The quaintness of the neighboring village was almost ridiculous. All the building facades matched; built from the same cream-colored stone as Athos' perimeter wall. Each light post that lined the city streets had baskets of flowers hanging from them, and every basket was overflowing with vibrant purple flowers.

Even the picturesqueness of the storybook they were walking through was not enough to distract Ryder from the electricity that shot up her arm as Tairin gingerly took her hand. It was the first time they had held hands in such a public place, and her adrenaline answered in kind. She did, however, feel eyes boring into the back of her head, she didn't have to look to know it was Graynin watching her.

Their group's procession was noticed. Many people stopped what they were doing to watch them go by, and those that were walking made sure they gave the group a wide berth, while whispering to each other. Ryder had never felt so on display before. Their status was recognized, there was respect in the way they were treated, but she could tell it was mostly fear that fueled the onlookers.

Eva lead them to a quaint pub on a corner. The bustling room went still as they filed in. Eva, not losing stride, spoke to the large bald man behind the bar. "Are you still serving lunch?" She asked in her bubbly voice.

The man nodded vigorously, "Yes we are mistress." He gestured to the corner where a large table had been wedged. "Please take a seat, my daughter will be out to tell you our specials."

Ryder couldn't believe how a man who was possibly three times Eva's weight and nearly twice her size, seemed to be stricken with fear when addressed by the elf-like girl.

Eva nodded her approval and lead their party towards the large wooden table. Ryder moved next to Eva and took a seat beside her, with Tairin in the seat to her right. Graynin chose the seat across from Eva, it was the one most hidden in the corner and had the best view of the door. Pierce sat next to Graynin and Jade gracefully took the seat to Pierce's left. Ryder couldn't help but notice Jade warmly smile at Tairin as she sat down across from him, and with a flicker, check to see if Ryder was watching.

Ryder gummed at the idea of calling Jade out, when a wisp of a girl in a cotton blue dress appeared, smiling forcefully at the group. Despite her hands being clasped together there was still a noticeable quiver. Her silent presence drew the attention of everyone, Eva and Pierce even stopped their animated conversation, and looked to the girl.

"I'm Joselyn, and I'll be serving you today. Our specials are broccoli and cheddar soup, sweet potato pie, and rack of lamb with a cranberry glaze." The girl managed to get it all out in a relatively steady voice.

Everyone took turns giving their order. Ryder was surprised by how gentle everyone was towards Joselyn, even Graynin managed a soft smile and his grey blue eyes were less piercing. By the time Joselyn had served all their drinks she was laughing with them and couldn't help but blush at Pierce's flirty jokes.

It was the best time Ryder had had in longer than she dare admit. They all laughed at one another's stories. Even Tairin joined in, his hazel eyes watering at a particularly racy story Pierce told about an awkward fling he had with a high ranking Mid woman, and how her brother attempted to run him off while wielding a candle stick, that Pierce had essential turned to floppy rubber.

Graynin and Pierce reminisced about the time they had spent fighting in the Crusades during the 1100s in the Shadow Realm.

"Why the hell were you there?" Tairin asked. Clearly not believing them.

Graynin shrugged, "I was pretty young and all I wanted to do was fight, and the Shadow Realm had a good amount of that going on at that time."

Pierce nodded his agreement, "That was before the Pillars of Balance went up, things were a lot more fun then."

"Are those like temples dedicated to you guys?" Ryder asked, as she combed through her knowledge of ancient history and nothing with the name 'Pillars of Balance' came to mind.

"They are these hidden objects all around the Shadow Realm. Come to think of it I'm not even sure if they are pillars," Pierce thought for a moment then waved his hand, dismissing his own question, "anyways, they were put in the Shadow Realm to keep naughty long-liveds from playing too rough." He took a swig of his nearly empty ale.

Ryder sat perfectly still not wanting to disturb the stream of information freely flowing from Pierce. No one had talked so openly around her, but then again, she doubted anyone had been drunk around her.

Pierce slammed his empty stein on the table. "That young Council sure knew how to put a damper on things, they could even make war boring." He laughed, and elbowed Graynin looking for his agreement, but Graynin just sat there, still as a statue, his eyes narrowed. Clearly he wasn't enjoying the conversation as much as Ryder.

"So, what does 'young' mean to you?" Ryder asked, before Graynin could stuff the rest of his lamb in Pierce's mouth.

Smiling, Pierce leaned into the table. "The Council as we know it hasn't been around much longer than we've been alive," Pierce pointed his thumb at himself and Graynin, "Only a thousand years or so before us. Yet no one seems to remember much of what came before, or is willing, or alive, to talk about it. The little we know is there were a few failed attempts at monarchies, those were extinguished quickly. Then there was a large fire that incinerated the main archive that held Esera's history. How surprisingly convenient it was for that to happen right when the Council decided it was time to restructure itself and take a firmer hold of Esera's politics. Their argument being that the people were falling back into their ways during the Dark Ages, that the gifted were becoming too powerful." Pierce voice dropped an octave, intensifying the scandal laced in his tone.

"That's enough of your conspiracy theories Pierce." Graynin interjected firmly.

Before leaning back in his seat, Pierce gave Ryder one of his dazzling smiles and a wink. "I meant no harm Graynin. Just giving the girl a bit of fun. The poor thing is practically bored to death with how serious we all are around her. A little story is just to lighten the mood." He looked around seeking support, but found none, "fine, back to stone cold factuality then," he said in an overly serious voice. "Graynin left the Shadow Realm wars before the Pillars even went up. Something more interesting had turned him docile."

Graynin's eyes flickered to Jade for a quick moment before returning his heated gaze back to Pierce. Who was now casually leaning back in his chair, his fingers laced behind his head, and his eyes glinting with the mischief he was causing. Jade was notably overly preoccupied with staring out the window.

"But I didn't stay much longer in the Shadow Realm," Pierce continued, "I found my own form of pacification, to ease my killing edge." His eyes for a moment lost their boyish charm, and turned hollow, as if he were seeing something that only he could see, but they quickly turned back. "Plus, it wasn't the same without my brother in arms." He grabbed Graynin's shoulder and shook him.

As the drama of lunch wound down, Ryder and Tairin were granted permission to wander through the town on their own. Ryder was grateful that they would have time to be by themselves, but also loathed the fact that she needed permission.

The two strolled through the beautiful town. They wound their way down the well-kept streets and admired the displays in the shop windows. Just as they would have done at home before going to see a movie or something. This must be what a normal date feels like, Ryder thought, Well excluding the Downton Abbey vibes.

Ryder paused in front of a particular impressive window. "Jeez craftmanship is a lost art at home. I cannot believe someone actually made that by hand."

When no response came, Ryder turned to see there was no sign of Tairin. Maybe he had gone on, she reasoned. She stepped back to let a group pass by, when suddenly a hand tightly grasped her wrist. Before she could think to react, it pulled her into the alley.

"Holy shit Tairin." Ryder cursed as her eyes met Tairin's grin.

He didn't say anything, he just pushed her back into the wall, and closed in on her. Giving into her want she melted into the wall, and pulled him in by the collar of his shirt. Despite their lack of practice, the kiss was easy and so damn hot. The dirty book blurbs that her and Mikaila read at the back of Cosmopolitan magazines, had nothing on the heat that Tairin's touch made her feel...everywhere.

Despite the heat burning even in her ears, she heard footsteps coming down the alley. She forced herself to disengage from Tairin, and was ready to yell at Graynin for breaking his promise of letting them be alone, when her stomach sank the way it does on a roller coaster. Instead of Graynin, her eyes met two young men watching them.

Tairin's biceps tighten under her hands as he realized the people who approached were not from their group. Tairin tried to fully shield her with his body, but Ryder was not about to let that happen, and she stepped up next to him.

The intruders looked to be about her and Tairin's age, but she knew that meant very little in this world, they could easily be five hundred years old. Both had short black hair and were physically fit. The main difference between them was their size, one was a lean 6'2" and the shorter one was about Ryder's height.

The taller one spoke, "what's a pretty little Nymph like you doing with a Blank like that?" The Daemon's dark expression deepened as he gestured towards Tairin.

A 'Blank' was a derogatory slur for people with no touch of elemental power in them. She had also learned that Athos' entire staff were Prosaics with no elemental power. Which she hadn't really thought about until now, clearly it was a bigger deal than she had realized.

Despite the situation, she felt a flare of wonder, so others could feel her power. Was she a Nymph? But she had episodes with both fire and wind, was that something that could happen to a Nymph? She had thought maybe she was a Souladeux. She most likely was some kind of freak that didn't fall into a category.

"Why don't you just keep moving." Tairin said flat, but she could sense the tension in him.

The taller Daemon glared at Tairin, "I wasn't talking to you, you damn Blank."

The shorter one moved closer to Tairin. Ryder noticed that both boys had daggers at their waist bands. Her gut began to knot around itself.

"Come on sweetheart. Come with us, we'll show you how real men are." The taller one said with an eerie coo in his voice.

Ryder let out a condescending huff. The taller Daemon's face instantly tightened in aggravation. She knew she shouldn't antagonize them, but she couldn't help herself. "Oh yeah? You seem like real men. Having to basically kidnap a girl to get her to be around you."

Before she or Tairin could react, the shorter Daemon thrust his arms out. A wall of dense air slammed into Tairin, tearing him from Ryder's arms, and sending him flying back into the stone wall.

She rushed over to him. "Tairin, are you ok?"

The attackers laughed. Ryder's fear began to turn to anger, she felt the heat building in her chest. She slowly turned on the two Daemons. Their malicious smiles turned confused, and both fell silent as they stared back at her. She could see fear building in their eyes.

The elements began to whisper inside her, rising to her need. Her will began to bend to the need of her emotions, her control losing its grip, the voices growing stronger.

Tairin grabbed her by the arm as she began to stand up. "Ryder calm down, I'm ok. You don't need to do anything. Ryder stop! Look at me!"

But his pleas were just hollow calls. All she could see were the attackers, all she could hear were the elements.

Both Daemons pulled their knives, Ryder felt a seductive smile bloom on her face at the action.

"Ryder! Stop! This isn't you! Ryder!"

That word 'Ryder' gnawed at her conscious, and then she recognized Tairin's voice. Some of the haze of her intent lifted. She turned to Tairin, tears welling up in her eyes as she reclaimed her humanity. Terror streaked across Tairin's face.

"I'm sorry." Ryder whispered.

Tairin gently took hold of her arms. "It's ok, just calm down." He started pushing her towards the opening of the alley, but both Daemons moved in their path.

"Get out of our way." Tairin said through gritted teeth, his hand coming to the knife on his belt.

"We're not letting you go anywhere." The shorter one said.

"What are you?" The taller Daemon asked with fascination, as he slowly ran his eyes up and down Ryder. "I have never felt someone's power rise like that, and I am very sensitive. I marked you as a low level Nymph with not much power to offer, but then," his eyes flicked with lust, "your levels soared. How did you do that?"

"I don't know." Ryder answered in a quivering voice, she was so afraid of what was happening to her.

The taller one ticked his tongue in disapproval. "Now that's not an honest answer. I guess we'll need to take you to meet our Master. He'll be so pleased with an oddity like you."

"She's not going anywhere with you." Tairin hissed. He moved on the two Daemons, his knife in hand.

Ryder didn't know what to do, she was lost in herself. She watched as another burst of air sent Tairin flying back, knocking his knife from his hand.

Her body was frozen, she was so scrambled inside that she didn't know how to react. She looked back to the two young Daemons just as the shorter one started his hand motions to call another burst of air. Her clambering brain collected itself just in time to realize this attack was aimed at her. A heat rushed swift and smooth through her entire being, stomping out all thought and emotion. Then the world went black.