As Shinu ran towards Kairi at full speed, desperately trying to get to her, he watched her fall, his whole body falling under a temporary paralysis. Strangely she had a soft glow, and then the bird was going to finish them off, both watching helplesssly as it swooped in closer. He just stood there, looking not at the bird, but at Kairi. At the last moment, her blue aura surrounded them, a small force field summoned, the likes of which he only heard about from his mothers' stories. Fear was flowing through Kairi, and nothing but wonder through Shinu. He knew that some people had this power, but only if...

Kairi... you saved us. When I... I couldn't save you. But you summoned the ancient power of the naphisi, and you can only do it if...

His voice trailed off, and he swallowed his words, not wanting to put the mission in jeapordy. Not while his comrades were still fighting. They were getting tossed and brutalized, waiting for Shinu, and still he could not move. He just closed his eyes and focused on his internal system, searching for the feeling he knew he must have. When he opened his eyes... the bird was gone... and the complexion of Shinu's world had just changed.

"shinu?" she asked and blinked her eyes wide and her panting exhausting her more then the race of her heart beat

"what... how did you do that?" she asked and nearly passed out in his arms

"ow i ...so tired" she mumbled and closed her eyes falling asleep. all her energy was gone and she could do nothing but lay helpless

"shinu...how did... you do that?" she mumbled still just barely awake

I don't think I did it... I don't think you did it... I think we did it. I will explain later, we have to get going. Just go to sleep and save your energy, I will take you to get healed. Don't worry, I'll make sure you're alright.

He raised her up over his shoulder, and removed the shoulder piece so her head could rest there comfortably.

Is everyone okay?

she smiled and nodded easy to slip off into a peaceful sleep holding onto him. he was warm and and safe with the feeling like a blanket around her keeping her warm.

the cloth around her left hand fell off and you could see that the black opening in her palm traveled up her wrist and almsot to her shoulder it was so bad.

Lins was barely able to keep himself falling flat on the ground, for the first time in his life he had be paralyzed by fear. His mind was trying to understand just what had sent the thing flying away and just how it happened. The last minute of his life has just frozen, just as everyone was frozen by the shriek the bird sent out. grasping his spear he was managing to keep himself on one knee. Lins was panting, taking in as much air as he could to calm down. He heard shinu mutter something but could not make anything of it out. To much had just happened and Lins wasn't able to keep up with it. He slowly let himself to the ground and roll over onto his back.

im.......k......thanks.....for...asking....

Lins was slowly regaining himself. calming down. He looked over to where Shinu and Kairi where and Kairi was sleeping in Shinu's arms. Lins couldn't mutter anything to himself so in his head he just said "Bless her."

Shinu held onto to Kairi tightly, making sure she wasn't going to bob up and down too much as he walked, and then marched towards the men still left standing. Lins looked shaken, and Shinu couldn't get a read on Mikael, either way, they needed to move.

Look, I'm not sure of what's going on, all I know is, things will get worse, this is just the beginning. Now if we don't hurry to the Land of the Elves on foot, we're not going to see past today. I don't know about the two of you, but I don't plan on being a 3 man show. Let's get the old man and head out.

The shriek from the bird deafened Mikael’s ears. The pain was so bad it caused Mikael fall to the ground. He watched the bird struggle to fly away and by the time it was gone, the pain had stopped.

Mikael stood up, still looking to the sky to see if there was any sign of the bird. He pulled his burnt hood over his head and turned towards Shinu. He didn’t need to be told that things were going to become worse, he had that feeling since they were attacked by the bird in the underground passage.

“Now if we don't hurry to the Land of the Elves on foot, we're not going to see past today.”

Mikael was thinking the same thing and knew that the city of the elves was the safest place to be. He signalled to the group to follow him, and without waiting for anyone to grab the old man, he walked off towards the elves’ home.

The figure that had emerged from the cover of the forest stood immobile in the midst of the chaos that had followed the bird's retreat. The slender arms raised up to the cowl covering its face, and pushed it back to reveal a startling sight.

The face was feminine, with delicate cheekbones and a high forehead. Small ears, slightly pointed, and a small, fragile nose protruded from the faint, pastel yellow of the girl's skin. The most alarming feature of her visage, however, was her eyes. Milk-white, they were the eyes of a blind woman, and yet she seemed to fix her invisible gaze upon Shinu and Kairi. She stood motionless there, not engaging them, yet not departing.

Mikael looked up, startled to see an elf right in front of him. He felt as if he knew the elf, if he had seen her before. Though, to him all the elves looked the same.

“Why are you here?” Asked Mikael

He walked straight up to her and ignored the fact that she was not looking at him. He still had questions to be answered.

“How far is it to your home? And will we get there before nightfall?”

Mikael waited for an answer. The elf had her eyes still fixed on Kairi and Shinu, her silence straining Mikael’s patience. He started to walk away, not caring if his questions were answered or not.

“With those wounds Mikael, you will not make it another day in the forest.”

Mikael stopped and turned towards the elf. He stood staring at the elf, the blood trickling down his cloak becoming more apparent. The elf continued to speak.

“Unless if you have my help, that deep wound on your shoulder and that other one, running down your leg will ultimately leave you in the state un to which my brother found you all those years ago.”

Mikael turned and continued to walk away, whilst talking to the elf.

“I am a stronger man now, small cuts like these will not kill me.” Mikael turned his head, looking back towards the elf, “Though, I am not the one to say who can help or not, that is up to the others.”