Dream Key ~Caleb and Zeria only~

Kesh'e mumbled from under the blankets, her voice weak. But what she said was unable to be heard. Instead, she snuggled as close to Kale as she could the moment he climbed in, her body shivering.

"I-I...hate rain..."

She drew the flames from the fireplaces over to her, absorbing them into her body for extra warmth. She needed the heat if she wanted to get any energy back anytime soon...

He moved his hand over her cheek, and kissed her pale lips. She was so vulnerable at times. He moved his arm down to her hips, and held her tightly, keeping his body as close as he could. He could feel her against every part of his body.

"I know."

Wrapping his legs around hers, he kissed her more passionately.

"I'm here for you. I'll help keep you warm, no matter how much rain we find along the way."

Kesh'e kissed him back with all the strength she had left in her body, but she found that her body temperature was rising the longer they kissed.

"I'm just...glad to have you here with me..."

She pressed her lips to his throat, no longer shivering. It seemed the warmth from the fire and his body were helping her recover much quicker.

"You're amazing, Kale...I don't know what I'd do without you..."

Her lips pressed against the nape of his neck, causing him to lean his head back, leaving it fully vulnerable. His neck was almost like an erogenous zone. He let out a tiny moan through his closed mouth, his body tensing slightly. And it wasn't the only thing tensing up, as she'd probably feel at this range, especially in the nude.

He looked her in the eyes, then held her tight. He just wanted her warm. He wanted her to feel better. Being that cold, for such a hot blooded creature, must feel like torture.

"I promised I'd protect you. I sacrificed my arm, nearly got myself killed. Hugging you is the least I can do. And it's not something I wouldn't anyway, either," he smiled.

Kesh'e found that the longer they were together, the more warmth returned to her body, and the more energy she had. She could feel his excitement growing too, as her lips teased at his throat.

"I can feel the fire within you...it's...a wonderful feeling, Kale..."

She let her pointed canines scrape lightly against skin, not hard enough to damage him, but hard enough to feel. She pressed another kiss to his throat, murmuring against his skin...

"Can you feel my desire?"

"Y-Yes..." he had quickly lost whatever dominance he had in the situation. Her teeth teased at his flesh, causing his body to scream in delight. His hand weaseled its' way up to her breast, and massaged it tenderly, before making its' way up to her chest, which he clawed at lightly.

Indeed, he literally could feel it. Her warmth, seemed to pour out like a physical thing, and wrap itself around him. Her love itself, seemed to bind him by her side, draining the strength from his body, reducing him to nothing more than her pet. No wonder she was afraid of her effects on him that night. She was the ultimate seductive creature.

"Kesh'e... You're so beautiful."

But he was falling into this spell of his own volition, of course. He was willingly submitting to her charms, letting them warm his soul, as he helped to warm her. His breathing became heavy, and lustful.

Kesh'e shivered with delight the moment his hand found her breast, working its way up her chest. She squirmed in delight, though she was disappointed that he seemed totally submissive. So she did what she wanted, flipping him on top of her with her strength, her lips still teasing at his throat. She purred in his ear, grinding her hips against his.

"Touch me, Kale..."

Her gaze found his, obsidian eyes glowing with desire.

"Make me yours..."

That's right... how could be be so blinded by what happened two night ago? So what if she had a way with her body? He was no slouch himself. This warmth wasn't meant to pin him down. It was meant to keep him close. She wanted him to make her his.

So he took her leg, and pulled it up,almost to her shoulder. leaving her completely open. His left arm still couldn't work, but that was okay. Pressing his body against hers, he inserted himself. This close, every movement would pleasure her just as much as anything else. His right arm firmly held her leg in place, his eyes glistening with an otherworldly glow. He made it all the way in, smiling and letting loose a content sigh. His eyes were taking in the body of this lustful girl, who seemed just as lost as he was. Grasping the bed with his hand, her leg was kept in position by his arm as he moved in, and out. In, and out. He moved in various motions, every press feeling different than the last, rubbing against just the right places on her body.

"You're quite the lady. But just as you've driven me crazy the other night?"

He moved his lips to her ear, biting it lightly, before whispering into it, breathing softly into it at the same time.

"Now it's your turn to be driven mad with love."

Kesh'e was glad she had a dancer's flexibility as he moved her leg. Her breath came in soft pants, her body eager and ready for his. As their bodies meshed together, it drew a moan from Kesh'e, and she squirmed with delight. It didn't take him long before she was worked up into a frenzy, her loud moans of pleasure reverberating off the walls.

"Kale!"

Fire rolled around the room, heating everything and fueling Keshe's need. She was like a wild animal, begging him for more and more.

"Yes! Oh god, yes!"

Flames danced across her body, amplifying every sensation, sending her spiraling in ecstacy...

His left arm began to glow with a white aura, as it suddenly filled with strength. Was it her power, or something primal within him? He never could figure out his powers, but that didn't matter. Scooping up her other leg, he raised it as well, forcing her body to take him like it would as though it was from behind, rubbing up against her inside walls tightly.

Powerfully, yet not quickly, he pushed, and pulled, driving his love into her. Kissing her with nothing short of lust, he rotated his hips inside of her. He could feel it. The raw nature of the situation. His tongue explored hers, as her fire bathed him in her essence. He wanted more of her. More, more! He craved her!

"Kesh'e... Kesh'e!"

Just when Kesh'e thought her body couldn't take anymore, Kale lifted her other leg up, and she felt deeper penetration. She gasped out in pleasure, her body arching slightly.

"Kale!"

Her tongue danced its tango with his, passion exploding within her. Kale was everything. Kale was her world. All that mattered was that moment, then and there, two bodies entangled in an everlasting embrace. Eventually the pressure built to a point where Kesh'e couldn't take anymore, and her body clamped down on his. She threw her head back as she found release, crying out his name...

"Ah-!" as she contracted, she seemed to squeeze the very life out of him, and like that, caused him to release as well. Her muscles moved as though to milk him dry, and they did. His body going limp, he grasped her tightly, with both arms, and held her close.

"It seems I somehow got better too," he looked at his arm, which seemed to have instantly healed. All that was left of the wound was the scar, left by her fire on his shoulder. He was sweating from the heat. She had done more than heat up, it seemed.

His breathing was deep, and labored. He had really done himself in.

Kesh'e let her body go limp and smiled, her eyes filled with love and compassion for the man who had just made beautiful love to her.

"Kale...I...I love you...I don't know how or why so fast...but I do..."

She pressed a short, but sweet kiss to his lips as the fire around them died off, taking its spot back in the fireplace. Her body was exhausted from the rain and from their activities, and now she wanted nothing more than to rest in Kale's arms.

"Please don't ever leave me...I don't know what I'd do if I lost you..."

His smile grew warm, as he cuddled with her in the bed. The rain outside was pouring hard, providing a nice relaxing sound from indoors. His eyes grew a bit heavy. Laying next to her, he placed his hand on her breast and tenderly moved it around, not squeezing, just touching, his hand wrapped around it.

Eventually he stopped though, as his eyes forced themselves to shut. He was still nervous about all he had gotten himself into. How many times would he have to hurt himself like that to protect this girl? His biggest fear, though, was that she might do the same for him.

"The feeling is mutual... Ke'she."

-Later during the course of the night-

Kesh'e slept peacefully, her body curled tightly against Kale's. Heat rolled through her and for once, she wasn't fitful. Her dreams were calm and relaxed, and she roamed through them with a sense of happiness.

"Kale..." she murmured in her sleep.

But something was definitely amiss...and Kale would likely be able to sense it. Mages were surrounding the hotel, servants of the Magistrate Vetis who sought to end Keshe's life. And Kesh'e was too engrossed in her dream world to sense the danger...

Kale got up, feeling a very cold, foreboding aura. This wasn't good. Getting dressed, he grabbed his blade, and looked back at Kesh'e. It might be best for her to stay where she was. Letting out a deep breath, he could feel them. Wings, on his back. But they weren't visible. Yet.

Slowly, they began to materialize, albeit still transparent, folded up. He could feel himself become light on his feet. Walking outside, he could see them in their robes. Drawing his sword, he raised it. His voice had changed, and carried a deep echo to it. It sounded ethereal.

"Leave. Now."

The mages halted in their approach, but sneered at him. Sure he had some power they were unfamiliar with, but with so many of them, he didn't stand a chance.

"Not on your life. We have a job to do, and we have no intentions of stopping"

The men were in more number than originally. And more were coming from other sides. There were even spies already inside the hotel, pretending to be normal everyday people. Kesh'e could feel death there. But something else disturbed her senses. She smelled...fire. A fire mage was inside the building, lighting it up and burning. Already, the small old hotel was filling with smoke, and people were screaming as they tried to flee, but found the exits blocked.

Her eyes snapped open and she bolted upright, taking a swift intake of breath.

"Fire...they've lit this place on fire..."

She flung herself out of the bed and into her clothes, slinging her pack over her shoulder, and running out into the halls. Most had already managed to escape, but she sensed 9 people still trapped inside. She was about to take control of the fire, when she sensed something else click into place. An explosive spell. If she so much as sparked any of her magical energy, the entire place would blow, and she had no idea how to unravel such a high level spell. An ancient spell. Clearly one of Vetis' newer ones. She swore under her breath and covered her mouth and nose. If she could not command it to not affect her, she needed to be able to keep conscious. So she ran through the hotel, grabbing people, carrying them out the back entrance, and only stopping when she had grabbed all nine, despite the fire burning her as she did so. But there was something else. A young woman ran up to her, shaking her.

"My daughter! My daughter ran back inside! Please save her!"

Kesh'e frowned, not realizing what had happened.

"Remain here. I will find her. I will protect her"

She bolted back inside, coughing and covering her face again as she ran inside, following the soul trail straight to a room, and kicking in the door. A little girl of perhaps 5 was crouched in the corner crying, clinging to her doll. Kesh'e moved to herside.

"Come on, little one! We must get you out! It's not safe here!"
"I'm scared! They killed mommy!"

Kesh'e froze.

"What?"
"They killed mommy!"

The little girl pointed to a barely recognizable corpse in the corner. Kesh'e gasped. It was a setup. A mage disguised as the little girl's mother to send her back inside where the explosive spell lay in wait. She grabbed up the little girl quickly as she felt the magic starting to activate.

"HOLD ON!"

She threw up a single shield around them as she let loose her demon form. The explosion rocked the entire building, and Kesh'e was sent crashing through a window. But she wasn't protecting herself as she fell from the second story. She was holding onto that little girl and using her wings to shield the child as debris rained down and Kesh'e slammed into the ground. The people Kesh'e had gotten out rushed over to see if they were alright. The little girl was fine. Scared, but held tightly in the arms of Kesh'e as her wings finally uncurled from around her. Her bright blue eyes looked up at Kesh'e. To the child, Kesh'e was a guardian angel. Her tiny hands reached up to touch her angel's face.

"Angel? Angel, wake up"

Kesh'e groaned and her eyes fluttered open. Tears trickled down her cheeks as she felt an odd sensation within her body. She felt a shift inside of her own soul. The pure side had become bigger and now she was more pure than dark, whereas before she had been half and half.

"I did it..." she whispered weakly, though no one but the child could hear. "I did it, Kale..."

She looked to the little child in her arms.

"Do not fear...little one...I am not going to die...I am just hurt...soon the...real guardian angel will come..."

A better look at her wings revealed that they had already been severely damaged. They were feathered black wings that seemed shredded and constantly leaking blood. But now...they were pierced with shards of glass and somewhat burned from the explosion.

The mages, thinking they had done their duty, began to swarm around Kale. There were at least a good 20 of them left now, all charging up their various elemental powers to attack him.

"Give up, dark one. Your hellspawn whore is dead..."

Dead.

"Uh-" his mouth opened, but no words came out.

Dead.

"Wha-"

DEAD. The word rung through his head like he had been hit by a giant bell. His eyes wide, another pair of wings ripped from his hips. And then another. Six wings, covered in blood. Transparent, glowing with a brilliant gold. Magnificent, and pure, white. Something inside took over. An instinct, a spell. A defense mechanism, cast on his bloodline from ancient times. His voice became thunderous, drowning out the flames as his toes rose to the point they no longer touched the ground.

"Dark? You, mortal, who would call me dark?" a frightening side had took over. Whoever this was, it was not Kale.

The mages began shooting at him. Lightning, fire. But they hardly singed his flesh. The light around him acted like some kind of anti-magic armor. Readying his sword, he let loose only one more word.

"JUDGEMENT."

He swung it. The darkness of the night, for a few seconds, was ripped asunder. Like a flash of lightning, everything lit up brilliantly as a blade of light ripped through their ranks, lightning branching from it, which seemed to pierce them like arrows, and some even being torn to shreds by it. A bloodbath on the once peaceful grassy knolls. But just as quickly as this violent, wrathful side took over, the top and bottom pairs of wings snapped back under his flesh, his wounds healing over them. Returning to its' bluish glow, he fell to the ground, coughing.

He could feel her presence. She wasn't dead. It was probably that realization that snapped him out of his trance. But there were other mages still standing. shocked in awe, but standing. He gripped his sword. He would have to defeat them while he could! He glided over to one, slicing it in half in a flash of light. His own angelic might seemed more prominent the more wings he had. But even just a pair was enough to make him inhuman.

A bolt of lightning struck him, making his heart beat out of control. His chest on fire, he toppled to the ground. He almost had a heart attack. The mage in front of him started charging a fireball! But he was quickly stabbed by the sword, and ripped in two as Kale recovered.

"I have a promise... I need to keep!"

His legs grew cold as ice covered them. Not letting them trap him, he shattered it. They began to surround him again. They meant business...

Trembling with pain, Kesh'e rose to her feet, shaking off her battered wings and pulling glass shards out of her body. The little girl, Lily, watched with worry, her crystal blue eyes wide with fear.

"Worry not...young one...I am simply a bit...worse for wear..."

She took the childs hand, leading her around the destroyed remains of the building that still crackled with flames and smoldered into ash. It was when she saw the mages closing in on a battered Kale....that Kesh'e snapped herself. Another explosion from within the flames happened, and geysers of flame rose up, snaking around, and beginning to incinerate the men. Screams of terror filled the air and mages tried to flee. One ran straight into Kesh'e herself, who impaled him on her scimitar, wrenching the blade and twisting it in the man's gut.

"No one...and I mean NO ONE, TOUCHES MY KALE!"

It was only when a tiny little girl in a tattered and burned dress clung to her leg, shaking something terrible, that Kesh'e froze and let her magic and scimitar fade away.

"P-pretty angel...p-please don't get m-mad...."

Keshe's expression softened, and she kneeled down, placing a hand on the girl's cheek.

"Lily...sweet little Lily....you have no need to fear me....I am simply protecting the real angel..."

Her gaze went to Kale, but just as she was reaching out for him, her adrenaline shut off.....and Kesh'e suddenly collapsed. Lily screamed and shook Kesh'e, cutting her little hands on the shards of glass still sticking out of Keshe's flesh as the wings faded away into shadows...

It all happened so fast. Kale struggled back to his feet, and limped over to her. He never thought he'd have both burns, and frostbite at the same time. Kneeling, he took her into his arms, and looked over to the girl. His wings faded away. He suddenly heard a voice in his head though, just before they did. Picking up Kesh'e, he looked over to her, a sudden tear in his eye.

"Your mom... says she loves you."

He looked over to Kesh'e. He suddenly felt something in her that was different. But, he couldn't quite put his finger on it. But she was alive. This girl had some serious gall. Holding her close, he gritted his teeth. Those men called her a demon, but they were for worse.

Kesh'e was completely limp by the time Kale got to her, cradling her close. But the little girl, Lily, was completely aware. Kesh'e had taken the brunt of the damage during the explosion.

"Mr.....Angel......?"

Despite being in a tattered and burned dress with smudges and a few little cuts on her body, the girl clung to Kale's sleeve, trembling.

"W-will pretty angel lady...be okay?"

The little girl was actually quite adorable and sweet. She had golden blond hair with a slight curl to it, and crystal blue eyes. Were she clean and in a fresh dress, without the old and tattered doll, she would be the perfect image of the child that all people in this area wanted...

"I'm......scared...."

His heart melted. Everyone else in the area had run away. Was there no one who cared about this child!? Max didn't know this area. He didn't know where to go, but he could not stay here. Placing Kesh'e down, he quickly began scouring through the rubble. He got lucky...

"We still have our supplies..."

There was only one thing left to do. Those who chased them were attacking them on a daily basis. How much longer could they keep running like this!? And this girl... He fell to his knees, and wiped a tear from his eye.

"I'm scared to. Bad people are after Ms. Angel. They almost got her."

Without warning, Lily moved to Kale's side and wrapped her tiny arms around him. The girl could be no more than age 6 or 7, but her heart was as big as a lions, and she wanted Kale to feel better.

"She'll get better, right? I-I mean...angels have powers...she has to get better..."

The child kept hugging him, beginning to cry a little.

"What am I gonna do now? Mommy is....mommy is..."

Suddenly, a very weak Kesh'e reached up, brushing away a tear from Lily's cheek.

"I...will take...care of you.......I promise...to find...you a new home..."

Kesh'e then turned her attention to Kale.

"We'll....be okay...the next ones...shouldn't come...for a while..."

His heart crumbled. Would they be able to take care of this girl? They were hardly able to protect themselves... But whatever the case, they owed the child for her mother's death in a way. He smiled.

"If you insist, Kesh'e," he knelt down and looked the girl in the eyes, still holding Kesh'e in his arms, "If you like that idea... may we rest in your house tonight? It wouldn't be good to just brave the wilderness this late at night."

He felt something sinister coming from nearby... It felt familiar, but not demonic. Looking back, he saw the silhouette of a tall man disappear into the shadows. The world was too full of mystery even now. He somehow had more questions than when he began...

Kesh'e nodded to Kale. She had known from the start since she'd rescued Lily, that it was now her duty to ensure the child's safety until Kesh'e could find a better home for her.

"I just-"

She was cut off by the feeling of a presence, and she was ready to get up and use what little strength he had to attack...but it disappeared, and she sighed.

"Lily...do you mind...if we stay at your...home?"
"S-sure...it's...okay...small though..."
"That's fine. We'll go in a moment..."

Kesh'e forced herself to her feet, trembling and unstable.

"I can do this..."