Star Song
By Tiger

                         I

Evening had fallen on Sandarian. The Moon was nowhere
to be seen. Ariel knew this was a special night.. The
night was.. so alive in thousands of ways. She
adjusted her yellow silken cloak in the night breeze
and lifting her voice up, sang. The song was
unfamiliar, but was at the same time. This was the
night of Initiation to the Warrior sept of her clan.
She was already full Healer. The Elders arrived. She
took her place in the Circle. Seven opponents
surrounded her. She drew her blade. And they attacked
, in the ages old ritual of dance and steel. "Enough!"
barked Sharan...the leader of the Council, as the last
fell, none with fatal wounding. After the harrowing
initiation, four strangers to her appeared. She bowed
with the same courtesy that she would show any Elder.
The strangers spoke with Sharan...One looked at her
and through her to her soul. A soft flash of light
raced through her. She knew of the purpose of this
visit. The four Warriors approached and she drew her
blade again at an inner warning. The sounds of
fighting echoed thru the encampment. She raced past,
and joined into the fray... A vision imparted itself
to her within the battle- heat. She danced and wove
deadly patterns with her blades. The last thing she
remembered was seeing the flash of light again. then
darkness. "Dammit!" Draco yelled as Eric fought to get
to Ariel's side. Draconess wove a spell of magic to
assist Eric in getting to Ariel. Both Lady Loreli and
StarFlight assisted both Strong Heart and Paul...
Finally it was over.. The camp was desolate in the
stillness. "Any survivors?" "one... Ariel.. the rest
have gone into hiding or dead." "What were they
after?" "All the healer-mage- warriors." was Ariel's
last reply, before darkness took her. Eric frowned in
the starlight as she went limp.. "From what Sharan has
spoken.. these are quite rare...They can be twisted if
they are empathic to any degree. This clan held only 6
Healer-Mage-Warriors.. Ariel was to be the seventh."
She awoke in a different place. The one named
Draconess was with her. "What of the Clan?" she
asked...fearing the answer. Draconess's eyes held
sympathy as she told Ariel the answer that she didn't
want to hear. So her dreams were true...she appeared
to be the last. Turning her face to the wall of the
castle, she sang a song that honored her people and
bespoke her sadness.
A warm hand touching her, stilled the song. she turned
and looked up into eyes that Felt what she was
feeling. A gentle touch and some of the pain lifted.
"Sleep" Eric whispered as he touched her again,
rendering her unconscious.

                         II

She slept on in a deep healing sleep...She was
shielded fully and her dreams took on a poignant
quality. She wished that....Suddenly she saw a yellow
flag appear out of the mist of her dreams... The flag
had the Raven crest! She had passed the final
initiation! Tears streamed down her face as she heard
Sharan's voice telling her not to seek revenge.
Blinking awake...The room was candlelit. She was alone
for the moment. a stirring she noted then her
attention was gathered fully to the manifistation that
appeared before her. Sharan appeared before
her..."damn it.." Eric swore as did Lady
Loreli...Someone is in where Ariel is." They all shot
out of their chairs. The bonding on the door was
undone..To their amazement, Sharan stool less than two
feet away from Ariel...He nodded at them.With a wave
of his hand, she was re armoured in the true colors of
the healer-mage-warrior. Silver and midnight blue with
a flash of  pure yellow. He placed his hand over her
shoulder and she felt a burning sensation. "You are
safe with the Warriors Of The Elements... Do not
fear... your name, however must be changed..." He
faded out...Peace be unto thee, little one". She
whispered.. "Atara, Elder". and sat down on the
bed...dazed. Paul touched her gently. She looked
up...She was shocky...Paul was dressed in deep violet
and black. Eric got her to stand.. He was dressed in
orange and black. With Draconess's help, she divested
herself of her arms and armour. StarFire exclaimed in
shock.. There.. on Ariel's shoulder was the mark of
the Raven...Ariel smiled a little despite the pain...
"We need to talk..." She spoke quietly.

                         III

Draco studied her... She was calm, but he Felt someone
holding her together empathically. "Seek  you
revenge?" he asked her in her own language. "Nay Great
Dragon... 'Tis forbidden to the last of the Triad."
She answered him in their language. "The Raven..."
Strong Heart spoke to her... "Only those which know of
the Triad will know what to look for... all of you are
the only ones that know of my acceptance into the
Triad, by the sign of the Raven." "What do you do
now?" Eric asked her...Feeling the empathic bond of
the Triad holding her together. "That, even I cannot
foretell. It will take time to heal...after that...is
uncertain." At sunrise, she asked to be taken back to
the site. She looked around... The last Rites of
Passage had already been done. The Yellow Flag of The
Triad flew in the breeze. She had donned pure black
for this. She carefully took the Flag down, and buried
it beside Sharan. Ghostly forms of the other Six
formed around her. The Vision filled her mind and
soul. She saw the entire slaughter and the reasons
behind it. And also what she needed to do, to make
certain that she was "dead" to the Vasha. She turned
and discussed telepathically with Draconess the
situation. Draconess didn't like it at all, but she
knew Ariel had no choice. As the discussion grew more
fiery between the men...Ariel listened to the
wind...The Vasha were close by.. this had to be done
now! She signaled Lady Loreli, StarFire and Draconess
and drew her sword. Eric whirled on her.. seeing the
dath-madness take hold. The fight was over quickly.
Draco struck the "killing" blow. The Vasha crowded
around, after they had left her there. Howling with
joy, they celebrated. Under cover of darkness, the
Warriors returned for her. Lady Loreli and Draconess
released the spell that kept Ariel in the death state.
But she didnt regain consciousness. "She still
sleeps..it will take time to heal all the wounding."
StarFire said quietly. "She took a risk in provoking
me! Draco yelled...Then stopped at the look on the
Draconess. "Draco.. She knew that this was the only
way to keep the Vasha from finding her and killing her
and possibly killing us as well...She is not stupid,
nor is she blind. Give Ariel credit for knowing the
only solution to the problem." "Where is the Hunter?"
"He is beside Ariel and refuses to leave her until she
awakens.". "Good" he spoke quietly."He will be good
medicine for her, as she has many pain filled days
ahead of her." Ariel awoke, tears of pain spilling
down her face. The Hunter, as Eric had been
renamed..was there with her in a flash, holding her
trying to soothe the soul deep pain she still felt.
All had gathered. Paul finally spoke..."You are reborn
and renamed WyldeFyre... in your tradition and ours."
She nodded quietly. A gentle touch from the Hunter,
once again sent her into Healing sleep. 

                          IV

WyldeFyre healed and a friendship formed between her
and the Hunter. Many moons had passed and she was
keeping her own practices up. She stood alone, in the
practice yard doing weapons work, when she knew that
no one would be around. The silvery sheen of the
swords and the footsteps to the pattern caused her
blades to form a protective sphere around her as she
worked. She had also learned from them. She held bonds
of friendship with all the Warriors. She still felt
out of place and she knew the Vasha had not ceased
their raiding and killing. But she was sworn by the
laws of the Triad. Unknown to her.. she had a guard
during those times watching her as she worked.
Draconess was aware of how WyldeFyre felt and spoke at
length with the others. The Hunter could render
himself invisible to her Othersight and Empathy, so he
volunteered...being empathic himself, he understood.
Finished with weapons practice, she finally did the
one thing that she didn't want to do...she finally
packed away her armour and weaponry of the Triad...It
hurt, but as she had been advised by Sharan this was
for the best. Tears fell unchecked down her face. She
knew to blend in, she would have to give up the outer
vestiges of the Triad. Sealing her weaponry into the
cask, she was startled to see the Hunter appear. He
held her and let her cry...Some wounds still hadn't
healed yet. Later that day, she petitioned Draco, to
become a Fire Warrior. He had sent her away, without a
word. She didn't know what to do now. She went to her
room quietly. She stared out the window, watching the
other students as they practiced. She had been kept
out of sight for so long...Suddenly a bright yellow
light surrounded her and the crest of the Raven
appeared. Her heart lifted as the spirits of the Six
comforted her. The Hunter came in as well as Draco,
Strong Heart and Paul. Then Draco saw the emblem
appear before her heart.. She would always be Triad.
He also noted that she had sealed her Triad armour
away. She was in trance state as the emblem grew
brighter on her shoulder. The light faded away. She
shook her head to clear it and then realized she
wasn't alone. Her eyes grew wide as Draco accepted her
as a Fire Warrior without condition...He advised her
not to seal herself away from what she was, rather to
bring it out and merge it with the way of the Fire
Warrior. She nodded, wondering what had changed his
mind...New armour lay upon the bed.. black and
red...new weaponry lay on the bed. She was stunned a
little...Draco saw this and just smiled. 

                           V

"Did you think you weren't worthy to be a Fire
Warrior?" He asked.. He knew the answer was no. She
spoke... "I didn't know how you would react, Draco.
Sometimes one order will not accept another.." "Which
isn't the case here...again, yes or no" "No.." "Good!"
I will see you bright and early in the morning...
Don't forget your session with Draconess.. " She
nodded. She arrived for her session with Draconess
immedately. Draconess knew her heart was hurting...
she was lost a bit and felt like she would never get
over the confusion of emotions that were running
around inside of her. To complicate the matter... She
was becoming attracted to the Hunter, more and more.
The session over, Draconess encouraged her to talk to
the Hunter..She spoke of her feelings towards him..
then disappeared, before he could answer her. She had
teleported back into her room, but he had beaten her
there. "You left before I could give you an answer..."
He grinned. "The answer is yes." She smiled at
him...Goddess she was getting tongue tied all of a
sudden.. Her training session within the Fire Wariors
over, at least for today. She felt like she was black
and blue all over..., but she was happy. He grinned at
her... "Cat got your tongue again?!" she blushed and
they both laughed. They took a walk out to the garden
and talked for a while. Draco and Draconess looked
down at them as the two talked and laughed. Draco
looked at Draconess... "I see the Hunter is becoming
more than just a companion to her." "Which is all to
the good!" Draconess stated as Draco put his arms
around her.She soon forgot the Hunter and WyldeFyre.
Suddenly both looked up as two dragons took flight.
"Mating season" The Hunter laughed wickedly..."c'mon
lets get ourselves inside, before we become toast!"
Both ran for the entrance as Draco's mind voice stated
to both "I could singe your hide for that remark!" To
add insult to injury.. The Hunter was singed by a lick
of flame. Cursing, he allowed WyldeFyre to tend to a
singed rear end, once they got inside the castle. She
hid a grin...IT wasn't wise to insult Dragons!!!! He
saw her grin however and just chuckled a little..."I
know I know.. not wise to insult a Dragon!" She
smiled..."Reading my mind are you now?" she laughed.
"Possibly" he laughed. Draco's head poked through the
window, and WyldeFyre moved towards him..."It is
enough that he has paid for that remark..." She patted
his head, which shocked Draco... "Draconess awaits
you...Great Dragon." She turned back towards the
Hunter, only to receive a push from Draco's massive
head right into the Hunter's waiting arms. A snort of
Laughter met that remark. "She does and the Hunter NOW
has you!.. See if you can get out of THAT tangle!"  "I
dont wish to get out of this tangle..." She softly
whispered as Draco's massive head withdrew from the
window and resumed flying after Draconess. "So I
noticed.." The Hunter laughed softly.