Chapter 2 page 3

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Acheran watched with pleasure as her creature distracted the other two. She

turned back to Crichton who was struggling against her grip, but to no avail.

Her one hand on his chest was more than enough for her to hold him down. With

her free hand she stroked his hair and then griped his head to keep it still.

There was a shriek and a rush next to her, and she turned just in time to stop

Stark from bashing her head in with a rock. She held him in place, using only

her will, and then threw him back against another tree. Then she caused the

branches to wrap around him. He struggled to move his hand so he could take off

his mask, but it was held in place by the stone branch.

Feeling suddenly weary, she turned back towards her captive and rested her free

hand on the trunk of the tree, breathing hard. She was growing weaker, and only

had enough strength left to hold him place. He renewed his struggle, and she

quickly grabbed his head with her hand. She leaned in, her face almost touching

his.

She whispered, her voice coming and going like the wind, "I grow weak. I need

your soul, to replenish me. A human soul, and yours is full of the energy I

need..."

"Where's Ellie?" He needed to delay her, if only to give D'Argo or Aeryn enough

time to get this bitch and kill her....

D'argo gave the winged creature a good gash on its leg. It screamed and backed

up a little, giving him time to look around. He saw Stark, bound to a tree,

Aeryn was down and bleeding from her shoulder and mid-section. Then he saw

Scorpius' assistant holding John up against a tree. He tried to shoot her, but

the creature took another dive at him, forcing him to redirect his fire...

"I was not allowed to harm her," she answered and then moved in. He tried to

block her, but she sent a shock of pain into him, and he found he couldn't move.

Their lips touched...

"NO!" Something large came flying at her and she was bowled over, landing on

her side. John collapsed, still unable to move.

Acheran growled and quickly jumped to her feet, only to face Eleanor Crichton.

The girl was covered with sweat and dirt. Her eyes betrayed the anger and hate

she was feeling, and she stood in fighting stance. Acheran did the only thing

she could do, and ran in the opposite direction.

Beyond all reason, Ellie followed.....

D'argo swiped again at the wretched creature, but couldn't gain any ground. The

monster slashed at his face with its claws, forcing D'argo to duck, giving it

the chance it needed to knock him over. He landed on his back, and saw the

thing over him ready to deliver the killing blow. A rock came flying out of

nowhere and hit it in the head.

It reeled back from the blow. D'argo grabbed his blade and thrust upward to the

creature's abdomen while firing it. It screeched in pain, and fell back

writhing, wrenching his blade from his grip. After convulsing violently for a

few microts, it finally stilled.

D'argo turned to see John staggering towards him. "Thank you," he said, the

human nodded and then saw Aeryn on the ground. He stumbled to her side.

"Aeryn, you ok?" She opened an eye and nodded.

"Where's your sister?"

He looked around him, "She was here a microt ago...where-"

Stark spoke up from his prison, "She went after Acheran. Find her quickly!"

John got up, "Which way?" and then ran off in the direction Stark indicated. He

crashed through the stone forest, jumping over rocks. He didn't need direction

to know where she was going anymore, he *knew* where she was....

Acheran stopped short of running off the edge of a cliff. "Frell!" she said,

looking down into what was once an ocean, hundreds of metres down. A cold wind

hit her back. Ellie was coming, she could feel the girl's fury, rushing towards

her on the wind.

She turned. The girl was standing a few metres from her, her blue eyes filled

with anger. The air around them was alive with it, the sheer emotion.

Acheran backed away slowly, she knew she had few options left to her. She began

gathering her will with the little strength left to her. The wind grew and

whipped around both of them, howling angrily. Eleanor's hair was flying in all

directions and her eyes started to glow. Acheran could see the electricity in

the air, it was now or never.

She unleashed the full force of her will in Ellie's direction. The result was

like setting fire to dynamite. The explosion was deafening, all the trees

around them burst apart as if they were made of paper. Eleanor was thrown back several

feet, as was Acheran, who had stood at the very edge of the cliff.

She fell back, and didn't stop......

John ran even faster when he heard the explosion. When he got to the source he

saw the remains of several trees in what looked like a blast radius. Lying at

its edge, in a fetal position, was Ellie.

He kneeled down next to her, she was trembling slightly. "Hey bright eyes.." he

said in a choked whisper.

She looked up, "John?" she whispered.

"Hey," was all he could say.

"John!" She exclaimed and sat up to hug him. He wrapped his arms around her,

and they stayed like that for what seemed to be an eternity.

Regretfully he pushed her away slightly, "We have to get off the planet, before

the peace keepers regroup."

She nodded wearily and then tried to get up, but passed out. He picked her up

gently and carried her off to where the ships waited....

Acheran lay twisted and broken at the bottom of the tall cliff she'd just

fallen off of. Blood gushed out of her mouth and nose, and her bones and organs

were crushed. She had to reform, but lacked the strength to do so.

"The girl has beaten you, Acheran...." the voice came to her, as a sudden

electrical storm broke out over head. Lightening and thunder crashed in the

sky. She rolled over painfully, and started to crawl to where she thought the

voice was coming from.

"P-please," she whispered, "Please m-mistress, help me..."

"You failed," it said accusingly, "and my sister gains ground."

"I-I was weak, hungry," she violently coughed up more blood, "please, give

me....another chance, and I will complete my mission."

There was no answer, and she lowered her head in defeat.

"Charon!" She looked up to see a commando standing over her. The commando

unhooked her comm, "Sherla to base, Charon is badly injured."  There was

nothing but static.

Swearing, Sherla bent down and gently rolled Acheran onto her back, holding her

into a sitting position. Acheran weakly reached forward and grabbed the young

woman's head. Then she leaned over and kissed her.

Instantly she felt the pleasurable inrush of energy. Her wounds healed and her

strength returned. She continued to absorb the young woman's soul and energy,

going further than she'd ever dared before. Finally she parted with a huge gasp

of air, as the remains of Sherla fell to pieces in her hands.

Acheran stood as the fury of the storm raged above her, reveling in an ecstasy

she'd never felt before. She had never dared to fully absorb another's soul, it

was considered too dangerous. Now she couldn't imagine it any other way.

With her resolve strengthened, she began to change to a dark mist and rose up

past the storm and the upper atmosphere. Soon, she would feel this again, but

with a human's soul. She would not fail again.....

Scorpius stood in the command center of his base, while techs and others ran

about in a frenzied panic. They'd tried to regroup and get reinforcements after

the botched trade, but a tremendous explosion had fried they're trackers. He'd

sent out some commandos to see about it, all but one returned, and they

couldn't shed any light on what caused it.

Now a sudden ionic storm had also knocked out their weapons. He could only

assume that Crichton had escaped. He scowled, no one dared cross him now.

Eleanor sat in the infirmary being looked over by Stark. He had told her

quietly after she'd woken up, not to say anything of how she got to be there.

So she feigned amnesia.

She'd been introduced to the rest of the motley crew, and was now looking

forward to very interesting experiences with them. When he introduced Aeryn

Sun, she felt his love for the raven-haired woman, and was feeling really happy

for him. As for the rest, she could tell that they were at least friends, which

was good.

Right now, though, there was an awkward silence in the room, as she had just

told John of their father's death. She numbly went through the accident, the

hospital, but left out the parts with her dreams, and Acheran. He didn't need

that on his shoulders too.

He stood there, quietly listening to her finish, and then sighed heavily. Then

he rubbed his eyes, looking like he was going to cry, but was holding back. The

others all quietly withdrew, although she could tell that Aeryn lingered

outside the door. She could feel the Sebaceon's concern for John, and was

touched by it.

"John," she said quietly, "he was very proud of you."

He looked up, his eyes brimming with tears, and then sat down next to her. He wrapped an arm about her shoulders and she leaned on to him. They stayed like that for the longest time.

Finally he spoke, "You took a terrible risk getting here, Ellie."

"I know," she answered, and then smirked, "unlike you of course."

He smiled and gave her a slight pinch, "Aw shut up."

She giggled, "Ouch! Jerk," she whacked his chest.

He was laughing now, "Ok, its now past your bed-time." He got up, hoisting her along, and headed towards the door. She felt Aeryn withdraw and go down the corridor. Ellie frowned, the sebacean seemed afraid of something, but she couldn't say what. She felt too tired to think about it, and let John take her to her room. She got into the bed, grateful for rest.

He turned to leave, and she called out to him, "John?"

He half-turned, "yeah?"

"I love you."

He smiled widely, "Love you too kiddo," and then he left......

Aeryn Sun stood on the terrace, staring up at the stars. Her shoulder ached and there was going to be a nice scar where that bizarre creature had slashed her. At least they were all alive and with minimal damage. D'argo had barely been scratched, Stark was uninjured, it looked like she had borne the brunt of the attack.

Oh course, there was the thing with the assistant, "Acheran" Stark had called her. She'd try to do something to John. He had said something about, "consuming him." The thought sent a shudder up her spine.

She'd nearly lost him, she realized, again. She sighed, there was no more denying that she loved the strange human. She'd told him that they wouldn't act on it, because it could distract them during a battle. Now, she realized that, distraction or no distraction, they were just as likely to get killed. She could almost hear Zhaan telling her that she may as well be happy while she had time.

"Hey..." John's voice behind her almost made her jump.

She looked behind her and said, "Hey," back.

He came up to her and wrapped his arms about her, and they stayed like that for arns, just staring up at the stars.....

Eleanor awoke with a start. There was someone else in the darkened room with her. She looked about with a heightened sense of alarm, even using her other senses. She then smiled, relieved.

"Zhaan," she said, "where have you been?"

The blue woman appeared, sitting at the foot of her bed smiling, "Oh, here and there....You know what happened?"

Ellie picked through her memory, "yes," she said quietly, "but I don't

understand-"

"You don't need to, not yet. Just know you're safe and with your brother," the Delvian spirit gazed at her for a moment before saying, "I'm very proud of you Ellie, but there is more you need to learn. Stark will teach you. As will I."

Ellie looked up at her surprised and Zhaan said, "You have great potential

Ellie, and you're very important."

Before Eleanor could respond, Zhaan leaned forward and kissed her forehead, and

then departed the room. Ellie sat in her bed wondering what the Pa'u had meant,

but she was still exhausted and so lay back in bed.

She smiled. What did it matter now? She was away from Earth, but reunited with

her brother. Home is where the heart is, and her heart was with her only

family. She fell asleep to that peaceful thought...

End of  Chapter 2

Chapter 3 coming soon