Lily sat on the back of a strong grey and white horse, its black main shone beautifly in the light of the village, its hoves clicked on the cobble stones in the main square. Rays of light from the street lamps shone on the ground. No lights light the windows of the village, except for one building set slightly apart from the others. Lily guided her horse in that direction. She stoped the horse infront of door and read the wooden sign swining in the light breeze above the door. 'Kaima Inn'

Lily dismounted from the horse and walked it to the stables near by, she tied it up in the only free stable and stroked its mane before walking to the door of the inn. Lily placed a hand on the brass knob but it wouldnt turn. She tried again. Locked. Then two brown eyes appeared from the peephole in the door.

Lily smiled. "I'm looking for a place to pay for a few nights, whats your price?" She asked.

"Ten gold coins a night." Said the man behind the door.

"Done." She said pulling out a bag of twenty gold coins.

The wooden door opened and their stood a stalky man who took the coins, examined them, and motioned for her to walk in. The first floor room was dusty, small and had a bar with a few tables. Lily chose a table in the corner and removed her snow white traveling cloak to reveal a pair of majestic black angel wings, dark brown hair, and stunning green eyes. She set her lean body down on the chair and sighed. In contrast she wore a snow white dress with gold trim it fell off the shoulders and had a point at the waist.

The bartender and owner noticed this and scoweld, she had no knowlage of the war between good and evil going on at the time and didnt think he would think more of her black wings. He strode over to her angrily and stood infront of her hands on hips. "Your kind is not welcome here, you must leave and take your money with you!" He shouted angrily throwing the bag of money down on the table.

"What do you mean?" She said taken aback standing up herself and looking him in the eye angrily.

"The darkness is not welcome here." He said pointing to her wings. "You must leave at once before I call someone to drag you out of here."

"Fine, I'll leave." She said making her wings flare out more and giving him a rude hand motion before taking her money and walking back out the door on her way to the stables.

Sir Caius Lucius sat down in the pub in Kaima Inn. He sagged forward in his chair and let out a yawn. He had been to the war of Light and Dark, defended Lomedor against thieves and pirates, and protected trade caravans between the wild lands of cities. It was time for a bit of rest and relaxation.

The bartender walked up to him with a glass in his hand. “What would like today sir?”
“Pint of the local bitter please…” He said.
The bartender filled his glass of a dark brown drink and handed it to him. Caius sat back and took a drink. He swished the ale around in his mouth enjoying the smoking and smooth taste it had to offer. He swallowed and let out a gasp of refreshment. “That hit the spot.” He said setting his glass down.
“So what brings you here to Estolad?” The bartender asked.
“Vacation. Work is difficult, got to get away from everything.”
“sounds nice.” The bartender added.
“Not really. Something will happen here in the next 10 minutes to stir things up a bit.”

He turned his head slightly and looked over to see a girl remove her cloak and reveal a pair of black wings. One thought went through his head.
… Demon….
He was knight and it was his part of his oath to rid the world of her kind. The bartender serving him walked away and went to yell at the girl.

"Your kind is not welcome here, you must leave and take your money with you!"
“What do you mean?”
"The darkness is not welcome here." He said pointing to her wings. "You must leave at once before I call someone to drag you out of here."
"Fine, I'll leave."

As the bartender return Caius stood. He placed a coin on the table. “See what I mean.”
He placed his right hand on his sword moved toward the door. As the young woman exited the Inn he shouted to her.
“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!”
He pulled out his sword and pointed the tip towards her head. “FREEZE.”

"Freeze!"

Lily froze, her wings folded down before she turned to the man who had spoken, she looked at him with her green eyes, her dark brown hair fell over her face. She smiled slightly but decided to be careful, she didnt have her sword with her at the moment , it was still with the horse. If he knew the truth, he would know that she was indeed half angel, and if it were day her wings would be white.

The bartendd snuck behind her and locked the door, she was now trapped between wood and metal. She kept her breathing eaven even though she was scared. She knew her deamon side could get her in trouble, she often struggled, at night, to keep it in check. But she also knew that her angelic side could also get her introuble, she at the moment just happened to be in her demonic form. "Listen, I'm not here for anyones entertainment. You dont really want to mess with me, so just stop and take a second." She said hoping he would give her a chance to explain but after the words came out of her him she realized it might just tick him off even more.

"Listen, I'm not here for anyones entertainment. You dont really want to mess with me, so just stop and take a second."

Her words made him more cautious. Perhaps she did not realize he enforced the law. He did not stop and take a second. People stopped and did what he told them to do, that is how it worked. He was slightly offended as well. She did not even seemed armed, which he noticed right away. She was most likely careless and left her gear with her form of transportation. A mistake some one who knew little about fighting would make.

Caius looked at the girl. "No you don't want to mess with me."
His right arm surged with electricty as he moved closer to the girl. The eletrical current surged into his sword, conducting his static touch on his shortsword. "I'll do the talking and you answer my questions." He said. He kept his vision tunneled on her. His stance became aggressive. "I am Sir Caius Lucius. When you answer me you will call me Lord Lucius or Sir Caius, is that clear?" He did not give her time to answer.

"You should have a master or if not citizenship or nobility. Tell me your full name, rank, and reason for being here." he said. Everyone had a some occupation or job. He could determine her alignment by where she was from, that was easy enough.

Morkus took one sip of the drink infront of him and his nose wrinkled, followed by an uncharacteristic frown.
"Not the sort of thing I'm used to," he muttered.
"Just be grateful you can drink at all," Winter replied solemnly.
"Are you implying anything there?" Morkus asked "you always use the same tone of voice, so it's hard to tell if your serious or not."
"Judge for yourself,"
Morkus chuckled and sipped his drink, Winter hadn't ordered anything and was merely leaning on the table twiddling her thumbs. Morkus was rocking back on his chair without a care in the world, experimentally gulping down his mug.

"I wonder," he muttered "How a person like you grew up to be like you are."
Winter sat up and looked over at him, her face betraying no curiosity but she wouldn't deny the feeling either.
"I mean, you must have had a childhood, right?" Morkus continued between sips "what happened to that?"
Morkus showed his fanged vampire smile that he wore just about anywhere. Winter merely scowled and looked away again, choosing not to answer the question.
"My past is none of your buisness," she replied quietly and emotionlessely.

Morkus shrugged and took another sip, turning his attention to the commotion going on at the other end of the bar. He nudged Winter and she sat up and watched.
"Bit of a dumb move, showing the wings of like that," he muttered "it's like me flashing fangs to every pedestrian in the street."
Winter ignored him, her eyes had narrowed as she watched. Morkus noticed the expression and his smile broadened. He'd been tagging after Winter for nearly a week now, and he knew exactly what was going to happen when her expression chaned like that.
"Have fun," he said casually.

A little while after the knight had finished monolouging, Winter calmly drew one of her katana's and tappe him to the head with the flat of the blade, resting the weapon on her soulder once she'd finished this action.
"Only cowards draw weapons to the unarmed," she stated in the same emotionless tone, however there was a hint of annoyance in her voice "and that means you."
Winter took a second to take the man in, he didn't seem evil or greedy, not even a hint of malice on his whole person, however Winter never usually favoured anybody just because they looked like a nice guy.

"You could be king of the world for all I care," she continued "but that's no signal to overestimate you own job."
She glanced over the man's shoulder at the girl, taking note of the black wings and the timid expression. Her own expression didn't soften or harden, she merely took her in and then turned her attention back to the knight that just spoiled the prospect of an uneventeful evening.

Lily backed away a couple inches and pressed her back against the door, his sword was right in her face and she could see the electric charge he had sent down to the tip.

"No you don't want to mess with me."

Lily narrowed her eyes for a moment or two before keeping his gaze. Her green eyes searched his. He had the attitude of an authority figure. She pressed her palms against the door to keep her cool. Her deamon side could often be angry, lustfull, and stupid.

"I am Sir Caius Lucius. When you answer me you will call me Lord Lucius or Sir Caius, is that clear?"

Lily was ready to awnser no but he didnt let her talk, she never liked being below anyone and that made her fell lower rank that him.

"You should have a master or if not citizenship or nobility. Tell me your full name, rank, and reason for being here."

"Master?" She spit out, in her native realm if woman had masters they had chains. "I am Lily Ashtree, I am a wanderer, I have no master, I was forced onto this realm, and now I need some decent place to sleep, I simply cant sleep on the ground of a desert." She let a gust of wind out of her palm or atleast the biggest one she could conjur at the moment without her full magical abilities present, she sent the wind to move the sword away from her face.

It was many a year since his last visit to this small, rural village. It was strange for a demon of his character but he never had any intent to destroy this village, it was decent enough where people actually worked hard to make a living; they didn't fall into despair and beg nor did they corrupt themselves over riches. But that wasn't the only reason he left this town unscathed...

Valafar's visit to the town was purely for information gathering. As his loyal accomplice, Arelia, was out searching for any clues to the whereabouts of any pieces of the artifact he wished to possess, he was simply here to eavesdrop, as many adventurers come through here for supplies or rest, and sometimes talk of their travels of the places they've been to and the things they have seen. And a good place to start was the Kaima Inn.

He was dressed in his usual blue noble clothes with a gold trim, his black cloak tucked behind him to show off his fancy taste in clothing. The demon walked towards the closed entrance to the pub only to hear shouting from nearby, "FREEZE!" Valafar did just that, but he knew it wasn't aimed towards himself, he couldn't have been that suspicious.

Looking over, he saw a knight staring down a girl, his sword drawn. The girl's looks were pleasing to the eye... elegant brown hair, piercing green eyes, thin petite body... but one feature made her really stand out, the black, somewhat ominous, wings. It was a rare thing to see, but Valafar knew what she was, and it was something that would not be tolerated by a simple commoner or law-abiding knight.

Even more the knight seemed to possess some magical abilities as electricity traveled through his seemingly normal sword. Valafar continued to listen and observe as the girl replied that her name was Lily Ashtree. Ashtree... a very familiar name to the demon, but his thoughts were cut as another being decided to sneak behind the knight, Sir Caius, telling him a few words of mannerisms. This is turning out to be quite a mess in this small town... all because of a couple of black wings.

Taking this opportunity while the knight was somewhat distracted, he pushed his spectacles up his nose and calmly walked over to the Ashtree girl, placing a soft hand on her shoulder, his smile was bright and handsome as he spoke in a very charming voice, "Lily, my dear, I told you to keep the wings from sight." His focus turned to the knight saying quickly but not abandoning his charm, "I'm her caretaker, sir, I'm sorry for the disturbance. Let's go, Lily." It was a bluff, yet a plausible one, and he nudged Ashtree to move along, whispering faintly in her ear, "Just play along, you do not want to fight that one, Miss Ashtree." His intentions were his own... perhaps she had information, or some kind of knowledge, and it would be useless if that foolish knight killed her.

Lilys heart stopped when she felt the hand on her shoulder, she assumed she was in even more trouble than before. She turned arround to see a tall, handsome mand smiling down at her and looking toward the knight who still had his sword up to her face.

"Lily, my dear, I told you to keep the wings from sight.I'm her caretaker, sir, I'm sorry for the disturbance. Let's go, Lily." He said to her and the knight. Lily was left speech less, their was a part of her that wanted to cross her arms and say no. But that probably wasnt the smartest idea, sometimes her demonic side also made her to stupid things. Lily could feel his hot breath on her ear as he whispred to her to play along. She sighed and decided to play it safe.

Lily put on a stupid smile and giggled. "I'm sorry, I didnt mean to, I must have just had a fleating moment of stupidity. I apologize for creating such a stir." She began to walk out the door and into the dark night, her dress flowed wtih her body movements as she walked into the cool night air. She closed the door behind both of them when the two were safely outside.

"Sir, I thank you but I think you should know that I normally would be able to handle myself." She had always been a rather stubborn woman. She smiled a charming smile, and flared her wings.

Valafar led the girl away from the ugly scene, going around the tavern, out of sight, then towards a nearby empty barn, opening the door for Ashtree before closing it behind them. He took a better look at Lily, and he concluded that her looks were more than pleasing, they were marvelous. Surely she wasn't of this world, just as she said.

"Sir, I thank you but I think you should know that I normally would be able to handle myself." She said with a charming smile.

Valafar chuckled, "You're brave, but overconfident. It's going to get you killed someday." He walked to her side, stroking one of her black wings gently, "I find it peculiar that a being of your stature is in this realm, let alone this village. Usually those who cross from one realm to another lose much or all of their powers if they are unprepared. And in your case," his hand lifted her chin so his glimmering red eyes could look into her brilliant green eyes, "you are not an exception. So you must be careful, young Ashtree, this world is unforgiving."

He knew what she was and where she came from, the name gave it all away. But that was no reason to give her "friendly" advice. Normally he would've allowed her to be killed, or even killed her himself, but deep inside, it told him it wasn't his place to do such a thing... there was an element about her...

The demon crossed his arms and leaned against a vertical support beam, his charm ever present, "So, please, tell me why you are here in Arda, tell me about yourself while you're at it. I'd love to hear a story from a member of the Ashtree family, it's so rare to meet someone like yourself, and we almost have nothing better to do until things die down outside."

Lily stood in the barn with her arms crossed, her dress still had tears from the war that she had indured in her realm. And she fully intended to fight in the war of this realm. Lily took in what the man looked like, he was indeed handsome, in a dangeorus kind of way, she couldnt help but smile a little.

"You're brave, but overconfident. It's going to get you killed someday." Lily shook of his hand that was stroking the black feathers of her wings."I find it peculiar that a being of your stature is in this realm, let alone this village. Usually those who cross from one realm to another lose much or all of their powers if they are unprepared. And in your case," Lily looked into his eyes as he tilted her chin upward, they were red, blood red, another handsom yet dangerous quality. "you are not an exception. So you must be careful, young Ashtree, this world is unforgiving."

"I was stripped of my powers, all but some of the wind, the rest was lost, and yes I may be over confidant, but I feel its better than having no confidance at all, that can also get you in trouble, and I also am a unforgiving person." She smiled a teasing smile. "Most the time."

Lily never let her secrets go easily, and she never trusted easily either, she was still slightly suspicous of the man, surly their was something he wanted from her or for her to do, she noticed people in this realm didnt just stop for freindly conversation.

Lily chuckled. "I didnt come her on my own free will, I was forced here. I suppose your right it will be a while before it calms down. I would much rather talk about the customs of this realm than myself, I need to know the rules so I can atleast walk arround with out getting in trouble, I will tell you this though, in my native realm I was an empress so being bossed arround by a bartender, and having a master, is not what I am used to." She said, being a slave of someone, willing or unwillingly didnt seem like much fun to her.

An empress? Valafar thought to himself. She was more than a member of a noble family, she was part of the royal family. He didn't know the Ashtrees had that kind of standing in the realm they were from... this was most interesting indeed. No wonder she didn't like being ordered around by that knight.

"The customs of this realm..." Valafar thought for a moment, his hand stroking his chin as a gesture of pondering, "I would say it's quite simple. Secrecy goes a long way, having a low-profile, not causing unnecessary ruckus. Through my many years, I believe those are key to getting what you desire." The demon nodded to himself, looking back to Lily, "Those wings are very high profile, so you should always keep them concealed in some way, by cloth or by spell. You'll find that your travels will be more pleasant that way."

The smell of distrust reeked off the girl, and she had good reason. He was a killer, an evil being, and she didn't know that, but there was an uneasiness in the air... perhaps it was time to reveal himself, "Miss Ashtree, I suppose you don't know why I'm helping you and giving you advice?" He stood in front of her, smiling, placing a hand on her shoulder, "My name is Valafar, and I was hoping you could be of assistance to me. You see, I've been searching for the broken pieces of a certain artifact that was created by the One God, Ilúvatar. It has been my quest for quite some time and I was hoping since you are an empress of a realm... I was hoping you would know something about it." With his free hand, he pulled out what seemed like a piece of stone, but it was flat on two ends and had a faint impression of a partial word in Quenya, the ancient language of the elves. "This is one of those pieces."

Lily's long and elegent fingers clutched his hand and moved it off her shoulder before she folded her arms in front of her chest. Of course he wanted something, thats how most of the people shse had met here were. They wanted your help they wanted something you had, they wanted information, they wanted you, its was an endless circle of want.

Lily smiled. "I am sorry to dissapoint, especialy those with hadsome features, but I dont belive I know what your talking about." She said eyding the peice of stone he held in his hand. "And it is beyond me why you would ask me about this, I arrived her only recently." She said jumping onto the back of the horse. "And because no one knows of my royal blood, I suppose I must not mention it to anyone else." She said thoughtfully more to herself than Valafar

OCC:(sorry for the short post)

He shook his head, not realizing how foolish it was to ask someone as young as her about the artifact. It was ancient, it was precious, but it was also dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands... like his own, "My apologies, Miss Ashtree, I thought you would know more. But from what I read, the followers of Ilúvatar had this artifact blessed by reach realm, including your own, so it would present itself as a symbol of infinity."

The situation outside was well dead, so it was safe for them to travel outside and to her horse. Perhaps she was lying about her knowledge of the artifact, perhaps she knew how powerful it really was and she didn't want it to fall into some stranger's hands... it was smart of her to do so, but if he was in a killing mood, it would ultimately be a grave thing to do.

"It's true that you should keep your identity a secret, people would be awkward to that fact." Valafar told her before stroking the horse's neck, "I hope you find your travels well, Empress. There are many dangers out there... like myself..." he said, his face as appealing as ever, "For my services rendered to you today you will owe me a favor, your Highness. If you refuse, a demon like myself would have to kill you, like all useless things, but, believe me, that is not my wish, for you are a beautiful and spectacular being. I will contact you again in time. Farewell." And with that, he left her, vanished with a flap of his cloak as if he was never there.

Black Thorn stumbled a bit as he slammed the door open. His black body fluzed slightly in his currently weakened state from the light outside. He gave a sharp glare around as his body fell to the ground and picked back up as though it was an elemental being summoned. People watched him as he made his way to a corner atntil he reached the seat. His black eyes showed no emotion and his shadowed body He chuckled a bit, his voice low and dark as he sat, examining everything with great interest. he would destroy it, but for now it provided him protection from the light outside. He let out a low growl as his body continued to flux for several moments more.

When he smiled, she was very taken, it was a very dangerous smile, the right kind of wrong one might say. She wanted to ask the favor before he left, but he did suddinly. Just like a deamon. She thought to herself To vanish before one can say anything back.

Lily now sat on her horse frustrated, it was against her better judgment to let a stranger help her, but no she let him. This is fabulous. She thought to herself, the artifact she did know some of, but he would never know that. She woudlnt give the information. She was also half deamon he had evidentaly forgotten.

Lily sighed and kicked her horse, the horse took of in the night, hits hoovs hitting the ground hard, her dark brown hair flying in the wind. She needed someplace to stay, to restore her magic engery.