This is just a short one guys, but by the end i'm hoping to have you angry at me for leaving it on a bit of a cliff hanger =P...however, if you want the next chapter you need to Vote, I'm aiming for 5 votes on this chapter before my next upload and based on the amount of you i've roughly calculated are reading this, that really shouldn't be a big problem =P...

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Catch up from chapter 43

“You just like to play with me.” He said slightly off hand and standing up straight.

“And do you mind?” I said defiantly.

“Not really.” He grinned, putting his hands on his hips and shifting his weight to one side. I walked back to him, stood on my toes and kissed him gently on the lips. “We should probably go back now.”

“Are you sure you do not want to stay for a bit more of a swim?”

“No I’m fine… we can go for one back in the pool.” He smiled but I could see that something was annoying him, probably his brother, I did not mention it.

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We walked back up through the jungle and got back to the bottom of the waterfall. I slyly looked at him from the corner of my eye, he sighed, “Going up?” I nodded and put my arms tightly round his waist, but not tight enough to hurt him. He was so breakable. I lifted up off the floor and glanced at his face, laughing slightly at his screwed up eyes, closed tightly.

We got to the top and I dropped him in the shallows of the pool, laughing at his bemused expression. He stomped out and glared at me which just made me laugh more.

“Haha, make fun of the human.” He said in a sour voice and then looked at me sharply, realising that what he said might not have been taken as a joke.

I smiled at him and then walked over with my hand out in front of me; by the time I got to him he was completely dry. “Yes, but the elf may have some uses yet.” He smiled evenly and the tore his top over his head, slinging onto the floor and wading back into the water.

“Coming for a swim?”

“Do I have to?”

“Yes.” He laughed at my resentful reply. I stood exactly where I was and did nothing. Sighing he walked back out of the water hugged me, then picked me up, running back into the water whilst I shrieked in protest.

“Put me down!” He grinned and the instant he did I knew I had made a terrible mistake.

“Okay.” He let go of me and I fell, stopping a few inches above the surface of the water.

“Hah!” He looked as me for a moment and then started splashing around, soaking me even though I was not immersed in the water. Stopping for a moment he looked at my expression and burst out laughing. “You do not know how dead you are.” I said in a low voice.

“Oh yeah what you going to do?” He said still smiling playfully. I smiled back and pretended to be thinking as I made a huge bubble of water above his head while he remained oblivious.

Eventually I spoke. “Do not look up.” He did automatically and I let the bubble drop, completely covering him with a cascade of water. He looked up at me, his hair drooping over his face like a wet mop and I could not help but laugh, he looked so useless.

He looked up at me through his hair and I caught a slight glint in his eyes, time to swim. I laughed one last time an swum over to where the stream trickled down into the pool and pulled myself up onto the small rock ledge that was next to it. As soon as I was on it he came up from under the water, grabbing onto the edge with one hand and leisurely leaning backwards. “You do realise that wasn’t fair.”

“How so?”

“I don’t have any natural super powers, so technically you shouldn’t be allowed to use yours.”

“No, I probably should not be allowed to.” I smiled at him cheekily, emphasising the probably.

“But that doesn’t mean that you’re not going to?”

“Exactly.” I smiled at him, knowing that there would be a mischievous glint in my eyes that would make him smile back even if he did not want to. He did smile but then rolled his eyes at me afterwards.

“Move over.”

“Please.”

“Move over, please.” He smiled at me angelically and I could not help but laugh as I moved over, watching him closely as he pulled himself onto the ledge. His bronzed skin shone in the sunlight, droplets of water glinting like diamonds on the surface of his muscled shoulders and chest. I sighed happily. “What are you ogling at?” he asked me slightly self consciously.

“Nothing, I just had not realised how brown you were. I must look as white as chalk by comparison.” I sighed again, looking at my arm as I held it out next to his.

“More like the white of the stars.” He said as he wound his fingers through mine and brushed the back of my hand with his lips. I smiled and looked out across the view in front of us; the forest seemed to spread out like a never ending carpet off green trees and bushes. A few birds flew in the sky above the trees and the sun seemed to highlight the colours that wove patterns on their wings. I sighed again, contented to just be here. “What’s the matter?”

“Hmm?”

“Well you sighed?” I let go of his hand and wriggled under his arm, leaning against his chest and hearing his heartbeat as I spoke.

“I am simply, very happy.”

He kissed the top of my head and wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me as I looked over the forest. I looked to the side and saw the river winding its way from the edge of the carpet and out onto the golden landscape and for miles and miles. Eventually it disappeared into the blurred colours of the distant horizon and made me think about what was beyond that faint and slightly fuzzy line.

Images of the past kept threatening to intrude on my contentment but I simply pushed them away, not wanting them to ruin this perfect moment of happiness; I could deal with reality later, at the moment my own little fantasy was much more important. Beau put his lips against my shoulder and I felt small tingles spread down my spine as he slowly kissed up the side of my neck. He paused at the bottom of my jaw and blew cold air against my skin, making the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

We stayed on that ledge until after the sun had set, throwing colours out across the sky in faint hues of pink and purple. Time passed and I felt Beau’s head lean against my shoulder and listen to his soft rhythmic breathing as he slept contentedly. I was happy to just be with him as I watched the colour fade until the sky was as dark as ebony with the pinprick stars making holes in the opaque blanket, shining through in defiance.

Although the warmth of the day had already dried the water from our skin the chill wind of the night started to leave goose bumps on Beau’s arms as it blew softly over the side of the mountain. I carefully created a bubble around us and flew delicately over the seamless water. When we got to the grass I lowered us as gently as possible, determined not to wake Beau from his slumber. Eventually my own eyelids started to droop and I found myself falling into a deep sleep.

That night I saw clouded images in my dreams: a forest ablaze with crimson flames, once shallow dirt paths etched into the landscape like scars from deep cut wounds, sand cats shot with poison arrows, terrified villagers running as their homes were raised to the ground by invisible forces. I could feel myself twisting and turning in my dreams as the pictures raced through my semi-conscious mind. Suddenly the rush of images stopped and mixed feelings of dread and unadulterated horror washed over me in my slumber as an image of an army, ten thousand strong appeared out of the darkness in a sand cloud, a male figure with burning red eyes leading their way, clenched in his fist was the bloodstained remains of Beau’s shirt.

I woke to a scream and realised, as I felt Beau’s arms around me, it was echoing out from between my own lips. I looked up at him, tears blurring my sight as I put my hand against his cheek. ‘Not him.’ Was all I could think as he rubbed soothing circles into my shoulder with his thumb.

I remember Beau rocking me like a new child, until my tears turned to quiet sobs. As the sun hit the horizon I felt my world turn numb with dread; another day had arrived. I looked into Beau’s eyes again, “That wasn’t like your other dreams was it?”

“No.” I said, my voice toneless. His expression turned worried at how dead it sounded.

“What happened?”

I considered his question for a while and, with a shiver that shook me to my bones, realised I had just recieved a premontion of what would undoubtedly come.