Kara slunk along the side of the Aerie rocks, stepping so carefully she knew no one could see. Not fifteen minutes ago a group of Quildor's army Minions had come into the Aerie, almost to the exact spot she'd been laying. She'd rolled closer to the stone wall and then inched her way carefully along it till she came to an opening on the upper side. 

Ahead of her there were several large outcroppings of rock she could make out in the darkness, and at least three small campsites belonging to these Foemen. She tied her hair back and wove it up into a braid carefully as she waited, letting her eyes adjust. She was weak, she knew she couldn't get far.

The smell of something cooking took her breath away, and she realized she was hungrier than she'd ever remembered being. It was just her luck that the men at one camp had gone to talk to the men at another. In seconds, she was scrambling for their bread, some kind of jerked meats, and a fruit.

She realized that her strength would only allow slow careful inch by inch movements. Rocks slid beneath her feet, her hands carved finger holds in the hillside as she crept. But she kept moving, as if she were in the crystal field.

Next came the fires further up the hill. They flickered, she flickered, they rushed, she rushed. This was the Zalez Rion spoke of. The oneness with the elements. 

Not unlike Kai meld, which she suddenly felt she did not need. She wondered if she were to go to the water, which she could hear flowing close by, if she could immerse herself, if she could let the kai go. With her Zalez she truly knew, the more she allowed her senses to fill with the earth meld, and respect the things around her, the less she needed the kai.

Instinctively she knew she would be able to breathe and walk and heal without the kai. She turned and looked back at the ocean.

Was there even a chance that she could make it down there?

The mountain and crystal field loomed over all. Should she attempt to reenter Sentinel and try to get back to Galantyne? Surely he needed her experiences to help him prepare for war! Then she looked back out at the villages.

Rion! Where was Rion? 

Not for the first time, she wished they'd had more time together to explore. Not for the last time, she realized she was thinking like a traitor to her own people, to her own ideals and laws. Fear gripped her stomach painfully as the thought hit her, and then with a will of iron, Kara forced the pain to recede. She couldn't afford to analyze such weak thoughts. 

Two ideals warred within her, two truths. Galantyne's search for the Talisman to free their people warred with her growing belief that she and Rion were destined to be together, that their union would also be a freeing balm to their people, not just the undersea dome people, but to all people. 

With certainty, she made another effort to reach out to him.

Rion!

She focused her newly found Zalez, and then waited for the feelings to communicate to her. Kara closed her eyes again, pushing hard into the rock and dirt under her fingertips. She concentrated on her breathing, on becoming one with the earth again.

Each trial and experiment led her closer to understanding this new awareness. There was a life force that was distinctly Rion's that she had become familiar with, and she could refocus her mind on it if she tried hard enough. 

Suddenly, the smallest of sparks flared and she sensed his living breathing entity, and that was all. He was closed to her by his belief that she was dead and gone. 

In wild determination, she pushed those surface perceptions aside and pictured Rion in her mind. The strength of his will, his questing spirit, not owned or fed by Quildor. His anger and honor that propelled him into the mountain and into her life. He was suddenly clear and concise to her as she focused on his estimable details.

Kara! 

Finally, his voice came to her, surprised, disbelieving.

I'm alive! Rion! I'm alive!

Where are you? 

The relief and excitement she felt washing over her fairly toppled her from her weak perch atop a boulder.

Close to the Castle, above the Aerie. The sudden elation she felt at his mind touch was overpoweringly joyful. It was as if his essence raced over the distance between them to wrap her securely in his powerful hold.

Not far! Thank goodness! I will come for you! 

The hillside and the trails are covered with Minions. They will find you and keep you. 

Kara! His mind voice was rushed, desperate, ignoring her concerns. I can't believe you are alive! Where is Korlon?

She focused on his mind brush getting stronger with each passing second. I don't know. He left me in the Aerie.

Left you? Why?

I don't know. I just had to leave as the Aerie was overrun with Minions.

I'm glad you got out. But you feel weak to me.

She realized he was insinuating himself inside her Zalez as tightly as he could, not wanting to let her go.

I am healed, but I am weak. She accepted his desperate ministrations, suddenly realizing the extent of their connection. 

I don't want to lose you. She was aware that something had changed between them. In the test of deprivation of each other they had come to know the lengths they'd need to go to be together. Nothing needed to be said. She knew how he felt about her, and she him.

I am coming for you. He stated firmly. You can't be there in this.

I feel safe here. Folara is protecting me.

Zalez can make you feel that way, Kara, but you will still be visible once dawn comes. Stay where you are and let me get you to safety. His voice was stronger now, sure of himself, and relieved that he'd found her.

I am afraid your plan will backfire on you.

She sensed that he was coming anyway, had already started making his way across the tops of the hills that ran alongside the villages.

I'm not that far away from you. Don't give in. We are stronger together, Kara. 

I know, Rion. 

She felt his awe at her capitulation. You do?

She smiled to herself, knowing that her smiles would never be to herself again. She let him feel her smile, her own wonder that a fiercely loyal trained warrior searcher Princess of Aquaria could have had a change of heart about one single rebellious Captain of the elite Quarso unit of Quildor Etrusia.

"I like the way you describe yourself, Princess." He said to her, elated that she felt the same about him as he did about her. That this crisis had brought about their mutual understanding of what they had only sensed that first day in the mountain when they'd had such an amazing connection neither could deny it. They'd run from it, denied it, fallen away and come back to it.

She chuckled,  I will still fight you, Etrusia.

Counting on it!

She sighed and let her mind wander back over their time together, time in the mountain, desperate, wild, careless and rash. His incredible rescue of her... how many times had she faced death since she'd met him? At least two.... A dangerous fall, a slit throat.... She was weak, but she would be healed.

She went back to reveling in her memories, all now tinged with her new found feelings. Heavy brows covered those piercing eyes that hadn't lost their intelligence and quick observation power in leaving the mountain. His silver-gray armor, covered skin that remained softly covered in dark hair. A tunic, a vest, leggings, encasing massive thigh muscles and agile calves. She'd studied him in every light possible. Was there a flaw?

"Pride? Selfishness? Conflicting emotions and loyalties? Oh, yes, Princess, I have flaws."

He was there, she sensed his presence near and tried to sit up, but Rion leaped to the top of the boulder, gathering her body to him in relief.

 Nothing had ever prepared her for that embrace. 

His arms, his mind, his body, all attested to the fact that he wanted her, more than any other person ever, she was his focus. Too weak to move more than she did, Kara snuggled her face against the warm breadth of his chest, allowing him to hold her, to rock her back and forth while their mutual joy washed over them. He lifted her and leaped off the boulders, she marveled that he could with her in his arms, so balanced, so purposeful. Nothing about Rion lacked confidence.

"Stop it, lady, you're making me blush!" He whispered out loud to her and Kara wrapped one arm around his neck. "It's possible you are making it all up, to distract me, and then have your way with me when I am arrogant and full of myself."

He landed on the ground close to the rocks and made his way toward the trees up the hillside, not putting her down. She was too weak to shake her head, too weak to do much of anything except smile inside and he knew it, and caught the smile and stopped, bending to look into her starlit eyes. For a long moment, he simply searched her features, looking for insincerity, but found none.

"To have my way with you?" She repeated in his mind. "What would that entail exactly?"

His body tensed as he stopped once again, and images flashed into both of their minds, hers less experienced than his. He gave her his complete attention. "You want me to..." He felt her slight suggestion and without any further thought, he bent and dropped his lips to hers, gathering her closer to his neck and chest, as her hand slid into his hair, cupping the curve of jaw and ear.

Right before he sealed their kiss into place once again, he stopped and kept his eyes on hers. "Kara." His voice was a hoarse croak in the stillness. "I was insane with grief when he took you, but I had to let him go if he could save you. I had to give him that. But I'm so glad to have found you again. I thought I would go mad with grief. You have become everything to me."

She knew he was telling the truth. She could feel it in every cell, in every pore. His whole dynamic had changed since they'd met. He had come to believe in their future destiny together, and nothing could stop that in his mind. 

She wished she could speak out loud as well and tell him she felt the same, but she simply tilted her head back and as her blood red hair whipped stray strands into the air around them, she pressed her lips to his softly.

*****