against the sudden onslaught and lay panting when it ended.

"We'll have no trouble from you" the woman said, her silken voice at odds with her dark tone. "I can kill you with a thought, now get up."

Snow felt the tension in his arms release and pulled them to his chest. His wrists were manacled in silver connected by a thin chain. It seemed almost like a gossamer thread, he resolved to break it as soon as he was on his feet. He grunted and moaned as the aches in his body yelled brutally at their mistreatment as he shifted onto his chest and pushed himself up onto his knees. He stared at the three scaled monsters, each a slight different hue in the wan light glinting off their scales.

The largest a deep dark crimson glared at him balefully through piercing blue eyes slitted like a cat, Snow noticed that his hammer was strapped to its back along with a sword belted to its waist.

Taking time to shift himself to stand he studied the others. The second largest was watching him with sword at the ready. It's colour that of autumn leaves, bronze and orange contesting for dominance. His smaller hammer was strapped to its belt. The other stood further away. Its dark emerald green scales making it seem to melt into the forest behind it. It stood with bow held ready, arrow knocked.

Snow stood on shaking legs, trying to think of a way out. He quested inwards only to find that he couldn't sense Chris. Defeated he lost hope, his brother was likely dead and they must have found and killed Chris as well.

"Let's get moving, we still have some light left before night falls."

The mage woman stepped to the front, crimson and bronze to his sides and the emerald Draco to the back. Wearily Snow trudged along lost in pained thoughts and small flaring hopes that died as soon as they were born. A burning desire for revenge built inside him with each thought. He wondered if he'd be able to strangle this little woman with the gossamer chain between his manacles, he tensed his arms against them pulled the chain taut and found that there was no give in them. He may as well have been trying to prise apart a chain as thick as his arms. Magically enchanted he thought disgustedly to himself having hoped that his captors would be so idiotic as to use a chain that could be broken easily. At least he could strangle her with them his thoughts again turned seething and dark. Strangle her, maybe call his hammer, fight his way three. A myriad of scenes of how it could go ran through his head, each time the scene would near victory he'd think what if and start all over again with a new scenario. He wasn't too bothered that he might die in the attempt, but he wanted to take as many of them down with him as he could, to avenge his brother and Chris.

Chris ran slowly, reigning in his speed. Skye had recovered enough to run, but the young mage was neither fit nor fleet of foot. Chris relished the break though, his back and arms ached. It had been near midday when he had found Skye bleeding, now evening was drawing ever closer and still they seemed no closer to their prey. Cold fear and hot anger warred inside him. Skye was sure that they had taken his brother captive, but Chris could no longer feel him and feared the worst.

He heard Skye gasping for breath and turned an eye to him. The young mage had gathered his robe up to try and keep it from snagging on the gnarled roots, twigs and plants as they ran. His hair was plastered to his face, sweat running down over his pale skin reddened with the blood of his exertion. Chris called a halt, giving Skye a little time to catch his breath as he looked down at the trail they were following. A child could have followed groove where something was being dragged along, Chris hoped that it was Snow, alive and well and not his corpse being dragged along for some nefarious purpose. Skye was only slowing him down at the moment and the way the boy was gasping, bent over clutching his knees, Chris didn't think he'd be able to go much further.

"Come on, I'll carry you again till you've caught your breath." He said gruffly.

"I'm fine, I can make it" Skye said panting harshly between breaths.

"You can't and we both know it, your slowing me down as it is. Now either I carry you, or I leave you here and take my chances with the mage." Anger and fear made his words harsh and clipped.

Skye nodded his assent and slung the bow over his shoulder, again letting Chris hoist him to his back.

Skye, now free of having to watch where he was going threw his sight out ahead of them. If he was going to be getting a free ride he may as well use it to make sure they weren't running headlong into trouble. The light grew ever dimmer as the sun retreated from the world as darkness reached out to claim it.

Chris didn't need much light though, his Wolven eyes allowed him to see as long as there was some light. Only pitch darkness would blind him. Luna was already in the sky casting her soft loving silver glow like a blanket of light. Her brother Anul cloistered away, hiding his blue face from the heavens.

Chris stopped suddenly, gently dropping Skye from his back.

"What is it?" Skye asked looking around.

Chris only waved him into silence as he crouched down, eyes pouring over the story of the forest floor. Whatever was being dragged had come to a halt here, slowly letting the tale unfold for him he shifted forward pace by pace. He almost yelped in elation like a puppy seeing it's owners face, there before him lay paw prints, between the small booted feet and the talon scuffs and imprints. If it had been Snow being dragged along he was alive and awake now.

"Snows awake, he's alive" Chris said to Skye.

Skye looked at him darkly for a moment "I told you they took him alive. Now let's hope he doesn't do anything stupid that's going to end up with him dead."

Chris near wanted to slap him for that comment, but Skye was right. Snow was full of tales and dreams of glory and impossible odds. If anything he would be planning some daring escape and to emerge the victor. Chris and Skye were more realistic, Skye having already had his life in danger twice.

"If they set up camp for the night, then we should be upon them soon" Chris said.

Skye nodded his agreement and they set off along the trail.

Skye stopped Chris, before them was a thin shimmering field. Has they taken six more paces they would have crossed it's border. Skye once again blessed the gift of his sight or they'd never even have seen it. He shushed Chris even before the Wolven could frame a question.

He concentrated on the shield before them, trying to discern their purpose. It was a trigger spell, tied into the ground in a circle. Had they stepped through it it would have alerted the mage to their presence and direction. The spell was mostly of spirit, with earth anchoring it. Blindly he reached out for Chris, the Wolven appearing in his sight as he touched his leather padded arm.

"There's a shield here" he whispered "If we cross it the mage will know we're coming, they must have set up camp just a little further ahead."

Chris nodded nose teasing the air "I think they just started a fire, I can smell smoke, can you get us through the shield?"

"Yes, but it'll take time to pierce it safely without triggering it. I can't say for sure if it'll work. I think though that you could step through it without triggering it. I'm not sure, but I think the magic will be as blind to you as I am. I can't even see the enchantments on your gear as long as you're touching it. It's just a guess though. Should we chance it?" Skye whispered back.

He watched as Chris pondered it for a moment. "How long do you think it will take you to breach the shield? It'd be pointless if I stepped through and then had no help against the mage if you weren't with me."

"I don't know an hour or so and then it's only a chance that it won't trigger."

"Then I'll wait till your ready, we'll step through together and if the spell triggers then at least we're together to make a break for it." Chris said.

Skye let go of his arm, the Wolven once again disappearing from his sight. He sat down cross legged on the ground and called his magic to him.

He brought to mind the spells he knew of that were like the one before him, but not quite the same. There were far too many variences as mage after mage had developed new spells and counters to them. He'd now have to do the same.

Gingerly he threaded a touch of spirit magic from him and brushed it against the shield as light as a breath, feeling at the shape of the spell. It reacted and stung him slightly, but the touch was too light to trigger it and the fear unknotted slightly in his belly.

Bringing shape after shape to mind of spell-forms for breaching a shield he took parts from each and set them aside. Finally exhausting his knowledge, he brought the set aside parts to his focus. Again he set parts aside. What he was doing was dangerous. Creating new magic was something that should be done in strictly controlled environments behind shields and objects of containment and protection. He was sure though that were he to use one of the breaching spells in his arsenal it would trigger the shield before him, then again he couldn't be all that sure that what he was trying to construct would work either.

Time had little meaning to him as he focused his attention on piecing together what he knew with what he felt right. The spell-form slowly and painstakingly took shape in his head. When he'd finally laid in the last of the forms and connecting lines, his sight again flicked to the world around him.

"I'm ready" he whispered, not sure where Chris may be. He stood and the Wolven took form as he laid a paw on his arm.

Skye expanded the shape of his spell-form around them and then ignited it, feeding finger thin traces of all the elements into its parts. Suddenly the world around them fled into darkness until they were both standing in a pool of earth surrounded by inky blackness.

"Step forward" Skye said, laying a hand on the tensed Wolven next to him and pulling him forward.

Eight steps they took, with each one Skye expected to feel the buzz of alarm run through the shield he'd been trying to breach.

He cut the spell and the forest again surrounded them, he saw the shimmer of the alarm field behind them still intact.