The woman walked swiftly through the temple, her red hair dancing around her pale face. Her piercing blue eyes dared any one to get in her way. Not that any one had the guts to. No one angered the goddess’s chosen fire warrior and lived very long, and lately she had been easily angered. Everyone knew why that was as well. Her best friend, Coral, the water warrior was out of town with her family and was unable to visit the temple, leaving her to manage her anger, and the war with the Dark Lord, on her own. A tall man with black hair, and cat like gold eyes walked over to her. “Fara you can’t keep storming around like this… you’re scaring everyone… and you need to feed.” Fara hissed angrily at him and flopped down on the nearest chair. “I can’t help it! And I don’t need to feed… So you can go to hell Rasuil.” The man, Rasuil, laughed slightly and sat down on the floor in front of her. “Well there is nothing you can do about it. Coral can’t gate to the temple as long as she is around the humans. It would risk everything… You know they aren’t to know about us… We are after all things that they have named myths, legends and fantasy’s… how do you think they would react to the fact that we are real and not some little imaginary story?” Fara closed her eyes and nodded. “Okay so you have a point… But don’t you think it would be for the best if the humans knew… I mean it is their world that we are fighting this war about… Don’t you think that they should have the chance to help defend it?” Rasuil simply shook his head. “And that would put you and the other nine guardians out of a job… And this temple as well. If the humans knew about this place they would most likely pollute and destroy it… And that is a very bad thing considering this is where our kind comes to avoid the humans polluted world.” Fara opened her eyes long enough to look at the ceiling of the room they were in, then closed them again. “Yeah… I know…” She stood up swiftly and walked out of the room. “But they still deserve to know about the war with the Dark Lord Rasuil… And if I have anything to say about it they will… I’m going to go and talk to HER about this right now…” Rasuil jumped up and ran after her, a look of worry and shock on his face. “You know she might just kill you for even suggesting this right? You can’t believe that she will actually let you tell the humans! Fara you’re going to get your self killed!” Fara turned around quickly and slapped him. “And what do you think I do every time Damian attacks! He’s getting stronger Rasuil… And every time we go out to stop his latest attacks on the humans we’re risking our lives! And the humans don’t even know that if we fall so does their world! So don’t you go preaching to me that I’m going to get myself killed. I would rather face the goddess and die for suggesting telling the humans about us then dying by Damian’s hands!” Rasuil winced at Fara’s words but nodded and let her go, walking along side her. "Okay… But I’m going to be standing right next to you when you do so… I may not be able to enter the inner temple but I will stand and wait for you. If you aren’t back out in half an hour, I’m gathering Gabriel and the others and we’re going in for you.” Fara nodded slightly then continued into the inner temple’s entrance chamber, with Rasuil in toe. The chamber housed a large set of double doors on the other side of a large lake. Half way across the lake was a small 5ft, by 5ft platform, rising out of the water. Rasuil walked Fara to the edge of the water and sat down while she changed into the plain white robes. When she was done she gave Rasuil a small smile then walked out onto the water. She heard Rasuil gasp at the fact that she was walking on the water. It was something that only the goddess’s chosen could do, the water itself was full of man eating monsters and several water dragons, this kept the goddess from being disturbed by any but her chosen, and a few of the temple priestess’s. Fara continued walking, pausing only for a minute on the platform to open the doors with a spell, before continuing across and into the doors, which sealed behind her. She continued along the stone path that appeared out of no where from the water. Another set of doors blocked her path. She stopped, placed a hand on the doors and whispered a word of power. They opened instantly letting Fara pass, and then closing once more. Sitting in a throne on the other side of the low ceiling room was a woman who seemed to be made of rainbows and air. “What brings you to my domain today warrior of the dancing flames?” Her voice reminded Fara of calm waves, though she knew that if angered the woman could turn into a very nasty person, not that the woman was a person, in fact the woman was none other then the Great Mother, the Goddess and the true Creator of everything on this planet. The humans had believed in the wrong person for centuries. Fara bowed quickly to the goddess then kneeled in front of her. “I came here to ask your permission on something… Something that will change everything…” The goddess smiled slightly, and then sighed. “I know of what you speak. You wish to tell the humans about this war between me and that damned demon Damian, and you hope that they will join with us in fighting him… am I right. “Fara nodded slowly, and closed her eyes. “Yes… Because I don’t think its right for them to not know about this war… It will after all decide the fate of the very planet they live on… And in the long run it will make things easier for us, we will no longer have to wait tell there are no humans around to gate to the temple, we would be able to do so when ever we pleased.” The goddess nodded slightly. “Yes Fara. You do have a point but… What do you think the humans will do when they find out about us?” She opened her eyes and looked at the ground. “I don’t know… They may try to kill us… or they man try to help us… Either way they will play apart in this war… Weather I have to go against you to do it or you back me up… The humans will learn the truth.” Fara looked up and into the goddess’s eyes, letting her see just how much she had meant what she had said. “Then it shall be done… But be warned daughter… If the humans try to harm you, my other chosen warriors, this temple or my priestess’s then I will stop them.” Fara smiled at the goddess happily. “I wouldn’t expect anything less… But I do have one other question…” The goddess returned the smile. “What is it?” Fara took a deep breath. “I was wondering if there was another way to tell if someone was one of the chosen… Other then having them awaken…” The goddess smiled. “Yes daughter… there is a way… Beneath the skin on your foreheads there is a symbol that marks you as my chosen ones… I will give you the means to see these symbols… And to activate that symbol, which will awaken the chosen ones powers… But only you will be able to wield this gift…” Fara bowed her head and her smile grew. “Very well. I’m ready to learn.” The goddess stood slowly and walked closer to Fara. “Then lets Begin…” Rasuil paced the inner temples entrance chamber angrily. Gabriel, Fraya, Luna and several of Fara’s coven warriors were standing around waiting for Rasuil to give the order. “Calm down brother… You’re scaring the little bloodsuckers and the fledgling…” Rasuil glared angrily at the brown hared woman with the same cat like gold eyes that he had.“I don’t care Fraya… She is taking to long… I’m worried… And so should you… If she dies then so do I or did you forget that we are bonded…” Fraya looked at the ground and nodded. “Yeah... I remember… But you don’t have to pace around so much… The bloodsuckers are worried about their Queen and the fledglings are worried about the arc angel heir… You’re not the only one who is screwed if she dies…” Every one in the room nodded their agreement with Fraya. One of the vampires spoke up. “It would take a lot to kill her… And I would know if she died well before you would drop dead…” Both Fraya and Rasuil turned to the black hared, red eyed man that had spoken. “And why is that?” They both asked at once. The man smiled. “Because my fuck up is what caused her to become what she is… No matter what our dead coven leader said… I know the truth and so does she… It’s the reason why she hates to be alone in the same room as me…” The other three vampires looked at him, along with the two angels and Rasuil and Fraya. “And why is that?” Gabriel’s soft voice asked. “Because… I’m the one who turned her…” Rasuil sat down looking at the man in shock, Fraya just shook her head, while Luna and the other three vampires tried to hold down a very angry arc angel. “You’re lying… And as soon as Fara comes out of there I’m going to ask her about it… Then I’m going to hunt you down and kill you…” Gabriel yelled angrily. “He’s telling the truth Gab… And you need to calm down.” Every one turned to look at the person who had spoken. Fara’s voice held a new note of power and her eyes where more silver then blue. She stood at the edge of the lake, facing the man. “Now… I have a question of my own… First of all… Why the hell are you all here, and dressed to go to war… And second… Troy what the fuck are you doing here?” The man, Troy, smiled slightly. “Well your little shape shifting pet there rounded us all together to storm the temple because he thought you were taking to long… And I’m here because my newly fanged friend over there found out you were in trouble and wanted to help…” Fara looked over at the blond hared, blue eyed man that Troy was referring to. Her eyes grew wide as she recognised the man. “Oh my goddess… Troy what have you done!” Her voice came out high pitched and hurt as she walked over to the man and laid a hand on the side of his face. Troy looked at her slightly stunned while the man just stood there looking into her eyes. “I was tired of always watching you get hurt… So I hunted down one of the members of your coven and had him turn me…” Fara just shook her head. “And what is Coral going to say when she finds out about this… She already thinks that you’re a fool Cam…” He shrugged his shoulders and sighed. “What does it matter… I didn’t do it for her…” Fara closed her eyes and slid her hand over to his forehead. “Yeah well… Angering a guardian that is more skilled then you… And more powerful is not a good idea… Now hold still…” Cam looked down at her strangely. “Why?” Fara sighed slightly. “So I can awaken your gift… The goddess has given me the power to see who is one of the chosen… And to awaken them… But I need you to stand still.” Cam nodded. “Yeah okay… What ever you say princess.” Fara focused on the symbol on his forehead, and began to say the incantation to awaken his powers under her breath. She could tell that her symbol was glowing slightly through her skin as she said the accent words by the way everyone gasped. When she finished she opened her eyes and backed away from Cam. The symbol on his forehead glowing through his skin. “Umm… Fara… Why is his forehead glowing like that? And why is yours glowing as well… And why the hell are they in the same pattern?” Rasuil’s troubled voice came from next to her. She smiled slightly and sat down. “It is the symbol that all the chosen ones bare… It is hidden from view… The goddess gave me the power to see these symbols… And to activate them, which is what gives us our powers… And judging by the fact that Cam’s has a slightly green tint to it he is the guardian of earth.” Cam nodded slightly in understanding. “And yours glows a soft red because you are the fire guardian… So that means that Coral’s will glow blue… And the guardian of Wind will be…” Fara smiled and nodded. “Yes and yes… As for the other guardians… winds will be white… Darks will be black… Lights will be golden… Lightnings will be yellow… The Goddess’s representative will be purple… Metal will be grey… And ice will be silver… But enough… I need to rest and you need to get yourself ready… Tomorrow I take you into the Inner temple to meet with the Goddess her self.” Fara stood and began to walk out of the room, she glanced over her shoulder. “And Rasuil… You know that thing we were talking about earlier… I’d like to talk with you about it a bit more… Right away… And in privet…” Rasuil nodded and quickly got up and ran after her. The doors slammed closed behind them. “Your sister doesn’t like me Rasuil…” He nodded slightly at Fara’s statement. “Yeah… She doesn’t like the fact that I’m bonded to you…” Fara nodded. “Doesn’t shock me much… Considering… I wouldn’t want my brother bonded to a half vampire, who is Queen of her coven, a half angel, who is soon to be arc angel, a fire guardian who also happened to be the adopted daughter of the fairy king…” Rasuil laughed slightly. “You know that’s the first time I’ve heard you list all your titles in one sentence…” Fara laughed also, she looked over at Rasuil and smiled happily to herself. “Yeah well… I don’t like all my titles… You do know that this year the king has made me the flower maiden this year…” Rasuil stopped and looked at her. “What do you mean flower maiden! There is no way that you are going to one of the festivals let alone partaking in it by being the flower maiden! I forbid it!” Fara nearly fell over laughing. “Oh Rasuil… Not only do you have no choice in letting me go, the king has requested that you be there also.” She continued to laugh, as Rasuil’s face grew pale. “What…” Fara nodded, she had finally stopped laughing. “Yeah… But we can talk about that later… I need to feed Ras… Really badly… I should have when you told me to earlier but I didn’t want to admit it… And not in front of Troy… The blasted fool would think that I wanted to feed from him… And I do not want to taste his blood…” Rasuil put an arm around her and walked her to her room. When he got there he took her inside and closed the door behind him. “I understand… and don’t worry about it… The day you fed from that sorry sack of shit is the day that I help Damian kill you… It’s never going to happen.” Fara sat down on the bed as Rasuil kneeled down on the floor next to her. Even sitting like this he was taller then her. She let her fangs grow to their full length then leaned forward and bit down gently into Rasuil’s uncovered neck. He tensed slightly when she bit down but other then that he sat completely still. It wasn’t very often that Fara needed to feed, but every time she did need to he was the one she went to. As she finished feeding from him she closed her eyes and leaned her head against his shoulder. “Thanks for always putting up with me Ras…” Rasuil smiled slightly as Fara drifted into sleep, still leaning against him. He lifted her up and laid her on the bed, then shifted into the form of a large black panther, Fara’s favourite of his forms and lay down next to her. Sure he couldn’t hold her the way he wanted to, but just being by her side was enough for him. As it stood he was the only one besides Coral that had seen her feed and still lived. Not even that bastard Troy had seen her feed judging from the way she acted around him. He let out a small purr as Fara turned and wrapped her arms around his neck in her sleep. He closed his eyes and laid his head on the pillow next to her, joining her in sleep. Fara woke to the sounds of a large cat purring. She blinked the sleep from her eyes and sat up, with her arm around the large panther’s neck. “Oh… Good morning Rasuil…” Rasuil yawned, then stretched and jumped off the bed. Good morning to you to princess… I hope you slept well. Fara smiled and nodded. “Yeah I slept great actually… I’m guessing your planing to stay in panther form for a while because you’re using our mental link?” Rasuil nodded, his large golden eyes never leaving her silver ones. Yeah… I thought that this way that vampire and his goons would think twice before they come near you… And besides… You always like it when I’m two hundred pounds of black feline muscle. Now if you want me to carry you for a bit you best get up and dressed properly to see Coral. Fara smiled at him and jumped up, patting his head gently as she walked over to her closet. “What do you think I should wear Rasuil? The red one or the black one?” She held up two out fits and turned so he could see them against her. How about you wear the black skirt with the red tank top, along with your black boots and those red and black bangles you have… Add your hair pinned up in that weird half bun half pony tail thing you do and you’ll have a drop-dead outfit… But that’s only my opinion… Fara turned to the mirror and tried what he said. “Not bad Ras… I think it’s a really good outfit… Now if my large black kitty cat would leave the room for a minute I’ll get changed.” Rasuil nodded and walked out of the room, taking his time to do so, leaving Fara laughing and shaking her head as she began to change. After about ten minutes Fara walked out of her room wearing the outfit. The skirt was low enough that she could sit on Rasuil’s back without having anyone see anything they weren’t meant to see. Rasuil butted his head against her leg and waited as she climbed onto his back, even in this form he was far larger then he should have been, Fara could sit on his back and not be able to touch the ground with her feet. He waited tell she had herself settled then he began to walk quickly down the hall towards the main entry hall of the temple. Fara smiled at the temple priestess’s that they passed and laughed as both Troy and Gabriel nearly fell over when they saw her. “Fara what the hell do you think you are doing! Where the hell did that damn panther come from?” Rasuil stopped walking and laid down on the ground slowly so that Fara could get off his back with out revealing her self to them. When she was off his back he shifted into his human form and waved at them. “Hello there boys. How are you today?” troy stared at Rasuil in shock, while Gabriel shook his head. “I should have known it was you… You’re the only shape shifter here who likes cat forms… And I should have remembered that wherever Fara was you were… But that brings me to my next question… Where are you two going in such a hurry?” Rasuil swatted at Troy who was standing with a stunned look on his face. “Well I’m going to go tell Coral about some things… And Rasuil is going with me as a body guard… And as a means of escape if something goes wrong…” Gabriel nodded in understanding, grabbing Troy by the arm to stop him from trying to stab Rasuil, who had turned to keep an eye on Fara. “We best be going now…” He waved to the boys then shifted back into his panther form and flopped down on the ground for Fara to climb on his back. She did so swiftly and they continued on through the temple. “Its rather funny how angry Troy was back there… You don’t think he was jealous of you do you Rasuil?” She heard a small rumble coming from Rasuil that she thought was laughter. Oh I know he was… He hates the fact that you shun him, and then the next day are ridding on my back… He is going to end up doing something stupid because of it though… And if I catch him looking at you like your food one more time I’m going to kill him… VERY… VERY slowly. Fara burst out laughing, having to grab a hand full of Rasuil’s fur to keep from falling off him. “Oh Rasuil… Be nice you know the basic laws of vampires… God knows you have heard me say them so many times that you must have them memorised by now…” She leaned over and patted the side of his face gently. Yeah… I have it all memorised all right… Basic vampire law number one… The creation always calls to the creator and the other way around… In other words the vampire that turned you is drawn to you and you should be drawn to him… But I have noticed that it is a one way thing… Why is that Fara? She smiled slightly. “Because… Troy never completely turned me… Yes its true he bit me, but in order to turn someone they need to be given vampire blood when bitten to complete the change… It was Max who gave me vampire blood… Not Troy… So naturally… Troy is drawn to me because I’m the one he bit… But I’m drawn to Max because he is the one who gave me vampire blood…” Rasuil nodded slowly in understanding. Oh I see now… So in other words both Max and Troy turned you… Each played a part in your becoming a vampire… Fara nodded. “That’s right… Now don’t move around so much… In order to open the gate that will take us to Coral I need to concentrate. That means no bouncy kitty cats.” Rasuil gave his cat laugh again and stood completely still as Fara closed her eyes and focused her power on her best friend. She opened her eyes and leaned against Rasuil when the red swirling gate opened in front of them. Coral sat with her mother at the small kitchen table in their hotel room, her brothers where in the next room with her stepfather. She looked at the cards in her hand and frowned. “I fold.” She tossed the cards towards her mother as her younger sister ran around the room singing her favourite Dora the explorer song as best she could. Her mother reshuffled the cards then re-stacked her poker chips. “So how is Melanie doing? She hasn’t been around the house in a while and you never called her before we left like you told me you would… Did you to get into a fight?” Coral shook her head. “No she has just been really busy getting things ready for this festival she has to go to… I’m sure she is fine… I’ll call her when we get beck home…” Her mother looked at her for a minute then ran after her sister, who had grabbed the phone and was talking to the front desk. “What ever you say Sarah.” Coral nodded then stood up and walked to the bathroom. She hated using glamour when she was around her mother but she wasn’t aloud to show her what she really was. It was on of the laws that the ancient ones laid down when they found out about their powers. Her hair was a light blond with hints of brown and her eyes were a pale blue, but it was what she looked like behind the magical disguise that she saw now in the mirror. Her hair appeared as a beep blue green like the ocean, and her eyes were a piercing blue, the same blue as her best friend Fara’s, or in her mothers case Melanie. She sighed and walked back out into the main part of the room. She wondered how her friends where doing back at the temple. Knowing Fara she had completely destroyed the temple at least three times and had every one hiding in corners as she walked by. She laughed to herself as she remembered her friends bad temper, in more then one was Fara was like the fire she so nicely controlled, they knew from the beginning what element Fara was. As she sat back down at the table a red swirling portal opened up in the middle of the room. It wasn’t the portal that shocked her, it was the two hundred-pound panther and it’s rider that shocked her. The second the panther cleared the gate it closed, leaving her mother staring in shock at the panther and the girl. “Hello mom… Hey there sissy how’s it going?” Fara’s overly happy voice said. “What the hell are you doing here? And in that form… Using magic… And riding Rasuil as if he is some kind of pony!” Fara and Rasuil both winced at the hysteric tone Coral was taking. “Well you see… I talked with the Goddess yesterday night and she has giving us permission to tell the humans about our true selves…” Coral blinked a few times then sat down and took a deep breath. “Okay you two… Start explaining… Mother you might want to sit down and listen as well… it would seem that you are aloud to be apart of this now…” Her mother sat down on the bed looking at the panther as if it would turn around and eat her. “Who are you people… And why is there a panther in my hotel room…” Fara smiled slightly and sat side-saddle on Rasuil’s back. She called her magic and felt it twist around her, leaving her sitting there with brown hair and pale blue eyes. “Recognise me now mom? Now don’t be alarmed we’re not going to hurt you… And neither is Rasuil… That’s the panther… You could say in a way his is my pet…” The woman nodded and relaxed slightly. Coral gave her a soft smile. “Do you want me to show her my true form as well Fara?” She nodded and used her magic to return to her true form. “Yeah but with out the wings…” Coral nodded and soon sat in the chair in her blue green, piercing blue eyed true form. “This is what I really look like mother… And that is what Melanie looks like… The only thing is that Sarah and Melanie aren’t our real names… Melanie is really named Fara… And my name is really Coral…” Her mother nodded slowly. “Okay so what are you really then… Some kind of demons?” Fara winced slightly. “No! We are not demons… We aren’t evil either… We are the good guys… Humans referred to us in the past as the great protectors… Or Guardians… It’s our job to keep the demons from hurting the humans… And right now there is a very big war going on between the demons and us and our allies… We have been fighting this was in the shadows… And out of human sight… But things are getting worse and with me, Coral and Cam being the only woken Guardians we are in a bit of trouble… And since your world hangs in the balance of this war I felt it was time for the humans to know about it… So I went and talked to the Goddess, also known as the Great Mother and the True Creator of this world and all its creatures… She gave me permission to inform you humans about the war… In hopes that you will join with us to fight off the Dark Lord and his army of demons…” Corals mother nodded again, Fara remained quiet to give the women some time to think over what she had been told so far. She stood and walked over to Coral. “By the way… She gave me a new gift… Thanks to her I can see these marks that are hidden under the skin on our foreheads… It would seem they are the source of our powers… Every Guardian has one… And she has also given me the spell to activate them… So as soon as we can we are going on a hunt…” Before she could finish what she was saying Rasuil let out a small growl and leapt for Corals younger sister who had climbed onto the top of the closet and decided to jump. Rasuil shifted at the last minute and caught the child in his arms and set her on the ground gently. “That was a close call…” Corals mother ran over and picked the child up then turned and looked up at Rasuil. “Oh my… I thought you said he was a panther… And a pet… What the hell!” Fara smiled and walked over. “He is a panther and my pet… You see Rasuil is a shape shifter… And after I helped him escape from a demon he bound himself to me and has been by my side ever sense… his other forms include a small black cat, a white tiger, a regular tiger, a lion and a leopard… The shape shifters are one of the many allies we have… Along with my two races… The angels and the Vampires… And hopefully both of Corals races… The Humans and the Fairy’s…” Corals mother nodded once more. “So this war is going on basically between the races that live along side us humans, and these demons?” Fara nodded. “You got it right… Now Fara, you have seen Coral… So can we go back to the temple before Troy, Cam, Gabriel, Fraya, Luna and the other temple priestess’s come hunting for us…” Fara looked over at Rasuil and nodded. “Yeah… I guess your right… You must come see us at the temple as soon as you can Coral… We have a lot to talk about…” Coral nodded as Fara and Rasuil stepped through another portal, heading back to the temple. The second Fara and Rasuil stepped through the portal they stood facing a very angry Gabriel. “Where have you two been?” Fara looked at Rasuil and smiled slightly. “Out and about… What do you want Gabriel?” She turned to face him as she spoke. “What do I want? I’ll tell you what I want. I want you to stop running off. And do you mind telling me why you showed yourself in front of a human?” Fara shrugged before leaning against Rasuil. “I was simply doing what the great mother said I could do.” Gabriel let out a soft hiss and grabbed her arm. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Rasuil smiled and pulled her closer. “Yes as a matter of fact. I am.” Fara rolled her eyes and pulled her arm out of his grip. Gabriel stood there wide eyed. Fara and Rasuil started laughing as Coral slipped through a small blue portal. “What’s so funny?” Rasuil pointed to Gabriel as Fara wiped tears out of her eyes. Coral glanced at him before bursting out in laughter as well. Fraya glared at the three of them before sitting down next to Troy. “Okay the moron is safe, can we all go back to bed now?” Gabriel nodded and they all went to their rooms. Rasuil picked Fara up gently and walked her to her room. “Would you like me to stay with you again tonight?” She nodded and let out a soft sigh as Rasuil placed her on her bed and shifted into his panther form…
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