"You will not see anything, and you will be on your way." she hissed, knowing what is was the men were about. Her sword raised and its blade reflected the sunlight. The one holding the sword made it dangerous, and her eyes began to get red as she glared at them. An anomaly no one could explain. When anger took her, her eyes changed to red.

The first man narrowed his eyes. "Fine," he said. "We shall not give you anymore trouble." He turned to walk away. His companions gathered around him immediately. "What are you doing?" One whispered to him. "That girl matches our client's description!" The first man turned to him. "Give it time, my friend. Give it time." He whispered.

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She didn't trust them. She turned back to Holly, speaking quietly. "We must change your name, and we leave this town. Now." she grabbed Holly's hand and led her at a brisk walk to the inn where they collected their things and slipped out the back door. She handed Holly one of her new cloaks. "Put the hood down as far as it will go over your face." she led her silently out through the woods. "Your new name will be Laurel, and I will call you that only when we are in public. You must respond to that name, no matter what. I cannot stress that enough." she whispered.

Holly did as she was told. "What happened Lairiel? What did they say? What did they...?" She fell into silence, her eyes wide. "They wanted me didn't they?" Her bottom lip trembled, although Lairiel couldn't see. "Lairiel...Maybe it is best you leave me now. I don't want you to get hurt. I don't want to ruin your life..."

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"Holly!" she said in a harsh whisper "Stop that nonsense this instant." she gripped Holly's hand tighter as they went. She had vowed to protect her and train her. She was going to do just that.

"Lairiel, you are amazing, but you are putting your life on the line. I love you for it. I just don't want to see you get hurt.." she squeezed Lairiel's hand gently.

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"My dear, I've faced far worse than this. My life has been on the line ever since I became a ranger." she sent Holly a crooked grin before suddenly stopping and clapping her hand over Holly's mouth. She dragged them both down to the ground and she looked through the trees. She caught Holly's gaze and put a finger to her lips to signal her to remain completely quiet as she took her hand away. They were well hidden by the brush, camouflaged by their cloaks. A group of men passed by, and Lairiel waited until they were well past, remained perfectly still. Then she grabbed Holly's hand again, and brought her finger to her lips once more. No more talking, she communicated with her eyes. She went at a fast pace in a different direction.

Holly frowned deeply. Her uncle was a powerful man. He was a mage and was slowly working himself up the chain. He practiced dark magic. Holly had been his guiney-pig for some of his spells and potions. When Holly wasn't being experimented on she was his personal punching bag and his own personal entertainment. "I am a distant uncle remember..." He had said. "This isn't wrong. You deserve this Holly." He had told her. And for the most part she believed him. Maybe she had been bad in a past life.

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She noticed Holly seemed distracted and gave her hand a tug. "Don't think about it, whatever it is. It leaves you vulnerable." she sent a warning look over her shoulder that was kind, but stern. Her voice was barely audible.

Holly nodded to her, pasting a smile upon her face. She peered out from under her hood watching for anyone coming their way. She wondered where they were going to go now. If anything Holly just felt a stronger pull to become a ranger. Then she would go back and show her uncle what was right and what was wrong.

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Lairiel kept up the pace, hoping Holly wasn't tiring. They neede to make as much ground as possible against those men. Once it was late afternoon, Lairiel finally stopped "We may talk, but do it quietly. We are not quite out of the hot water." she took Holly to a spot she had just seen, it sat in a small dip in the land. Brush and trees surrounded it quite nicely.

She sat down, not risking making a fire. The day was growing later and she tossed some food to Holly, who thanked her and she nodded. After a bit, she looked at the sky, which was quickly darkening. "You need sleep, I'll keep watch." Holly set up her bed and was soon asleep, exhaustion had taken over even her dreams. Lairiel watched her as she slept, longing to smoke her pipe, but knowing it could give them away.

Again Holly's dreams were haunted by her uncle. The three men from earlier even featured in her dream. Who were they? She had not seen them before. Perhaps her uncle was employing muscle now. Was he becoming scared or worried? Scared that Holly could be becoming stronger as her disappearance grew longer?

As soon as the sun was in the sky Holly sat up. "I am sorry," she said. "I have slept too long and left you no time to rest. Please sleep and I shall keep watch." She said to Lairiel.

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Lairiel smiled "It is no bother. I wouldn't be able to rest anyway." she got up, gathering their things. "We must be off." she said cheerfully. Only when they were well on their way did she light her pipe. "Your sleep was restless." she said to Holly.

Holly walked by Lairiel's side. She glanced round at her statement. "I'm sorry," she winced slightly. "I have not had a peaceful sleep for quite some time. Did I disturb you?" She asked apologetically, frown lines appearing on her forehead.

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"No, you did not disturb me, although we will work at putting your fears to rest." her gaze remained ahead of them as she spoke. She puffed her pipe furiously.