Susanna felt sort of groggy and out of touch. There was a persistent feeling in her head that something was going on. It had something to do with Lilith and the elf. Some plans were brewing but Susanna couldn't remember what they were. She felt so useless. She'd caged a powerful demon in her soul for four years with only minor slip ups along the road and when it really mattered she fell short.

"Susanna..." said a hesitant voice from the door.

It was the Elf, Mahtan. Good he was safe, it was of the utmost importance that he remained that way. Lilith's plan needed him dead to achieve her goals. Perhaps this Elf could stop the Storm Demon once and for all. Something like that. Whatever it was Susanna had to keep Mahtan safe, though at the moment it looked more like the Elf was doing the saving. "We need to get out of here, now. Are you okay to walk?" he said worriedly looking out the door.

Susanna couldn't see them but she could hear the chants of "Burn Her" from the street. Had Seth wanted her dead? He'd come to this village and laid her there after announcing that she'd passed out performing Witchcraft. Susanna understood the principles of Witchcraft very well and it was not that different from a mage's magic. It came from the environment rather than the mage but regardless of its fundamentals it was highly illegal. Seth might as well have cut her throat with a blade. He'd certainly tried to sign her death warrant.

Susanna in way of response stared at the elf, signaling that she was indeed capable of walking. She'd been drained completely of energy, she hadn't been mortally wounded. With an almost two day sleep she had recovered perfectly or perhaps better. Susanna felt like she could run for miles, though it looked like Mahtan planned on doing all the running. He pulled her staff from its place on her vest with was hanging on a rack and thrust it into her hand for support. Susanna took it without complain and dress herself in a farm boys breaches and shirt which might once have been white. She pulled on heavy duty combat boots that were made especially for stealth and speed but could still deliver a decent kick if nessesary. Susanna then pulled on the leather vest that held her Staff with two clasps and her father's army sword. When she was dressed Mahtan looked her up and down and decided that she was ready to go outside.

"Good, then we need to go. Here, let me help you.."

The elf wrapped Susanna's left arm around his shoulder, Susanna knew perfectly well that at their height difference he'd end up doing most of the running since her feet barely touched the ground. Mahtan wrapped his arm around Susanna's waist and started to run at full speed away from the mod of people with pitchforks and torches. Honestly she wasn't an ogre. Mahtan abandoned the path and started to run through a ditch. She could hear his boots squelching in the mud but it didn't seem to slow him down at all. The Elves were known for their stamina and strength. Slowly the sound of the angry villagers faded behind them. When they finally stopped they were once again standing on a road. It split in four different directions, a crossroad. 

Susanna didn't like this. These places had a very special meaning for demons like the one slumbering in Susanna's soul. Crossroad were said to be not only the crossing of physical paths but also the places were the worlds touched. It made Susanna feel uneasy and jumpy and this feeling only intensified when she saw where one of these roads led. A crumbling charred sign read Veiron. Susanna didn't need a sign to tell her. She could see the great expanse of the might city walls right in front of her. They were practically at the gates.

"Well...what now?"

Susanna heard the voice from behind her and immediately spun on her heels her hands outstretched and [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45CA0w-8TGs]slapped[/url] Mahtan across his silver face.

"Do you have any idea where this is?" She said slowly anger building in her heart. This was where everything had started. This is where Susanna had died and Lilith was born. "This is Veiron, where it all started, THE CITY OF DEMONS!" She yelled into his face. Then she turned to look at a crumbling burned shack that lay near the road. It had once held a family of five who hunted illegally in the King's forests because they couldn't afford to feed one another. Susanna could still hear there screams as Lilith one by one chopped of their fingers and toes, then to the wrist and ankles taking her time with it, enjoying her freedom. Susanna could still hear their pleas with her to let them die but Lilith just cackled. Susanna wasn't even really talking to Mahtan any more just was reliving it herself as she spoke. "This is where I lost, my father, my freedom, my innocence, snatching in on minute to the next."

Susanna suddenly remembered that the Elf was there. She flipped her hair from it's dishevelled position to one shoulder and gathered it in her hands so that her neck was visible. "Do you know what this is? She said pointing to the ruin with her free hand. It was eight hands point in the cardinal directions then at the in between ones. Each arm ended in a split into three like a trident and in the centre a circle covered the meeting of the arms. "I'd imagine you know what that means Elf." Susanna looked him in the eyes and she knew her own were as black and any color could be but she didn't care. "This place tainted me for life. I've been shunned, and beaten and chased from the four corners of this world because of what this city did to me and you just brought me back to where it all started." Susanna wanted to us her staff to beat his crotch again but she'd sworn to herself that she wouldn't ever do that again so instead Susanna let her fist sink into Mahtan's eye. It felt good to do some damage again.

[i]That's it girl, let all of that rage out. If you'd used my powers like this after my fall you wouldn't have been chased, you would have been doing the chasing.[/i]

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! I suffered from Veiron but that was nothing compared to what you made me do or after, when I finally got it all back you pushed your needy little cries for attention onto me. I never asked for this and I never wanted it." Susanna yelled no longer caring what Mahtan thought of her. She was at the end of her rope and seeing Veiron again, that was the finally straw.

Susanna felt something hit the back of her head and she fell to the ground out cold.

[i]Lilith breathed in long and deep taking in the smells of where she'd first sprang forth from the depths after so many years and even better of the corpses that she could just smell inside the charred house. What fun that had been. She ran her tongue across Susanna's teeth. She'd do it again soon when this arrogant little girl was finally put in her place.

Lilith stood and looked at her Prince, Mahtan heir to the throne of Reach and the chosen one of her master. Lilith looked at him appraisingly. If he only knew the power he had. Mahtan could obliterate her with a thought but he was nowhere near, understanding enough to use that power, not yet. He did not look remarkable for an elf. He was tall and pale with a good deal of muscles that some elves fail to accumulate. His work as an assassin had given him speed and grace. He was as good a choice as could be made. Of course part of it was a private joke among the underworlders.

The Elves had been the first, the first raise created by God. He'd given them there pointed ears so they could hear his messages. It was supposed to be a tremendous gift. They failed him; the Elves became reclusive and did not uphold his creation so God had made man. They were not gifted with hearing the Lord's word so God created the angels in human form as a liaison. The old fool was always forgetting the minor details and scrambling to make them right at the last second. He was like an old clock maker that Lilith had once cut into tiny little pieces before burning him. She'd always had a certain fondness for cutting and fire.[/i]

"You'll do, I suppose. You have been named Champion by my master. With this honor, comes great power and the freedom to use. Follow his instructions sent by me or sometimes others and we can bring about tremendous change in this world. So something like Veiron never has to happen again."

[i]Lilith pondered how true what she'd said was... Regardless of how twisted and warped Lilith was for the most part she was honest. Her truths were always half-truths taken at their worst but they were true none the less. Veiron was a building block. With this dark prince's help nothing so petty would have to happen again.[/i]

"You must wonder who I am Mahtan. I am Lilith. I showed you the way to Susanna and your revenge when you felt lost. Follow this path and you shall have your vengeance for Arya's death. For the moment you can think of me as... Susanna's more stable side. She knows I'm here but she doesn't know I can take control at certain intervals. She should have known better than to lose her composure at a crossroads. These are my old stomping grounds. [b]Remember Mahtan I am here to help and my presents doesn't harm Susanna at all. You will not mention this to her. Tell her that a group of bandits was brought by her screaming and knocked her unconscious. You chased them off and saved her life. She will love you for it..[/b]

[i]Lilith smiled again. She knew that the last part would not register in Mahtan's conscious mind but he should follow her suggestions if she had done her job right. If not then she could always make Susanna forget. It was tiring and sometimes difficult but she could do it if necessary. Lilith smirked before lying down on the ground and letting Susanna wake from her demon induced coma.[/i]

Susanna groaned. She felt like someone had struck her in the back of the head. It was still throbbing. "Aah." She let out as a pained sigh. "What happened?" She couldn't have been out that long, the sun was still standing and Mahtan stood were she'd left him.