Town Hall

Saron had been gone awhile. Mika had dozed off when Whisper nudged her. ~hmm?~ she asked and her eyes flew open again. She yawned. "oh right" she stretched and slowly got up holding her swollen abdomen. She waddled over and checked on Zirean who was still sleeping soundly. Mika felt bad for drugging the poor young woman but she needed the rest. She looked out the window at the surprisingly sunny day considering the time of year. She caught sight of a bit of cloak against the hall. 'Saron?' she thought and slowly made her way to the door and outside. She saw him sitting on the ground against the hall. "Saron?" she asked gently. She hurried slightly to his side. "You ok?" she asked worriedly. He didn't seem to have any wounds, but the memory of Jarlon's death still haunted her.

With confused eyes I looked up at the stunning face of Mika "I think so...how are you feeling?" I asked running a palm across her belly

"You think so?" she asked still concerned. But she smiled as he ran a palm across her belly. "He seems to be sleeping, so I am feeling better" she said quietly. She slowly eased down and sat down next to him. "My mind is battling between wanting him out and for this to be over and knowing he can't come out yet. Fearing that he will come to early" she sighed. "Just another 3 months" she said quietly "So your sure your ok?" she asked again

Zirean slept comfortably, Her dreams were peaceful enough. Now she was just in a foggy patch of grass. Mithous was no where around, she was alone.
"Zirean......." The voice called her name again. A shadow appeared in front of her.
"Mother?" Zirean asked and the shadow nodded.
"Zirean.... You have a task to complete. He has destroyed too many lives already, Including Saron, Peirce Von, and Mika. You need to destroy him. First you must learn your talents....... You are pure elf. Your father, and I were fire benders, and morphers."She demonstrated and morphed into a bird. It will take a while to have you touch the amulet. We had to do the same thing when we were your age." She shifted back to an elf again.
"But mother.....I don't know if I will be able to defeat him alone!" She said to her mother who started to fade.
Promise me you'll defeat Him....Promise me. You can havee help. Just make sure you're the one that kills him. No matter what."Her mother said.
She faded and a dark voice came. with thunder and lightning so loud that it hurt her ears. She cried out in fear. There was no where to hide.
*Wakes up, Back to reality.*

*While later, while Saron and Mika are talking*
Zirean woke up to find the room empty.She had do go see how Mithous was. She struggled up and sat on the bed. She didn't wwant to stretch because of her wound. Her clothes were filthy. With dried blood caked around her right shoulder. She notided it was day out. Zirean heaved a sigh.

Whisper noticed the guest wake up. She yawned and stretched and walked over. ~How is she?~ she asked Mithous

"Yes really I'm ok...and he'll come when he's ready" I smiled "When the time is right...time" I repeated and looked down

Mika watched him. Something was different she could tell. But she didn't know what. "Any idea who Zirean is? Where she comes from?" Mika asked quietly

"No idea, she is on the same war path as we are though, and she is a dark rider, also known as the shadow riders. Amazing horse people and most are a secret society of powerful elfs. Haven't gotten a good look at her eyes or if she has any tattoo's yet though So i couldn't tell you" I heaved a sigh "how is she doing?"

Mika nodded "My mother talked of such a people. She was an native American elf. Her and in a way my people called those people sky spirits. They helped my people at times. Taught us things in the ancient days. But I never saw them. When we acquired a horse that had a special medicine hat marking or was easy to train the elders said it was a gift from the sky spirits. But they were not cloaked in secrecy. They did not wear black like her. The stories were of a pale skinned people that had white hair. They wore light colored clothes, and they all had a tattoo on their eye brow and side of their head. She does not bear such markings..." Mika said thinking aloud. "Hmm? oh she was still sleeping, Whisper is keeping an eye on her. Has the poison left her body?"

"I have heard stories of such....but I don't know" I hesitated "The poison, I hope so, the wound has been cleaned and closed, the rest will have to take it's course" I suggested

Mika nodded and shifted slightly to get more comfortable "I can't wait for spring" she said softly "I wonder what crops Vandecar will plant this year...has Danielle said anything to you about it? Come to think of it..I haven't even seen her..." Mika said quietly and rubbed the small of her back slightly

"ummm ya about that" I smiled and pulled out the amulet from my shirt. The crips gold twinkled in the light. "Athara mentioned something about merging?" I looked at her

Mika raised an eyebrow. "I see" she smiled slightly "I wondered when that would happen" she chuckled slightly. "Congratulations. Is that why you are a little dazed?" she asked gently. "Ah yes merging. The last leader of Vandecar and I had talked about it, but we hadn't worked out any of the details such as how to merge and still keep both villages interests safe. Such as things like making sure the ranging cattle don't start eating the fields" she chuckled

"the last leader? Jarlon?" I asked "There is plenty of land behind Vandecar where we can rebuild Cahoon-as we grow we can build into the forest-towards the original village again. What do you think?"

Mika hesitated slightly "Yes Jarlon" she nodded "hmm an interesting thought. Although we don't want to take any possible farm land either, I have a feeling there will be more than just one child here soon" she chuckled "We want to have room for more fields if we need them." she offered

"Cattle are used to being range animals-we can fence in the forest and lead it into the pastures of cahoon, the water is still there we'll still have to commute .And from the look of the fields if they are planted just right, and from a rancher i have learned about fertilizer, we'll have more than enough food." I smiled triumphantly

Mika nodded "sounds good, what about the horses? They will need to use the paddocks and such this coming year. They are free range horses, they won't be able to stay in stalls. Lets see the goats should be able to share a pasture with the sheep I want to get...in fact they could probably use the same pasture as the cows, we'll just have to keep an eye out and make sure it doesn't get over grazed." she said thinking aloud. "The chickens are good where they are. Although if we could move them back to the outside coop they would enjoy that I am sure. We'll have to assign patrols to go and collect dropping from the pasture for compost and fertilizer. I'm sure everyone will be thrilled about that" she raised her eyebrows and laughed. "What about the books? I don't want to leave that library unwatched. But that information needs to be kept and protected as well. It is all that is left of their culture."

I looked at her a bit wide eyes "Really jumping into this aren't you" I laughed "I have already been thinking about all of that, don't worry your pretty little head over it. Lets go back inside and relax..ok...i'll be right in" I said helping her up

Mika laughed "Sorry it's what I do" she smiled as he helped her up. She leaned up and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "Don't be long k? Can't be freezing anything important off now can we?" she asked playfully

"Don't worry, i'll be in soon" I smiled as her lips met mine

She smiled and nodded giving him a quick hug, well as best she could with her 6 month along belly. Then she turned and quietly singing one of her folk songs she semi walked semi waddled back into the town hall.

Zirean wondered were everyone was, so she slowly and painfully got up. She would have to explore until Mika or Saron got back. 'Ok you can do this, just don't put any preassure on that arm.' She thought to herself. Slowly she got up and looked around. Zirean noticed a cabinet full of books in the corner. She knew how to read and write. It was a requirement that her teachers taught her. Grabbing her arm to support her shoulder, she looked at the books. She'd never even heard of them before 'Care of Farm Animals' to 'How to Train Your Horse' Zirean scrunched up her nose. She'd never had to learn to train Mithous it just came naturally. Though other horses she might'v had a problem with them. She hadn't had to deal with another horse, nor never will. She continued scrolling through the books, until her neck tingled. She stood up straight. Its been years since she thought about that Tattoo. It never burned them, or tingled like that before. Zirean put her hand on her neck to rub it.

I sat outside and took a deep breath and leaned against the wall again-still not ready to go inside. the amulet around my neck still gave off a bit of a haze-but a bit stronger now. ?I pushed off and walked down a path a little ways

Zirean's neck started tingling even more. She heard a whinnie from across the across the road. She ran outside and ran to the stables by following Mithous's voice. It wasn't that hard to follow. He was so loud. She yelled ~Mithous! Mithous!!~ He stuck his head out of a stall door and whinnied weakly ~I think He's coming.....Don't know when..But it hurts.~ He lifted his back leg up, and she rubbed her neck. ~I know its hard to ignor. Maybe he's just passing through~ She sat down next to his stall and growned.