Later, as the sun rose, Shaye finally slept. Her restful sleep was disturbed by colors flashing in her mind's eye, weaving together to form pictures of long forgotten memories.
     "Shaye! Come down here!" it was Merlin, dressed as Shaye remembered him best, in a long dark blue robe with his long, snow white hair and beard hanging down well past his waist.
    "Yes, Father?" the 13-year-old Shaye asked, touching down. She had taken to called Merlin father some years ago, and had never really outgrown the phase.
     "Be more careful! There are too many people around for you to be flitting through the skies!" Merlin scolded.
     "Sorry, Father." Shaye said, hanging her head in shame. She hated to disappoint the great wizard.
     "There, there, dear, there is no harm done, just be more careful in the future." Merlin said gently as he put a warm arm around Shaye.
     "I will, Father." Shaye said, beaming up at the old man. "Father?"
     "Yes, Shaye?"
     "How come the knights are riding out? I thought the battle was won."
     "Because there are many more enemies to fight, my dear Shaye. I wish it was as simple as one war, but, sadly, it isn't."
     "Oh." Shaye said, looking into the sky. "Someday I will fight with them."
     "We will take one day at a time, shall we?" Merlin asked, smiled. Shaye grinned back and bounded off after a jack rabbit that had crossed their path. She never forgot saying that she would fight with the Knights of the Round Table, and she kept true to her word only three years later.
     Shaye woke with a start, as she always did when she dreamed of her short time with Merlin. She looked wildly around the room for a moment, scared that the thing that had taken Trish had found her. "Fuck, I gotta stop reading all those goddamm horror books." Shaye told herself as she rolled out of bed and stretched. "They're fucking with my mind." She like living alone, but she never got used to the pressing silence, so she often thought aloud and usually had a stereo playing somewhere in the house.
     "Ok, I'm dreaming more often now, why? Why, why, why?" Shaye muttered, looking at a calendar she kept in her room. It was August thirteenth, the day that marked the death of the Wizard Merlin. Eight hundred and two years, to be exact. He had died on his selected date, August 13th, 1200 AD "Memories, memories, why must they be so bittersweet?" Shaye asked, sighing sadly. She still missed the wizard greatly.
     She stood rigidly for a minute then went to make herself a cup of coffee, something she felt she needed, and something she had come to worship in the past years. As Shaye sipped her strong black brew, the doorbell sounded. "Guests, why must they always come so damn early?" Shaye asked the air as she went to open the door. It was Griffen, looking worried and fidgety in the early morning light. "Oh, it is the fairy." Shaye said, opening the door to the fairy.
     "Nice to see you, too." Griffen said. He cast one final wary glance over his shoulder as Shaye closed the oak door behind him.
     "Excuse me, I only had two hours of sleep, unlike some of those around here." Shaye said, casting a look at Griffen, who looked well rested and fresh.
     "Fairies are beings of light." Griffen smiled. "We don't bide time well in the dark, unlike some of us here."
     Shaye sighed and rolled her eyes. It was starting to look like she should have spiked her coffee with something. "What do you want? This isn't a good time to be pissing me off."
     "Simple, the Elders want help in catching whatever took Trisha. It's scaring them, and should be scaring you, too, Shaye."
     "So, it's whatever now, not whoever." Shaye said, a trace of a smile gracing her lips. Griffen frowned.
     "Shaye, this is serious. Whatever's out there could be a threat to all of us. You're the best at this sort of thing, finding people, tracking, killing. It's not our thing, our magic doesn't allow us to do such tasks, you know that."
     "I don't work for free." Shaye said. "They should know that, what's in it for me? 'Cause I can simply run, I'm very good at disappearing, Griffen."
     "The Elders have arranged payment. 3.5 million when you've finished the job, expenses will be taken care of and your motives won't be questioned. Should you chose to back out during the job, you will not receive a penny."
     "Hmm, reasonable. But the price may be subject to change, tell them that, 'cause my neck ain't worth a measly 3.5 mill." Shaye said. "I work alone, and if I need help, I'll ask for it. Got that? No people coming in and telling me they're on my team, no one coming in to check up on me, to see my progress, none of the bullshit. Hear me? None."
     "I'll deliver the message." Griffen said. "So, how did your bit yesterday go?"
     "Couldn't have been better." Shaye smiled. "Went off without a hitch, the place went up with a bang to be envied. So, bye-bye baby."
     "I guess that's why the Elders want you. How many successful jobs have you done?"
     "God only knows." Shaye said. "I've been working on them for nearly eight hundred and twenty years, I was seventeen when I started fighting and offing people. I'm the world's oldest and best hit woman."
     Griffen was doing the math in his head. "Dear God, Shaye! You're eight hundred and thirty-seven!"
     "Amazing, isn't it? I try not to think about it too much." Shaye shrugged. Age and time meant nothing to her anymore, they were empty threats.
     "Wow, our Elders are ancient when they hit three hundred, and they usually croak then. I wonder if they know how old you are?"
     "Prolly, if they've done their homework." Shaye said, pouring herself another cup of coffee. "Griffen, do they have any idea what this thing is or am I starting blind?"
     "You're starting blind, my dear, unless the Elders have something to tell you that the rest of us don't know. They've kept the home exactly as it was found, so you can rummage through that to see if you can find anything, but it was gone over about a hundred times with magic, I doubt anything was missed."
    "They could have missed the smallest thing askew that will solve the case, or at least give me a hint of what I'm looking for."    Shaye smiled wanly. "Things cannot be brushed aside so quickly until they've been put under the test by my majicks."
     Griffen sighed and shook his head. He knew that Shaye was stubborn, and refused to believe anything until she had seen or done it for herself, and she was right about things 99% of the time, so, what she said went. The investigation of the kidnapping would hopefully be over in a matter of days, weeks, the longest, if all went well. Shaye was good at what she did, able to see the smallest thing that could be overlooked or missed completely by the most careful investigator, and her tracking skills were fine tuned to near perfection. She was also a hit woman who, once she decided to off someone, no amount of magic or manpower or modern technology could save them.
     "If you'll excuse me, Griffen, I need to shower and get a few more hours of shut eye before this whole fiasco begins. Then I prolly won't get an hour of rest." Shaye said.
     "Huh? Oh, yeah, see ya later, girl." Griffen said, snapping out of his train of thought. He showed himself to the door. After Griffen left, Shaye put her half full coffee cup in the sink and went to shower. She knew that she wouldn't be getting anymore sleep, there had been a slight possibility before Griffen came, even a little after, but at the news of the fairy Elders needing her, sleep was all but impossible.
     She went to the bathroom and ran the shower as hot as she could stand it. Stripping out of her clothes, Shaye got under the shower head and just stood there, letting her mind drift away from the thoughts of the upcoming investigation. "Just when I think I'll have some time to myself." Shaye sighed. "God, I miss Merlin."
 

 
     It was a large Victorian style house, very richly decorated, nothing out of the ordinary to the mortal eye, but to fairies, it was a strong safe house the nothing had been able to penetrate, until yesterday. Shaye walked in through the front door, looking for anything that might help her. Maybe Griffen had been right, maybe there was nothing that she could find to help her and she'd be flying blind. Everything was where you'd expect it to be in a teenager's room. Bras and other assorted underwear littering the floor and hanging from different knobs, articles of clothing scattered to the four winds, and other items that were too numerous to name covered the floor in a weird carpet that only a teen can live with. It all seemed almost too perfect.
     "Something had to be left behind." Shaye said to the large bedroom where Trish had supposedly been staying. Shaye closed her eyes and entered a trace.
     "God! Get away from me!"
     "Shut up!" A hand flew through the darkness and struck something, a loud flesh on flesh sound was heard, followed by a loud scream of pain and terror. "Come on, fairy, I ain't got all day."
      Shaye felt herself roughly dragged out of bed by a pair of hands, cased in leather gloves, towards the door. The attacker let out a hiss of pain as a splinter of wood bit into his thigh, drawing "Blood!" Shaye yelled, her eyes snapping open. Just enough to help, but not enough to be detected. She crouched by the door frame and, sure enough, a splinter of wood no larger than a small needle was darker than its mates. Her eyes sparking with glee over the find, Shaye carefully selected the splinter and dropped in into a small baggie.
     "As lucky as we were?" a fairy named Quincy asked as Shaye came out of the house. "I guess the all powerful is stuck."
     "Fuck you, Quince." Shaye smiled. "Tell the Elders I got something, and from now on, I'm on my own."
     Shaye walked into a thicket and spread her wings. It was three in the morning, so she had flown. Easier than trying to maneuver the boat. As she rose into the air, Shaye thought she glimpsed a pair of eyes, but they were gone when she blinked. Shaking her head and cussing her lack of sleep, Shaye quickly forgot the eyes and headed home. She'd grab a few hours of sleep then she'd look at the blood sample she'd found.
     Analyzing the sample was harder than Shaye had first thought. The blood was like nothing she'd ever seen before, the cells were still alive after all those hours out of the body. They kept reproducing when the old cells died, curious. "Unless..." Shaye said, reaching for a fresh slide and a pin. She jabbed her finger so a small pearl of blood welled on to her finger tip and pressed it to the slide. Shaye quickly slipped it under the microscope and gasped; her blood cells were behaving in the same way that the ones from the crime scene had. "Immortal." Shaye whispered. "But, what?" Shaye moaned and rested her face in her hands. Things would have been simple if this had been a mortal, or even a half mortal criminal, but immortal? It would be like tracking herself. "Of all the times, this bull fuck starts now."
    Still grumbling, Shaye rose and went to her liquor cabinet and poured herself a Scotch on the rocks, and downed it in a single gulp. She went to bed drunk that night, and slept very well for once, with no dreams to disturb her sleep.
     The next morning, Shaye found herself hanging over the toilet which was filled with yellow puke. She felt her gorge rise again and yakked out whatever remained in her stomach which, painfully, wasn't much. Groaning, Shaye slumped against the cold porcelain and flushed the toilet, draining away its vile contents. "Oh, shit." Shaye said, closing her eyes and pressing her forehead against the welcome coolness. She knew she had to get to work, but there was no way she'd be doing much today. Groaning and clutching her stomach, Shaye shuffled back to bed and stayed there for most of the day.
 
 

     "Immortal, I know that much." Shaye said. She was trying to get somewhere, she had revisited the scene when she woke up yesterday and the hangover had reduced to a bearable headache. Nothing else, no more trances, no more blood, no more anything. Basically, she was flying blind. Shaye had spent the last seven hours pouring over every book and note she had gathered over her long life, and nothing seemed to fit. The only possibilities she had found were that the criminal was a human made immortal from some majicks of some sort; the criminal was a god; or, thirdly, the criminal was what she was. The latter was fairly far fetched and highly unlikely.
     Standing up, Shaye stretched her sore muscles and tried to get feeling back in her butt, no matter how soft the chair, seven hours will always result in a numb ass. Not knowing what to do next, Shaye walked into the kitchen to fix herself a snack, and to ward off the temptation of drinking herself to sleep again. A frozen pizza went into the oven and Shaye had an idea. She picked up the phone and dialed Griffen.
     "Whozzis?" Griffen's sleep-clogged voice mumbled after the tenth ring, reminding Shaye that it was 2 a.m.
     "Shaye, listen, Grif, I might have something, get your ass over here."
     "Now? Shaye, it's 2 a.m.!"
     "Now." Shaye said, and slammed the phone down. She was very demanding sometimes, and this was one of those such times.
     When Griffen showed up, Shaye was munching thoughtfully on her pizza. "You'd better have something to call me at this hour." Griffen snapped as Shaye let him in.
     "I do, or, at least I hope I do. You're a big expert on parallel universes, start talking, boy."
     "It's 2:30 in the morning! Can't this wait?" Griffen whined. Shaye shrugged.
     "Fine, I'll give you my theory of what might have happened to Trish."
     "Shaye!"
     "We know she disappeared without a trace, something pretty difficult, but her kidnapper came through the wards of a safe house to get her, something impossible. Is it possible that the fabric of that separates us from another world was momentarily opened so Trish could be snatched?" Shaye had Griffen's attention.
     "I never though of that, but it is possible." Griffen said, getting out of his chair and starting to pace the room excitedly. "Yes, yes, it's too perfect! The safe house can be located by a weak spot in the fabric of the worlds and it could have been opened."   He stopped suddenly. "But that majicks been lost for centuries! And even if these people knew of it, it would take an almost impossibly strong being to work it."
     "Like me or Merlin." Shaye said quietly. She leaned against a wall and crossed her arms. "So, it is possible. Griffen, I need you to find out if the safe house is located near a weak spot or not, I have to do something. I'll be back in a few days. Everything's in the study."
     "Where are you going?"
     "Home." Shaye said, bounding up the stairs to get the few items she would take with her. Griffen looked after her curiously as she disappeared up the stairs.
 
 

     Shaye's vision was clouded by tears as she landed in a forgotten part of England. She was home; the caves where she had lived with Merlin when the wizard was still alive. Strong majicks kept the area hidden, and impossible to find, and with it, it kept all the records of Camelot in its heart. With a heavy heart, Shaye entered the caves which looked like they were still lived in.
     "Nothing is ever lost." Shaye told the cave as she went to a large wooden trunk. Inside were all the majicks and spells that were thought to be lost, the ones forgotten, and the ones too terrible to be released on Earth. Biting her lip, Shaye opened knelt in front of the trunk and opened it. The smell of ancient papers and books rose up to meet her, a comforting smell. "Well, lets see how long this takes me."
     Six hours later, Shaye found what she was looking for; the spell that opened the way to other worlds. She was the last person on Earth who was strong enough to work this majick, and she had had every intention to never use it, until now. Closing the trunk again, Shaye went to her chambers to sleep before the flight back to Canada.
She slept better than she though she would; the soft feather bed smelled of lavender and the goose down covers and pillows smelled fresh, like someone had been expecting her and washed them. Thankfully, no dreams came to Shaye as she slept in the one truly lost part of the world. The next night, Shaye would fly with the crawling darkness.
      Before she left, Shaye took a few items from the cave; a beautiful scarlet cloak, a dark green gown with a low square neck line, a gold circlet for her head, and a fine gold chain with the symbol for power on it. She carefully stowed them in a leather bag and put the chain around her neck. Shaye was smiling as she left, she loved running with the night, it felt right to her.
     "Where were you?" Griffen demanded as Shaye strode into the house.
     "I went home." Shaye answered. She set the pack down and took out the ancient leather book she had taken from the chest.
     "What the hell is that?"
     "Some of the lost majicks of this world." Shaye smiled weakly. "It would have been better if it had remained that way."
 Griffen looked at her dumbly. "Where did you get this?"
     "Before he died, Merlin had been trusted with them, they still remain there, lost, like the majesty of Camelot."
     "Shaye, I think it's time you explain a little of your early life to me." Griffen sighed, sinking heavily into a nearby chair.
     "I don't know what I am, if that's what you wanted to hear, even Merlin couldn't guess. He told me many times of how I came to be; I just appeared one day, no others like me. The only rational explanation at the time was that I was an angel sent by God above to protect the people of Earth. I stopped believing I was a protector when I was about 13 and I had started to fight and even to kill. No angel of the Lord would be able to perform such ugly tasks.
     "Merlin didn't toy with the idea of the fabric or time or worlds tearing, it was new knowledge to us, and he didn't fully understand it at the time. When he learned more about it, he declared that it was too dangerous to test the theory that I was from another place, the casting of the spell might open doorways we would have no way of closing, therefore letting in creatures from other planets. I agreed with him, and started to believe him when he told me I was an Arch Angel, an angel of power and beauty. It made sense, it still does.
     "When Merlin died, I left our home, sealing the caves with majicks too strong to be broken except by me, and in doing so, I also left the majicks we had gathered over the years. It wasn't that hard to leave them, really, they were too dangerous to toy with, and could end life as we know it if they should fall into the wrong hands. Possibly our biggest error was in thinking that other worlds with the same knowledge would treat it in the same respect.
     "I swore to myself, and to Merlin, that I would never use these majicks. It looks like I may have to break that promise to find some answers, if not of Trish, but of me."
     Griffen sat quietly after Shaye finished her story, absorbing the information and thinking about what she had said. When he looked at Shaye again, she was sitting in her chair, staring at nothing and playing with a gold chain around her neck. "Why didn't you trust this knowledge over to our elders? It could have been studied and labeled accordingly."
     "Don't you see? It was already studied as far as something with its power could be safely studied. Merlin and I worried for the safety of those around us, it wasn't and still isn't safe to dabble with this majick."
     "It could have been recorded, used to prevent disasters!"
     "It could have ended the Earth." Shaye said quietly. "Griffen, the majicks are best lost, and are safe where they are. It is best that I am the only living soul who knows their whereabouts, and it is best that I am the only one to possess their knowledge because I know I can handle them."
     "How can you be so sure?"
     Shaye closed her eyes and hung her head. "Because of what I am, immortal. I can handle things that could destroy Earth and I can reign powers that could cause mankind to spiral into insanity."
     "God, Shaye, I can't believe how ignorant you're being!" Griffen yelled, jumping to his feet. Shaye slowly raised her head, her eyes narrowed to dangerous slits and her lips pulled away from her teeth in a snarl.
     "I can't believe have dense you are being, Griffen. Your people can't protect these majicks, hell, they can't even protect a girl!" Shaye hissed. "Get out of my sight."
     "Shaye-"
     "Go!" Shaye bellowed, leaping from her chair. Griffen flew from the house in a blur of blonde hair and khaki pants. Shaye watched him go, seething with anger and hate for the ignorance of the fairies.
     Slamming the book on the table, Shaye screamed the words to a spell that would keep her home safe from anyone or anything that meant to take the book. Still in a rage, Shaye stormed up the stairs to bed.
     She wasn't in a better mood the next morning, either. Still muttering about how dense fairies were, Shaye stomped downstairs to pour her ritual cup of coffee before beginning the days work. She flopped into one of her favorite chairs in the study and went to work.
     Before her left, Griffen had managed to find a map of where weak spots in the barriers between worlds existed. A large red area was shaded right where the supposed 'safe house' was located. Sighing, Shaye leaned back in the chair and put her face in her hands. This wasn't what was supposed to happen, the kidnapper should have been a feirie male who wanted to marry Trish and took her by force from the house, not something that was forcing her to mess with majicks that the world hadn't seen in centuries. "Maybe I should just go back to the caves and stay there for a few centuries." Shaye said to the empty room. "No, that would just tell them that I failed, that I'm a coward who can't find a simple girl. I gotta stick to it." She looked around the room and let out a scream of frustration. "Merlin! Why did you have to leave me?" Shaye screamed, knotting her hands through her hair. There was, of course, no answer from the wizard, there usually never was.
     Slamming in the book shut with a satisfactory 'bang', Shaye left the study and went to the kitchen. She needed something to eat, something a little more solid than chocolate, coffee, and frozen pizza. Chicken fingers would do nicely. "Bless the man who invented frozen ready to cook foods." Shaye said, popping her breakfast into the oven. She leaned against the counter to wait, and to think.
     She had sworn to Merlin before he died that she would never use the majicks unless her life or the lives of others depended on it, and even then, it was a really last resort effort. The majicks had been lost for years, and some in their collection weren't even thought to exist or were deemed to terrible to want to bring into existence. Shaye's brown furrowed in concentration and she thought about the possibility of  another place being involved, and possibly her find answers about herself.
     The possibility of someone or something having worked through the fabric of space and time as awesome. It proved that there was another place that held majicks, and knew how to use them. The question of the usage of this power was another matter though. Merlin, and Shaye, had assumed that since they decided to keep the majicks hidden, that others with the same knowledge had decided to do the same. Know, suppose they had decided to hide the majicks, why had they been taken into play now and in this way? Was it to attract attention, or to cause panic and possibly war? Had the majicks been stolen from their keepers or had the keepers will weakened or had they been forced to use the majicks? All of these were possible, and the questions left by them were far more frightening than Shaye wished to think of right now. If the majicks had indeed been used to cause chaos, Shaye would give them what they wanted, and she wouldn't rest until the title Arch Angel was forever etched into their history books.
 
 

     A week later Shaye still hadn't heard from Griffen, or from the other fairies, she thought it safe to think that Griffen hadn't tattled on her, and was quietly brooding at home. During the week, Shaye had been making plans and preparations for her journey. The Angel would fly come midnight of that night. As Shaye carefully wrapped the clothing she had taken from the caves, Griffen walked into the room.
     "What do you want?" Shaye demanded. Seeing Griffen, she almost regretted her harsh tone. Griffen looked like he hadn't slept all week, his fine blonde hair was matted and hung limply around his pale face, dark circles hung under his bloodshot eyes and his usual proud posture was slumped.
     "I came to see if you were, or had, gone through with this."
     "Still hoping I'll see the light and turn all the majicks over to your elders?" Shaye snapped, feeling the rage wash over her again. Her earlier pity for the fairy was gone.
     "Hoping, yes, but believing you will do so, no." Griffen said, a pitiful smile playing his lips.
     "Why did you come?"
     "Always questions, never answers?" Griffen chuckled. "I came because I wanted to see if the all powerful could work this majick."
     Shaye narrowed her eyes. "I can and I will. Stay, if you like. Just stay out of my way and don't touch anything!"
     "Ah, the Arch Angel shall fly again!" Griffen announced. "She will take one last stab at regaining her lost glory; striking fear into the hearts of mortal and majick folk alike!"
     "Silence!" Shaye bellowed. She didn't strike Griffen, it would have been a waste of energy, the fairy was giggling madly at her anger. Muttering a cure under her breath, Shaye turned back to her packing. Despite her anger, she still tucked everything away with great care and love.
     "Hoping you'll find someone like you?" Griffen taunted.
     "Partly." Shaye said, keeping her back to him. "You really didn't believe that I would stay here forever, did you? With a bunch of mortals and fairies? You people bore me, you offer me no challenge. You pretend to be scared of nothing, yet when something messy comes up, it's always me they call, Shaye, who will get us out of everything we fuck up." Thankfully, Griffen remained quiet until Shaye finished packing.
     "You're really not doing this, are you?"
     "Of course I am. You're paying me to find a girl, right? Well, that's what I'm doing, and trust me, my price has gone up." Shaye said, swinging the leather pack over her shoulder and fastening the sheath onto her hip. "Though, I don't know if I'll come back to collect, maybe I'll just stay wherever it is I wind up."
     "You're insane."
     "No, I'm doing what no one else has the guts or the means to do." Shaye said, putting her hand on the legendary Escallaber she wore at her hip. Griffen made a sound of annoyment in his throat as Shaye brushed past him and out the door.
     Standing with her feet a small way apart, Shaye cleared her throat and began the chant. She had prepared all the necessary items for the spell ahead of time.
Griffen watched the sorceress work her majick and glared. She was keeping things from his people that could be studied, used for good. Instead, they were sitting in a moldy cave somewhere gathering dust and slowly being forced from memory and legend alike.
     As Shaye opened the wormhole, she felt a stab of fear. For one of the few times in her life, she didn't know what was coming. Taking a deep breath, she reminded herself who she was, and jumped.
 
 

     Shaye woke up in a cave similar to the one she had shared with Merlin centuries ago. In fact, is was identical to the cave she had shared with Merlin. It scared her a little before the feeling of failure washed over her. All she had managed to do was transport herself here. "Well, better than being suspended in-between worlds." Shaye told herself as she got out of bed. Walking to the cave mouth and looking out brought a 'what the fuck' to her lips.
     She wasn't on Earth anymore, that was certain. Four small suns trailed one another across the sky, knights sitting tall of battle horses rode under her, great winged beasts flew across the sky and others scurried across the land. Shaye felt a surge of success flood through her body. Smiling, she touched the sword on her hip and spread her wings, it was time the Angel flew.
     The castle where King Author had once lived still stood proudly on it's mountain, overlooking the lush valleys and rolling hills surrounding it. Shaye took care to fly high enough so if someone should look up, they would think she was a large bird circling. Hearing a low growl behind her, Shaye turned in the air and stifled a scream.
A dragon about the size of a large horse flew behind her, it's gold-green eyes glared at her. In a voice that sounded like boulders striking one another, it spoke, "What do you want in this land?"
     At first, Shaye was too stunned to speak. "I come for a girl who was taken from her home."
     "An amateur magician trying her powers!" the dragon crowed, "be gone, little girl, there is not place for you here."
 Shaye scowled at the beast, searching for a way to make it shut it's over grown mouth. Then, she saw it; a large emerald on a gold chair around the beast's neck. "Amateur, I am not." Shaye said, and drove at the gem. The beast let out a howl of rage as Shaye took it's finery, and dove towards the earth. Knowing the beast would give chase, Shaye dipped, turned, dove, and rose, her strong wings beating the air. Laughing merrily, Shaye skimmed the surface of the rock where her cave was found, and skipped along the boulders surrounding the gorge where many men had met their fate, all the time with the beast in pursuit.
     "I tire of this!" Shaye announced, landing on the edge of the cliff. The beast set down several yards away from her. "The little magician outran the beast!"
     "Who are you?" the dragon demanded. It rested on its hind legs, reminding Shaye of a raptor.
     "I was dubbed Arch Angel." Shaye laughed. "A little magician I am not, I assure you of that."
 The dragon looked at her closely and shook it's head. "Poor thing, we thought your kind had died out centuries ago." Shaye started and looked into the beasts eyes, almost urging it to continue. "Maybe they did manage to get one of you to safety, though it was doubtful right from the beginning, we all knew your kind was doomed to extinction."
     "What do you mean, my kind?" Shaye asked the beast.
     Smiling, the dragon bowed it's head. "I am Fly, possibly we can help each other."
     "I'm listening." Shaye said, frowning a little.
     "You want history, I want a future. Our pasts were entwined, I think we can help each other." Fly said, looking Shaye over.  "What is your name, little one?"
    "Shaye."
     "You must not live around here, Shaye, I have not seen you before."
     "I don't." Shaye sighed. "But, I guess I do, come, you're welcome."
     Fly smiled and followed Shaye into her cave. "A wizard's home, I'm surprised, little Shaye."
     "Don't be." Shaye said, dropping into a chair. "What do you know about my people and what about us being entwined?"
     Fly settled himself on a woven carpet and looked around the room. "Your people were brave, the best warriors we knew, we lived together in peace, until they came. They killed off your race, but it looks like your kin some how survived. How else could such a young woman be with us today? The king will be thrilled to meet you."
     "I'm not that youthful, Fly." Shaye laughed. "I was 17 when I stopped aging, that was eight hundred and twenty years past." The dragon blinked in surprise.
     "Eight hundred and thirty seven? Amazing. You were a babe when the wars raged here. How did you survive them?"
     "Someone opened the fabric of space and time and sent me to another place, Earth, and I was raised by Merlin, the greatest wizard in history in the mythical time of King Author and the knights of the round table." Shaye smiled proudly. "People around me who knew what I am assumed I was an angel expelled from the Heavens above."
     "Naive." Fly shook his head. "Yet, it was to be expected. The majicks used were new at the time, and have been lost ever since, they died with your people."
     Shaye frowned and toyed with the dragon's gem. "Why do you seem so heart broken? It's not we were kin."
     "In a way, we were, and still are. You see, our kind lived together, expelled from so-called 'normal' life because of what we are. We fought many battles together, your kind would train us to be fighting beasts, and would ride us into battle. We were friends."
     "Friends." Shaye laughed. "I thought I had friends in a people, now I see I was wrong."
 Fly looked wisely at Shaye. "But it would be an honor to befriend the last known member of your clan. There are none more trustworthy and loyal than our species. Apart, we are strong, together, we are unstoppable."
     Shaye smiled. "Together we are unstoppable."
 
 

     Fly watched Shaye spiral into the sky, her coppery hair reflecting the dying light from the suns as she rose. It had been an interesting week, a dragon and an Earth Angel, together again. What neither had accounted for was the other being equally as stubborn what they were. Though, Fly had to admit, Shaye wasn't the little magician he expected her to be, she was strong, and she knew what she was doing. He hadn't expected her to be able to fight, but she had proved him wrong when an unfortunate sole tried to rape her.
     "Something wrong?" Fly shook his head and saw that Shaye had landed on the rocks beside him.
     "No, no, little one." Fly smiled. Shaye sighed, he knew she disliked being called 'little one', but he liked to bother her. "My people would be very happy to see us together."
     "Not yet, I still have things to do." Shaye said, disappearing into the cave. Fly still wasn't entirely sure what kind of work Shaye had to do, she never told him and refused to take him on her flights.
     Sighing, Shaye closed the heavy wooden door to her room and looked at the papers strewn across the room. The only thing she had found out about Trish was that there was someone on this planet that possibly knew about the majicks needed to pass into another world. No one knew if this person existed, though, or, if he did, where. Shaye flopped on the bed and closed her eyes to think. If this person did exist, they probably lived in the mountains, away from people and other beings. This was acting on what Merlin had taught her so many years ago, and it made sense when you looked at it. Majickal being usually liked privacy, and usually lived far away from other people and beings so they couldn't be bothered. The problem was, where in the mountains? Caves came by the hundred in mountains, and the person she was tracking could be anywhere.
     "No more waiting time, I start tracking tomorrow." Shaye said, rolling onto her stomach. "I've wasted enough time already, and I was sent for Trish."
     In a few minutes, she was asleep.
 
 

     The next morning, Shaye was up with the sun, preparing for her journey. When she was packed, she roused Fly. "Come, we have work to do, I'll tell you on the way."
     "Where are we going?"
     "The mountains, that's where I want to go, I hope." Shaye said, leaping into the air and soaring into the sky, with Fly close behind.
     "Why are we going there?"
     "I was sent to find a girl, I'm working. The fairies of my Earth put me in charge of finding one of theirs that was kidnapped several weeks ago, and I think this is where she was taken."
     "Fairies?" Fly frowned. "You work with their kind?"
     "Not willingly, sometimes. They can be ignorant and rather annoying." Shaye said, thinking of Griffen's reaction to her having the lost majicks. "I'd rather not say anything more about it."
     "As you wish." Fly said, and fell silent for the rest of the trip, and for that, Shaye was grateful.
     The mountains rose majestically out of the rolling landscape, rising high above the towering trees. Shaye drew a breath at the sight of them, so wild and free, she already loved them. "How can something evil reside here?" Shaye asked quietly. Fly didn't seem to hear her, because he didn't answer.
     "We should camp on the plateau tonight." Fly said, ignoring Shaye's protests of camping in a clearing she had seen. "We don't know what to expect, it would be better to spend on night in a safe place before immerging ourselves in the forest."
     "Fine." Shaye scowled, giving in to the dragon. Fly cast a sideways glance at her and set down on the flat stone where they would camp.
     "One can never fully know what to expect out here." Fly said, looking up at the night sky. The blazing start formed patters Shaye couldn't begin to guess, and three fat moons slowly made their way across the sky. Shaye didn't answer, she had fallen into a sullen silence since Fly had ignored her requests to camp among the trees. She didn't care what he said, once the dragon fell asleep that night, she would sneak away and do a little exploring, she wasn't a little girl anymore, and she could take care of herself.
     When she was sure the dragon was asleep, Shaye silently took to the sky, and headed for the forest. She wasn't stupid, she was carrying a few weapons incase she met with trouble. "Such mystery, such beauty, it's like the song of a siren." Shaye said to herself as she soared about the tree tops. She selected an open glen to land in, somewhere where she was sure there was nothing to surprise her.
     "Intruder!" a shrill voice rang out as soon as Shaye touched a blade of grass. Her feet were no sooner planted then a cloud of colors descended upon her.
     "Bug off!" Shaye screamed, swatting at the darting lights. She beat her wings at them, hoping to drive them off, but more kept coming from every direction.
     "Trespasser!" the lights shrilled at her as they dived at her, pricking her with tiny swords, and pulling at her hair and clothing. Shaye screamed and drew her own sword, Escalaber, and wielded it at the darting lights. All movement suddenly ceased. Shaye looked around furiously, like she was daring one to dive at her again, now that she had her bearings.
     "Let's get this clear, I don't like rules." Shaye hissed, turning in a slow circle.
     "You have Escalaber." a tiny voice said. Shaye spun and looked at a pink light that had floated closer to her. "It has been lost for centuries."
     "What are you talking about? I've had it all along!" Shaye snapped. The pink light drew closer to her yet, and looked into her eyes.
     "And you have the wings of a bird of prey, we thought you were extinct."
     "I'm the last one." Shaye was racking her brain to figure out what these tiny creatures were, and how she might beat them, if it came to that. "Who are you, and want do you want?"
     "She travels with a dragon, I have seen them together, but her wings were hidden." a blue light said, slowly circling Shaye's head. "If I had only known who she was."
     "Who are you?" Shaye screamed. She had lost what little patience she had had with the little balls of light.
     "We're pixies." a yellow light said, floating over to hover in front of Shaye's face. Shaye could almost see a smug smile on its face.
     "Pixies." Shaye repeated. "That's one thing I asked you, now, what do you want with me?"
     The lights gathered into a large, pulsing multi-colored ball and silently moved away. Intrigued, Shaye followed them deeper into the forest. She passed fallen trees that had stood longer than she had lived, ice cold streams of bluish-green water, large boulders that time would never forget and caves that had mouths looking like the entrances to hell.
     "Where are we?" Shaye asked when the lights stopped. They were in the middle of a long-forgotten temple. Vines and other plants curled around the marble and tiers lay on the ground.
     "Your city, your inheritance." the pixies said together. Shaye looked around in awe, there had been others, many others, and they had left her their legacy.
     "What happened to them?" Shaye asked. She glanced back at her pint-sized companions only to find that they all had vanished. Frowning, Shaye shook her head and turned back to the ancient city. It was amazing, her history was here.
     Folding her wings neatly behind her, Shaye stepped onto the stone platform of the city. She was finally home.