First FanFic! No flames please. This story has some mature content and is not recommended for people under the age of sixteen. If you are easily offended, please move on. Thanks!

Kyrahm held up his hand, "Stop" was all he said to the men behind him. Something or someone had brushed up against his mage-shields, and in the middle of a forest, that usually meant trouble. From the back of his mare, Kyrahm swiftly glanced at the shrubbery along the road, then the trees. The bushes pressed themselves upon the road creating a sea of green around him, and the trees above made him feel as if he were under that sea rather in the middle of a forest. The dusty path before and behind him was the only change from the green surrounding him. He couldn't even see the sky above him. His eyes flicked from tree to tree trying to pick out any detail that did not belong. He couldn't say why, but his eyes kept drifting to the huge goldenoak slightly behind him. It was almost as if the tree was watching him.

Rhyanna watched the men pass below her perch high in her favorite tree. This goldenoak had been here for centuries longer than she had, and it was the pride of the forest. She gazed intently at the men below. They were certainly not on a pleasure jaunt. They'd been roaming through her forest for nearly three days now. They didn't seem lost, so what was keeping them here? There were five of them. All dressed in a deep scarlet and black with golden hunting cat device stitched or painted onto their clothing and armor. She'd never seen men like this anywhere near her home, but something about them kept tugging at her memory.

The man in front was defiantly the leader. The other four were bodyguards of some sort. Two of those guards were hulking brutes with broadswords across their backs. The third was a slight man with a short sword strapped to his packs and a bow over his shoulder. The last man had an almost oily feel to him. His eyes seemed to shift constantly, almost as if he was expecting to be caught at any time. Assassin. Ryanna had seen his like before and knew to stay well away. All of them wore full armor each with a helm that suited his style. The black metal was almost beautiful to look at and it only made the scarlet surcoats more vivid. The man in front wore no armor at all, and the only weapon he carried was the knife in his boot. He seemed harmless, probably a merchant, but she couldn't help but stare at him.

He was absolutely incredible to look at. His hair was of the deepest black and fell in languous waves to his shoulder. So dark that it almost seemed to have blue highlights. His face was well shaped. Noble was what she'd call it. His chin came to a point rather than the square she saw on many fighters. His lips were thin, but not colorless. His skin was flawless and much lighter than the skin of his companions. Come to think of it, he probably did have noble blood in him somewhere. So what was he doing here?

When he gazed at something it was if he was measuring it, somehow weighting it in his mind as if he were either assessing its value or threat. Under it all there was something hidden. What it was Rhyanna could even begin to fathom, but it was as if there was some internal part of himself that he tried not to acknowledge. He was tall. Even though his horse was no larger than any of the others, he was at least a head taller than any of the other men.

Under the fine clothing, Rhyanna could tell that there were well-trained muscles. This man never wasted any movement. His hands held the reigns with an expert touch. She gazed at those hands. They held strength that was for sure and she would bet that under those gloves would be the same type of calluses that she'd seen on the hands of some of the trained fighters that had passed through her forest. Yet they held the reigns with a careless grace. He wasn't holding his horse too firm nor giving it too much headway. His fingers were long but not thin. Rhyanna could just imagine those fingers caressing her instead of the leather. Unconciously, the man reached down and gave his horse a pat. So, his horse was more that just a mode of transportation. That bode well. In her experiences with people in her forest, those who cared for their horses care more for their fellow man.

If this man was a merchant, none of this fit. No merchant that Rhyanna had met had kept himself in fighting trim, that's what the bodyguards were for, nor had he wandered back and forth through her forest for more than a day. The path through was well marked and kept clean, but there's an exception to every rule. Either way, she felt herself drawn to him in a way she couldn't understand. Even though they had traveled well away from her home, she still followed.

Rhyanna just sat amongst the leaves and watched him. Drawing upon her experiences from watching the world below her for nearly ten years. As the men finally began to move along the path, she slipped out from her hiding place among the hug leaves of her beloved tree and quickly made her way down to a branch that would take her to the next tree. A pine this time. She reached her hand out and caught the needles, crushing a few in her hand. With a quick jump she was making her way to the trunk of the tree. The smell of pine enveloped her and she breathed deeply once before she moved on.

Behind her the sun was quickly falling reminding her that she'd soon have to part ways with these men because they'd make camp and she still had chores to do even if there was a stranger with his entourage in her forest. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the calming air. The day was nearly over, but it had begun far too early with a mocker bird calling for a mate just outside her tree before dawn. The men began to slow as if they had spotted a place to set up camp for the evening. The man with the bow took off into the forest. She noted that he was headed north so she could give him a wide berth when she needed to go.

She settled herself into the fork of a nice maple tree, well hidden from the men just a few meters away, and just for practice, she invoked mage-sight and opened her eyes. No sooner had she done that, she was blinded by the brilliance the shields of the unarmored man. That's why he wasn't wearing armor; he had all the armor he needed in those shields. This was defiantly no merchant. She scolded herself for not checking her mage-sight days ago. This man had probably already sensed her presence, but she knew that the forest would hide her. Still, it could have been a serious mistake.

Fear warred with curiosity within her. She knew she should flee and hide until she knew he was gone, but she also knew that he wasn't going to leave until he found whatever it was that he'd been looking for and now that she knew that he was a mage she may be able to learn a thing or two from him. Curiosity won, Rhyanna sent a tiny probe towards his shields.

"Amazing," she whispered to herself.

There was layer upon layer of shields. Many of them were ones that she herself had never encountered before. Not that she was the most experienced of mages. Her mother had taught her the basics before she and her father had been killed, but since then er Hshe was entirely self-taught. Life was tough out here and when her parents were killed she was left to fend for herself. Most of what she'd learned was from watching mages as they passed through her forest, but none of them could even hold a candle to the power this man radiated.

Probing deeper, Rhyanna noted each type of shield he had, and how it appeared to be constructed. Passing by a pair of shields that worked together, one taking the brunt of whatever energy was thrown at it and feeding it to the layer underneath, Rhyanna began to investigate the final layer when suddenly her probe stuck. It was held fast. The man's head shot up as if someone had pinched him. He seemed to stare right at her hiding spot. In a panic, she severed the probe in a messy fashion and hoped he hadn't had the time to trace it. As soon as she had severed the link, the man rose and began coming towards her hiding spot. When he reached the tree, Ryanna felt that for sure she would be found. There were only a few times that she'd ever been spotted, but most of those where when she was much younger and much less experienced.

Rhyanna held her breath as the man stalked around her tree. He had yet to look up. Most people never thought to look up, and this man was no exception. Despite her fear, Rhyanna had to smile to herself. Such a simple thing to be overlooked so often. The man stalked around her tree and began looking in the forest beyond it. Afraid of him hearing her, Rhyanna simply took this time to watch him again. At this distance she could see that his eyes were a piercing deep blue. The seemed to command respect, but somehow they were cold and distant. They viewed everything objectively. As he came back around to her tree his brows furrowed in thought. He knew something was here but what it was he had yet to figure out. Then he looked up.

Rhyanna fled from her hiding spot heading deeper into the forest. She knew that the mage was aware of her now. How couldn't he be? She just hoped that the last spell her mother taught her would keep her safe yet again. As she drew energy she wove it into a deceptively simple spell and flung it about herself as she would as cloak. She moved on through the growing darkness of the forest.

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Kyrahm felt the probe nose around his shield. Odd, it wasn't testing them; it was looking at what they were. He let the probe work its way through his shields. He could have simply blocked it out, but some instinct told him not to. As it worked its way towards his physical self he caught the heady scent of the forest. The various blossoms mixed together with the sharp pine scent and fresh earth. It was if every part of the forest was surrounding him in a cocoon. It was, oddly comforting. Kyrahm had always loved the forest, the freedom of doing what he pleased with no one around to tell him where to go or how to act or dress.

Finally, the probe reached the final layer of his shields. This one was designed to snag a probe and hold the other mage long enough for him to reach through the probe and attack his opponent. He tensed as he felt the probe gingerly touch the last shield. Greens, from the bright yellow-green of new leaves to the deep brown-green of forest loam surrounded him. He was lost in the beauty of the colors and the scents. Now sounds reached his ears, and the whole world drifted away. He could no longer hear the restless shifting of the horses or the various creaks and chinks of the men behind him. No, he was listening to birdsong, carried to him on a fresh breeze. Even the rustle of the leaves above him joined in the song that was reaching his ears. It was all beautiful and seemed to last an eternity, but when his final shield caught the probe his world snapped back into place. There it was, behind him, but before he was able to do more that locate the other mage, the other mage snapped the link, leaving part of it behind. Kyrahm reached out to recapture the probe as it slipped through his magical fingers like a frightened wild animal. And like that wild animal it would leave a trail easy to read. The energy used to create the probe would linger and follow the mage who had used it as if that mage had a tiny thread attached to him. All Kyrahm had to was find and follow it.

That chore seemed to be harder than he thought. Whatever shields this mage had they were designed for concealment. With the probe gone it was harder to locate the actual mage. Harder, not impossible. His search started with the maple tree just behind him. He was sure that this was where the probe has originated from, but there were no prints. Not even a leaf or branch out of place. He widened his search, but found nothing. Going back to the maple tree, he stood for a moment looking for the presence of the mage once again. Then he looked up.

Kyrahm turned to his second. "Wait for me here."

"Sir?" the guard looked puzzled.

"I found it, and I'm going to follow it. There is a mage in this forest and from here on out I won't be needing you. In fact you'd be more of a hinderance than anything."

"Yes sir," the guard said crispy.

Kyrahm turned his horse around and invoked his mage sight. A whispy silvery-green mist covered everything. That was odd. It was if this entire forest was soaked with mage energy from the very plants and animals living in it. Again, that just made his search harder, not impossible. He was very well trained in mage-craft. Kyrahm gazed around himself. Usually, the remaining energy would light up, but with the entire forest "lit" he needed to find the thread of a different color.

Looking around him there was nothing. So Kyrahm dismounted and began to investigate the surrounding brush closer. It had to be here somewhere. He was so intent on his search that when a hawk screamed above him, he nearly jumped out of his skin. Looking up, Kyrahm cursed the animal until he saw where the bird had landed. There, on one of the larger limbs of a huge golden oak tree sat the bird and just below his talons was a strand of energy glowing a deep and vibrant green. Keeping his gaze above him, Kyrahm followed the line of energy, but when he reached the third tree, a towering pine whose lowest branches were long gone, the path ended. How could that be? How can a mage just 'shed" his energy?

Well, no matter how the mage did it, it had been done. Now all Kyrahm had to go on was his instinct. Shifting so that he was more comfortable in the saddle, Kyrahm closed his eyes and opened his shields. Again, the colors, scents, and sounds of the forest intruded bringing a sense of peace and devotion. Off in the distance he felt a spark of alarm as a hare was flushed from his hiding spot by some sort of predator. Kyrahm just let himself float and explore the forest around himself magically. There, towards the west, Kyrahm didn't know why, but something other than just good forestry drew him in that direction. Given the fact that the mage knew where it was going and he didn't and that he was already well behind, it was going to take him some time to locate this mage So with the sun dying a brilliant scarlet death, he set his heels lightly to his mount and they began to walk.

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"That was close. Silly girl, you should have left sooner." Ryhanna scolded herself, but a tiny voice peeped up.

"But you learned some valuable things, and not to mention he was very easy on the eyes."

She shook her head at those thoughts and dropped to the ground. Rhyanna had fled, not to her home, but to a small heated pool well away. Here she could hide and relax some of her tensions away. This pool was one of her favorite places. She'd cultivated it for years, coaxing the plants to grow in particular place and setting up barriers to keep the animals out. None of the barriers were magical. That was impractical, and she might as well hang a sign telling everyone that she had been here. No, they were purely physical. Some were plants that let of unpleasant scents to animals, others were poisonous to eat, and still others had thorns. Only Rhyanna knew the path through the bramble, and it wasn't likely that anything else was going to figure it out either.

The pool was almost egg shaped with a small finger of land that made it look as if the egg had cracked and separated the two halves of the pool forming a small waterfall at one end. The little waterfall let the hot water that bubbled up at the top to reach the bottom of the egg, and if she wanted to she could bathe without mucking up the entire pool.

At the narrow end, Rhyanna had coaxed a blossoming willow to grow so that its branches hung out over the water creating a small private area where Rhyanna could let the world slip away. In the spring there was beautiful white blossoms all over the drooping branches of the tree, but now that it was almost summer most of the blossoms had come and gone only to be replaced by the moss colored leaves. There were still a few lingering blossoms on the tree, but many of the remaining blossoms had fallen and now floated on the pool.

Between the edge of the pool and the bramble keeping unwanted visitors out, the ground was covered in various brushes and some flowering plants. Behind the brush there was a ring of trees. Some were old, others younger. All varying types as well. They looked perfectly natural until you noticed that they were in a perfect ring around the pool. Everywhere there was a plant, flower, or tree except for the little bit of land that extended into the pool. There she had planted mosses of all types, and right in the middle was a huge flat-topped stone. It was there, that she'd sit and let the sun dry her as she practiced her magic, and that was where she sat now.

She had already dove into the pool and relaxed away the fatigue of climbing through the trees in her escape as well as cleaning away the dirt she'd picked up along the way as well. The moon had risen giving Rhyanna enough light to see to comb her hair out using an old comb she'd taken with her long ago.

I should try to cut this, she thought to herself, there's really no point in keeping it this long. She regarded her chestnut curls with disdain, and set the comb to them. As much as she'd liked to have cut it off, she couldn't bear to. Her father had loved her hair, and that was all she could remember of him. He had just never come home one day. Her mother cried for days, and Rhyanna, being only seven at the time didn't fully understand what had happened. All she knew was that her daddy wasn't coming home.

As she combed through her hair, she thought of the man she watched today. Try as she might, she just couldn't turn her thoughts away from him. She couldn't even concentrate long enough to recreate more than one of his shields. She'd managed to work out how he'd been able to make a shield feed the one under it, but as soon as she'd figured that out, which hadn't taken her as long as she thought, she kept thinking about the man that had made the shield in the first place.

When she could run her fingers through her hair without catching them, she set the comb down, picked up a light shift to put on and lay down on the rock. She gazed into the water watching the moon rise on the pool, and tried once again to concentrate on her magic. One by one, she created her shields, molding them just so and then gently pushing them away from her body, so that they set like so. Once she had them set she let them dissipate and started over. This time the shields went wrong from the start. She just couldn't keep her mind off of that man. Frustrated, she picked up a rock near by and flung it into the pool. The splash sent ripples across the water distorting the reflections and sending miniature waves lapping against the banks.

Khyram knew he was getting closer. When he invoked his mage sight the "mist" of the forest defiantly had a deeper green to it, and he could feel the ripples in the energy telling him that someone was near by. He didn't even realize how close he was until he heard a soft splash just off to his right through the trees. He dismounted from his mare and tethered her to a low branch nearby so that she'd be able to reach the grass around her to keep her quiet. Silently he crept towards the trees lest a crack of a twig give him away. It wouldn't do to alert the mage to his presence.

When he reached the trees he paused for a moment to ready his shields. If he could catch the mage unawares, he would have a major advantage so in addition to his shields he readied a levin bolt and right on it's heels would be a binding spell. If possible he wanted this mage alive. Anyone who could stay hidden and survive in this forest may be worth recruiting if he wasn't already mad. Of course there would be coercions placed on such a mage, but still he would be a welcome addition.

Ready now, Kyrahm slid through the branches trying to disrupt them as little as possible. No sooner did he glance up from where he was placing his foot, that his gaze was captured by the most vibrant of green. Not an emerald green that all the poets and stories talked about. No, this was a deeper green full of emotions that he could only begin to understand. Unlike the swirling colors before, this green belonged to a pair of eyes that stared at him in startled surprise. Not but a two horse-lengths away sat a young woman dressed in naught by a simple, flimsy shift. Her chestnut curls flowed over her shoulder and down to the middle of her back. Her face had a sweet and sincere line to it, and looked more prone to laughter than anger. Her neck was long and graceful, and as Kyrahms gazed descended lower he began to blush. Her shift did not leave much to the imagination, but why he'd be so uncomfortable he couldn't understand. It wasn't as if he'd never seen a naked woman before. Granted she wasn't nude but close enough.

For a moment she just sat lay there, on one hip with an elbow propping her up and her other arm across her chest trying, unsuccessfully, to hide herself. Kyrahm just stood there staring at her. He had been expecting some wild man with manners to match, but here sat a most beautiful wood nymph of a woman. Since she was laying at somewhat of an awkward angle it was hard to tell how tall she was, but he imagined that she couldn't stand taller than his chest and she was a rather slight woman though he could tell that underneath that smooth skin lay well worked muscles. Her chest moved slightly with each breath she took, and that slight unconscious movement was more arousing that any paid professional's deliberate attempt could ever be. Sternly, he reminded himself that this was a wild mage no matter how beautiful she may seem, she could still be dangerous. As he came to that conclusion, he saw that she too had overcome her surprise, and her eyes now filled with fear and, oddly enough, a mixture of sadness and curiosity.

Before he could react, she dove into the pool. The blossoms that covered the surface hid her from view. He ran to the place where she dove in, but not even a ripple disclosed her position. Closing his eyes, Kyrahm dissipated his earlier spells and began to create a spell to hold everything in place.

"Wait you idiot, what if she's still underwater? She'd be dead before you found her," the sensible part of himself yelled.

"Too bad then. One more mage out of the way," his training argued back.

"Sorez would not be as pleased with a dead mage as a coecered one."

Kyrahm unwove the spell and sent the energies back into himself. He then removed his cloak, tunic, shirt, boots, and trousers, then dove into the pool himself. Just as the steam floating above the surface had promised, this pool was warm. Once he resurfaced, Kyrahm closed his eyes and let his senses once again take control. The air felt crisp on his face and this time it was blues and silver that surrounded his mind. Mingled in with the blues was the green he had seen a moment ago. Then he felt the spark of life that told him where his prey was.

Rhyanna hid herself among the branches of the willow. Fear swept her mind and left her cold. She knew she was trapped and it was only a matter of time before he found her again. She couldn't leave the pool because he'd see her and she knew that she could never hope to outrun a trained warrior. Nor did her magic stand a chance. He was much better trained than she was. Her mind raced, trying to think of some means of escape when she heard the splash into her pool. She slid towards the edge of the pool. If she could just reach it and run while he was still underwater she'd have a chance.

Kyrahm surfaced among the branches of the willow tree to see the girl sliding out of the water onto the embankment. Her shift was soaked and very transparent. With a quick movement Kyrahm slid behind her and as she went to stand he grabbed her delicate ankle. Unready for the touch she jumped and fell onto her stomach. From the pool there was no hiding the fact she was female. She jerked her leg trying desperately to get away. As she began to screa, he flung a silencing spell at her. Her eyes went wide as she realized what had happened. With a grin he pulled her back into the pool with him.

"Oh goddess! He's going to rape me!" her mind screamed. As he pulled her into the pool and against him, she could feel his hardness. Her body quivered in fear, her eyes wide and almost pupil. The man grinned as he pinned her arms at her sides by the sheer force of his embrace. He lowered his face towards hers. She stared into his eyes with fear coursing through vein in her body. As their lips met, his hand glided up her back to cup the back of her head. His other arm crushed her to him. His need was insistent and she was helpless to stop him. He trailed kisses along her neck and shoulder. Her body quivered again despite the heat of the pool.

Every thought in Rhyanna's mind stopped when he kissed her. She hadn't been kissed by man since her father had left and even then it had been nothing like this! Her fear of this man rose with every passing moment, but her body betrayed her. She had grown into a woman over the years and those needs she had never felt before began sweeping her body causing her to react to this man despite her fear. As his hand slid beneath the water to grasp her backside, she pressed her hips into him digging his hardness into her stomach.

His hands roamed where they willed once he realized she wasn't going to run away again. He moved his hand from perfectly curved backside, under her shift and up her back. Unable to control himself any longer he lifted her up and set her on the embankment then hoisted himself beside her. He laid her down onto the soft moss. The laces of her shift were soaked and impossible to undo and in his need he simply tore the garment down the front. The fabric gave easily and she lay beneath him with the scraps of fabric lying on either side of her. He gazed at her torso now bare and moved his undergarments to expose his hardness. He laid himself down upon her and gazed once more into her eyes.

There was no fear, only a deep and intense sadness. The green of her eyes had dulled nearly to a gray color. She closed her eyes and turned her face to the side. Her arms reached around him and her fingers traced the line of his spine sending shivers all over his back. His knees pushed her legs apart. She was wet and warm for him. He positioned himself so that he could thrust himself into her with all of the force he could, violently making her body his. He looked to her face so that he could see her expression when the moment came. It was then he saw the tears dripping from the end of her nose. Normally, this would have never affected him, but somehow watching those little droplets of salt-water fall to the earth allowed the calm and rational part of himself to resurface. With a sigh he readied a spell of sleep and pressed his index finger to the girl's forehead.