She stared down at her swords, the flames that had enveloped them during the massacre finally fading away into the nothingness from whence they came, without a thought she wiped the blood off them with the edge of her cloak, her smile broadening into a savage grin at the expressions of shock, and then disgust that greeted her from the faces of the only two guardians that were left.

Another two had managed to get away in the midst of the chaos before…along with a handful of villagers, but time was on her side, and she had all the time in the world to find them.

With a silence as oppressive as the grave she looked at the faces of the two survivors in turn, her dark eyes shining brightly in anticipation of a fresh kill before finally flickering back to sky blue.

The first was an old woman, her face ghostly pale, her form frail, outwardly no real threat, but inwardly she could feel the incredible power emanating from the old woman before she was more than a few feet away from her, the rush of power was so intense that it made her head ache as she focused on it.

She closed her eyes and concentrated, somewhere in the back of this old woman's mind she could sense fear, and the feeling was as intoxicating to her as a fine wine. She opened her eyes, and the old woman stared back, refusing to allow the fear to show. Her eyes then fell back to the young girl she was cradling in her arms, Lillith stared down at her, and was taken aback a little, she looked remarkably young…she was probably about seventeen…maybe eighteen.

With her golden hair flowing over the old woman's arms, and her eyes closed she looked like sleeping beauty; her breath came in ragged gasps, and was the only sign that she was still alive. Opening her eyes she smiled weakly, bringing a hand up to the old woman's face.

"Mother…Am I going to die?" she asked her voice barely a whisper

The older woman held onto her tighter, her grey eyes burning into Lilith's blue ones.

"No…No…you're not going to die" she said "Not while I'm here to protect you"

Lillith could barely contain her laughter…did this old woman really think that she was any real threat to her.

"Just what are you going to do Old woman" she said pointing the steely tips of her swords at her. "You don't really think that you're any match for me do you?"

"I may not be able to save myself" said the old woman "But at least I can save my daughter"

"And just how are you going to do that" asked Lillith folding her arms across her chest, her expression pure sarcasm…who the hell did think she was anyway?..

Unfazed by Lillith's question...the old woman placed both of her hands on the young girl's body and stared up at her, her grey eyes sparkling…she was up to something…but what?...

Smiling softly she stared down at her daughter one last time, and Lillith noticed her mouthing the word goodbye… lowering her swords she watched the two of them with a silent curiosity…something was happening...

From beneath the old woman's fingertips came a strange glow which spread slowly until both of her hands were encompassed by it …leaning down she planted a kiss on the young girl's forehead.

Lillith stared down at her amazed as the light started to spread…what the hell was happening here? …and then before Lillith had a chance to answer that question…before she even had a chance to think…the young girl vanished.

She stared down at the empty space where the girl had been lying…hardly believing what her eyes were telling her.

"Wha…Where did she go" she demanded

Grabbing the old woman by the shoulders she roughly shook her.

"Where did she go…Tell me damn you" The rage inside her was starting to take hold again, she clenched her teeth hard, her eyes darkening again.

"She's safe now…and that's all that matters" said the old woman

Reaching down inside of herself she used her last bit of strength to mentally push Lillith out of the way, sending her hurtling backwards…she landed in a heap a few feet away from her.

"And who's going to save you" barked Lillith picking herself up off the ground, her eyes blazing in fury…how dare you…she thought...

Her heart pounding so fast she feared it would burst; the old woman closed her eyes against the nightmare rushing towards her, and pictured her daughter's face one last time…

The mental scream echoed through the corridors of her mind, Holding her head in her hands, Alandra stopped in the middle of the cemetery, stumbling as she did…it was the elder…something had happened to her…then suddenly the screaming stopped… she was dying…oh god she could feel her dying

Her mind short circuited at the knowledge, and she felt herself falling forward onto the grass, but could do nothing to stop herself, She was only dimly aware of Tara hovering over her… "Alandra are you okay" she asked

Through a hazy cloud of pain she could hear the panic in Tara's voice as she repeated the question over and over again...she could feel her shaking her awake, her panic rising as the shaking intensified…then slowly …very slowly she opened her eyes, her head still ached terribly but things were starting to clear up, and Tara's face shimmered into view.

"How...What happened?" she asked sitting up.

"I don't know" said Tara "You just suddenly stopped…you had your head in your hands, and you looked like you were in pain…I was about to ask you what was wrong when you collapsed on the grass…"

"The last thing I remember" said Alandra "I was thinking about the elder guardian…and hoping that she was okay, and then there was this screaming in my head…and…oh god I remember now…The elder's dead, she's dead Tara, and I heard her screaming in my mind"

"She's dead" repeated Tara "But she can't be…dead" Her brow furrowed in confusion, and she brushed away the tears in her eyes, not wanting to believe her

"Are you sure it was her" she asked placing the other hand on Alandra's shoulder.

But deep down she knew that what Alandra said was true…otherwise she would have been able to sense the elder guardian's presence, but every time she thought of the old woman, there was an emptiness...it felt like she was gone. How many guardians had died? She wondered… where they the last guardians left? She shuddered inwardly at the thought.

Sensing the growing turmoil within her, Alandra answered her in her mind.

"No" she said "Someone else got away" Looking off into the distance she lost herself in her thoughts momentarily, half wondering who it could be.

Finally she looked back over at Tara, and gave her a reassuring smile "Amy…her daughter Amy" she said out loud, "she's hurt…but she's still alive…c'mon" she said "Help me look for her, she's somewhere around here"

Closing her eyes she reached out to grab Tara's hands, and together they focused on Amy, searching the whole of the cemetery with their minds for any trace of where she might be hiding.

Minutes passed, minutes that seemed like hours as they silently stood there, then Alandra opened her eyes "I've found her" she said "she's at the other end of the cemetery…she's behind one of the statues…follow me" she said "And I'll show you"

Padding silently down the overgrown grassy path, Alandra led Tara by the hand, past a row of decaying statues that seemed to follow them with their eyes, through the wild flowers that only blossomed here in the early January air, never taking their eyes off the decaying gates at the bottom of the path, they were about a foot away from the gates when Tara heard a groan to the left of her.

Turning to the sound she saw a pair of legs jutting out from behind one of the larger statues, and grabbed the back of Alandra's cloak, indicating to the statue as she did.

Alandra followed Tara over to the imposing stone figure, stooping down she took a moment to examine just how badly Amy was hurt, her cloak stained with blood, her eyes closed, she lay there as still and silent as the stone statue above her, and Alandra feared the worst.

Stooping sown she gently shook the young girl's shoulders, Amy groaned, and then opened her eyes…Looking up at Alandra, her brown eyes clouded over with confusion, and she sat up quickly, then immediately wished she had remained where she was as bolts of fresh pain shot through her already weakened body.

"How did I get here?" she asked

Alandra looked puzzled and simply shrugged her shoulders "I assume your mother teleported you here" she said lowering her eyes to the ground as she thought once again of the elder guardian's terrifying final moments

Looking up at Alandra Amy held her breath as she asked the next question "Have you seen my mother? ... Did she teleport here as well"

Alandra was about to answer Amy's question when a startled cry rang out behind her, standing up, she walked back around the statue, and was mortified by what she saw.

Her face frozen in fear, hardly daring to move, hardly daring to breathe, Tara stood there silent as a mouse, a sword to her throat; behind her stood a tall dark haired woman holding the sword in place, her blue eyes transforming, changing from the colour of a summer sky into a darkness as deep and foreboding as the depths of hell.

Alandra took a hesitant step forward, but stopped when the warrior woman pushed the blade she held more firmly against Tara's throat.

She looked helplessly over at Tara, unsure of what to do next, feeling for the first time completely powerless, she inhaled sharply, her lips silently forming a question, a question that had been on everyone's mind moments after this mysterious woman had emerged from out of that gateway, or whatever the hell that thing had been that she and the other guardians had thought they saw spreading across the sky after the protection ceremony.

"Who are you?"

To be continued….