Bonded

Authors note: Well heres Chapter Six for you. I really hope you guys are liking my story so far. PLEASE R&R!!!! I really love and need the feedback.

Chapter 6: Children and Souls

The sun was beginning to wane as Nienya searched the ground for signs of the creature she was tracking. She had taken the southern scent trail and had been following it for a while. She was riding her Vampire unicorn Kira, who was faster then she was. She was an oddity amongst her kind. She had a bronze coloured coat and Teal eyes. The bronze coat meant that she could create any type of weapon that came to her mind but her teal eyes meant that she was a Healer. Kira was shunned by all but her mother and father. Enya had stumbled upon her when she was wondering alone in the forest near her home. She had Bonded to her and from that day they had never been separated.

Enya held on to Kira’s mane lightly as they moved through the forest. The scent had dried up a little way behind them and now they were searching for physical traces of what they were tracking. Deep inside Nienya’s soul, her Soul Dragon Shandu was curled up and resting. Soul Dragon’s were special creatures as they have both physical and spiritual forms. They also had an ability to read the souls of others, wither that person was willing or not. Nienya tugged gently on Kira’s mane, telling her to stop. She jumped down and walked up to the base of the tree in front of them. It was a big Silverbark tree. On it were Silverbark flits taking in the fading sun’s warmth. Nienya looked closely at the tree and noticed claw marks. They could have been made by any number of creatures but something told Nienya that they weren’t. She put both hands on the tree and then popped her claws. She started to climb and slowly moved up the tree. Suddenly she heard a movement below her. She stopped and looked down over her arm. At the base of the tree was a child looking up at her and with it was a Riddle Tiger cub. She shook her head and sheathing her claws, dropped from the tree. She landed next to the child and purred. “What are you doing here little kitten? Where is your mother?”
The child, a little female, put her hand on the tiger cubs head and then pointed the way they had come. “My mommy’s over there. But I can’t wake her up and my little brother is hungry. He’s only a baby and I can’t feed him”
Nienya looked back up the tree and then at the child. She smiled and then held out her hand. “Come on then. I’ll help you. Show me and my friends the way to your mother”
Nienya looked at Kira, *Stay close Kira. I have a feeling that the creature is close by*
Kira snorted and followed her Bond mate and the little girl.

E’mot had been doubling back to make sure he had not missed any traces of his Prey when he noticed the strange creatures. There was a Horse like one with a horn in the centre of its forehead. It had a bronze coloured coat. On that creatures back was an even stranger thing. It was a cat like humanoid. It looked to be about dead on 5ft in height and had short fur covering its entire body from what he could see, and he could see quite a bit. It had on a tank top of animal fur and some sort of shorts made of the same material. It was obviously female and its fur was the colour of Liquid Silver and its head hair was as white as snow and cut at shoulder length. It, no she, had a bow and quiver tied on her back. She also had a tail as well. The horse like creature had no reins or saddle of any kind and looked to be only guided by the female’s hands and feet. Suddenly they stopped and the female got off her horse and walked to tree he was it. He watched her look at the base of the tree and then watched her start to climb. He slowly took out a dagger and held it ready to throw when the child and the cub come out of nowhere. The female stopped and looked down. Seeing the child she jumped down from the tree and began to speak. E’mot nearly lost his grip on the dagger when he heard them speak. He could understand them, perfectly. He watched the female look back up the tree and then to child. She took the child’s hand and began to walk away from the tree. E’mot re-sheathed his dagger and decided to follow these creatures. He was amazed that they were here. He had read the scouts reports and they had said that there was no intelligent life on this world. *How could they have missed this?* He wondered to himself.

He followed them, using the trees as his path, until they came to a clearing. In the middle of it was a female lying on the floor, holding a bundle. He didn’t need his masks extra visions to tell him that the female was dead. Her body held no heat but the bundle she held did. He assumed that it was an infant. He watched the child let go of the first females hand and run to the body. It shook the body and was crying. Suddenly the bundle started to cry and move. So he was right, it was an infant. He watched the first female move near the body and removes the baby from its arms. She then helped the older child up and took them away from the clearing. She moved near a hollowed out tree and put both children inside it. She said something to older child and moved back towards the body. She touched the forehead of the dead female and then began to hum. He could feel the hum vibrating through him. It was like standing next to a great drum when it was being beat but he was no where near enough to the female for him to feel it. It was then he saw it. It obsidian hide glistened in the last of the sun’s light. It’s long oblong shaped head was smaller then what it should be but it was undeniably his Prey. Its long tail with its spear like end whipped around slowly and it’s slim, agile body was tense. It was then that he noticed something else. It had large black wings. They were flared out slightly helping it balance in the tree it was in. It also had eyes. They were also black and were pupil-less. He then watched it launch its self and head straight for the young female.

Nienya had known that the mother was dead the moment she saw the body. She had picked up the babe and put both of the children in a hollow tree. She told the little girl to watch her little brother while she took care of their mother. She went back to the body and gave it a quick looked over. There were no wounds or signs that she had been attacked. If she had been attacked by a Rouge creature then the children would have been killed also. Enya couldn’t figure it and so got on with doing the right of passage. She touched the female’s forehead and started to Hum. She was calling the creatures of the forest to this spot. They would devour the body and she would be returned to nature. No one was buried or burned on Gaia. She heard the beating of wings and turned around to greet the creature. All she saw was a black blur and then felt pain.

E’mot watched the Hard Meat grab the female and try to fly off but it seemed to be having some difficulty. Suddenly the female’s chest began to glow and something rushed out and knocked the Hard Meat from the female. The Hard Meat landed hard and a crack was heard. The thing that had come out of the female’s chest was the strangest creature he had seen yet. It was about 8 metres long and was very slender. It floated in the air with out the aid of wings. It had four legs that ended in fingered hands and had a wolf-like head. Its fur was a silvery colour and it had a mane from its head to the tip of its tail. Its cat-like eyes were the colour of blood. It was floating over the body of the female protectively and a low, threatening growl could be heard. As he looked at the female’s prone body he felt something stir inside of him. He moved closer to her and de-cloaked. The floating creature turned to him and started to growl louder. E’mot slowly raised his head to his mask and unhooked his air tubes. He slowly removed his mask and put it on his belt. He then pointed to the creature and then to the Female. Then he pointed to himself and then to the Hard Meat. The creature stopped growling for a moment and then nodded its head. It moved over to the female and curled it’s self around her protectively with its head pointing to the Hard Meat. E’mot snorted and then took out his spear. He extended it and then stepped forward. He bellowed at the Hard Meat and then ran to it. He saw the tail moved and dropped down to his knees in time for the spear like tail tip to miss impaling his head. He rolled forward and threw his spear as he got up. It took the Hard Meat in the shoulder as it got up. He could see that its left wing was broken and useless. He flicked his wrist and out shot his wrist blades. He ran at the creature and they began fighting hand to claw.

Nienya could feel the pain lessening in her body and her wounds closing. Someone had activated her Moonstone. She could feel a warm body around and smiled. *Shandu it that you?*
*Yes, you must lay still Nienya. He is fighting with the creature that attacked you* The Soul Dragon replied.
*He?* asked Nienya in confusion.
*The one we’ve been tracking* came the answer.
Nienya shot up and looked around. Straight in front of her were two creatures and they were fight like mad creatures. A black dragon like creature was being pinned by a huge dark green creature. Suddenly the huge Green one grabbed the dragon like creatures head and twisted. The crack was audible and the black creature stiffened and then lay still, dead. The green creature got up and gave an almighty Roar. When he was done he turned round and looked at Nienya. She looked him over. He was just under 8ft in height and was well muscled. His skin colour covered all of his skin except his chest and belly which were a muddy brown colour. His body was covered with a type of netting and he wore a metal loincloth. He carried weapons around his waist but that was it, he wore nothing else. His face was strange to her but not unsightly. His hair grew down past his shoulders and was in a dreadlock fashion. But mostly it was his eyes that caught her attention. They were a golden amber colour, like a tigers. She got up slowly and felt a twinge of pain on her stomach. She looked down and saw the last of the cut heal up. She touched the pouch around her neck and felt the warmth there. The Moonstone had done its work and she would probably have to recharge it when she got the chance. She looked up and nearly fell over. The male was right in front of her and she hadn’t heard him move. She shook her head and smiled at him. “My name is Nienya. May I ask yours?”
E’mot smiled back, “My name is E’mot.”
Nienya smiled again, “Thank you for saving me E’mot. I hope you don’t mind but I’ve got some questions to ask of you, but first I must get the two children of the dead female”
E’mot nodded and followed Nienya to the hollow tree. He noticed that the strange horse was as if standing guard over the two infants. Nienya pull both young ones out and put the oldest on the Horse’s back. She got the blanket from around the baby and fashioned it into a carrier that she wrapped around herself with the baby at the front. She then turned back to E’mot and stared him straight in the eye, “Now about those questions”

She spoke to E’mot for a while and like his brother E’os he told Nienya everything. Nienya told him about Gaia and explained that Kira was not a horse but a Unicorn. Kira was insulted but calmed down after E’mot apologized. Unlike Neko though Nienya took the news calmly and waited until E’mot had finished before asking how to get rid of the Hive. E’mot was about the answer when Nienya looked up at the night sky. Suddenly a howl could be heard in the distance. Nienya got up, and lifting her head, let out an answering howl. E’mot stared at her for a moment and then got up himself. “What was that for?” he asked
Nienya turned to him, “My sisters have found your Brothers and are taking them back to our Cave. Your Brother E’orre is injured but my sister Kit has taken care of it.”
E’mot made a noise but didn’t say anything.
“If we leave now we’ll get there after my sister Neko but before Kit.” She said gathering her things and dousing the fire they had lit.
“How will we get there?” E’mot asked
Nienya turned round and gave him a wicked smile.

E’mot was glad the he couldn’t get travel sick. He was on Kira behind Nienya and between them, on his lap, was the young female child, whose name was Mia. She was fast asleep and seemed quite comfortable. He couldn’t see anything around except a dark blur they were going that fast. He wondered how Kira didn’t run straight into something but as they had yet he was relaxing. He tried to keep his grip on Nienya’s waist as light as he could without letting go. He like the feel of her fur on his skin and could stop the thoughts that came into his head. To try and distract himself he looked over Nienya shoulder at the male child, who Nienya had named Hero. He looked up and saw that Dawn was coming, they had travelled all night non-stop, and up ahead he could see a waterfall above the trees. At that water fall would be his brothers and Nienya’s family. He wondered what would happen when they got there.