• NOTE: READ PREVIOUS PARTS FOR THIS ONE TO MAKE ANY SENSE WHATSOEVER. AND FOR A SNEAK PEAK ON THE NEXT PART, VIEW MY JOURNAL IN THE SAME PART AS THIS ONE.

    NOW ON WITH THE STORY:::


    Gallaway paused in the shadows, gently stroking the small blue stone that rested in her palm. Finally, she stepped forward into the light, holding the stone out from her body.

    As soon as the light reflected off the shiny surface, a strong jet of blue light was sent straight into the air. The white clouds turned gray and began swirling around the beam.

    Wind made her hair whip around her face and her dress flap around her thighs. The light that was excreeted from the rock stung every part of skin it touched. Yet no matter how hard she tried, she could not drop it.

    She cried out in agony and squeezed her eyes shut against the bright blue that was consuming everything around her.

    My daughter. My loving daughter, she heard, and she opened her eyes in shock. She knew that smooth voice; she had heard it when she was very young.

    The time has finally come.

    Thw wind rushed faster and faster, forcing Gallaway to close her eyes again. The light burned every part of her as if she were standing in a blue fire.

    The light abruptly stopped, making every once vibrant color seem dull and black.

    "Gallaway." A soft murmer filled her ears, and she slowly opened her eyes.

    In front of her stood a circle of dark, cloaked figures, all clothed in strange and exotic clothing, all staring at her. The one in the front stood out the most with her pale skin and raven black hair that had fallen out of the hood and waved down her front. Her wide eyes were a light violet color, her features angular and long yet soft and gentle.

    "Mother?" Gallaway asked unbelievingly and lowered her arms without dropping the stone. The woman pulled the hood back halfway so that the bottom half of her face was lit in the light. Her full lips were pulled back into a wide smile.

    "My precious daughter, Gallaway." The woman swept forward and embraced Gallaway with loving arms.

    "I thought I'd never see you again." Gallaway whimpered and felt a couple warm tears slide down her chin. The woman wiped the drops off Gallaway's cheek and held her shoulders firmly.

    "I never thought it would take this long to return, Darling. But I am here as I promised. Where's Warren?" She said, lowering her arms.

    "Warren needs help." Gallaway closed her eyes with a frown and she thought of the torture their father had released on her brother.

    "I knew that must be the case for Warren to reveal us. Okran?" She turned to one of the shortest figures, who stepped forward at the name.

    "Ay, Nama?" It was a female's voice that came from the cloak.

    "Follow Gallaway here to heal her brother, please."

    The cloaked figure nodded once and looked expectantly at Gallaway.

    "She is beautiful, Nama." The short one said, smiling, and looked up at the woman.

    "She is." Nama said happily, then frowned slightly. She reached out and delicately stroked Gallaway's face with slender fingers.

    "So he hurt you too, did he?" She quietly said to herself. Gallaway bowed her head.

    "You take Okran to Warren, alright? I'll have a few words with Warren's father." Okran took a few steps forward impatiently, but Gallaway just looked up at her mother.

    "Warren's father? So he's not related to me?"

    Nama paused and scanned Gallaway's upset face.

    "Warren must've told you." She said, thin eyebrows pushed together. Gallaway shook her head once.

    "Only some of the story."

    "We'll have to catch you up when we get back, now won't we?" The woman put a hand on Gallaway's shoulder.

    "I'm going back with you?"

    "Now don't think you're staying with him anymore. Warren's coming as well, but his father will have to pay for what he's done. You understand, don't you?" Gallaway lowered her eyes, then looked to Okran.

    "I'll show you where Warren is." Gallaway threw a look at Nama, then led the group into the house.

    "Nama!" The father gasped as the cloaked people stepped into the cottage.

    Nama ignored him and looked over her shoulder.

    "Garond, go with Okran and Gallaway. I don't want you getting carried away." The woman said softly, and a somewhat muscular male stepped from the group. He ducked under the doorway under which Gallaway and Okran had disappeared.

    "Now, Elonzo. I believe you have some explaining to do." The woman eyed the man with some fury in her eyes. The father had beads of sweat forming on his brow, his beady gray eyes hidden under a worried frown.


    "Warren, are you still with me?" Gallaway knelt by his bedside and brushed his hair out of his face. He opened his eyes quickly, gaze flickering between the newcomers.

    "They're here to help." Gallaway assured him, and his eyes fell on hers again.

    "My name is Okran." The small figure stepped forward with a hand on her chest. With a flick of the other wrist, she pulled off her hood with one quick movement.

    She had strange green-gray eyes and short blonde hair that was styled to show off her small features. She was wearing a thin circlet with a purpleish blue stone set in it, oddly similar to the one Gallaway still clenched in her fist.

    "And I am Garond. Also here to help." The man tossed his hood over his head. Underneath it were bright blue eyes and reddish hair that was cropped just below his chin. He too was wearing a circlet with a stone.

    "I'm Warren, but I'm sure you already know that." Warren said, pain lining his quiet voice.

    Okran smiled and unfastened her cloak, then tossed it lazily to Garond.

    "I'm not your maid." Garond grumbled and set it at Warren's feet.

    Okran eyed him with impatience and hovered over Warren's bleeding head.

    "let's see what's under here, shall we?" She quickly began to tear into the makeshift bandage, so carefully that Warren didn't even make any sign of noticing.

    "That's a doozy." Okran mumbled and gently probed the injury. At Gallaway's worried glance, Okran added, "It's no problem, though. It'll be very quick."

    Her hands trailed to the back of her head, and Okran unclasped the circlet from around her head. She let the stone dangle over Warren's injury, and she chanted a few words in a different language. To Gallaway's shock, she could understand each sentence.

    "Aquano, gatamo wal. Anamo aquanan bue." Heal him, make him new. Bring his health back.

    A small beam appeared from the stone in Okran's circlet, similar to the one from Gallaway's. Yet this one was much smaller, more concentrated and focused.

    "Can we all heal, Garond?" Gallaway asked quietly as she watched Warren's head slowly patch itself together and the bleeding stop.

    "We?" Garond glanced at her. "You know about us?"

    "Only since this morning. Warren told me." She admitted, guiltily looking up at him. Garond looked quickly at the suddenly silent Okran, then ushered Gallaway outside. He blocked her view all the way through the living room, and for some reason, she was glad for it.