She was awoken the next day by a sharp movement beside her, Jaia scrambling away and she sat up, her eyes burning at the sudden light as she looked around. They had formed a dog pile at some point in the night and she was under one leg of Jaia's and Versalis's entire upper body, which had slid off her waist and he had bolted upright, alert for the threat.
Instead they both turned to Jaia, who had flattened himself against the wall in the tiny pool of shade that remained.
He looked utterly terrified and it took her a good fifteen seconds to figure out why. The sun had been on him but he hadn't be burnt.
Blinking stupidly, she looked from him to the window and back again before she reached out and took his hand, drawing it slowly into the sunlight.
Nothing happened except that his hand reflected the sunlight in a bright white glow.
She gave him a tug and he inched closer to allow his whole arm to be in the sun, still nothing.
He pulled his arm free and stepped fully into the sunlight, staring up with wide eyes, his lips parted as he looked at something he hadn't been able to see properly in centuries.
She couldn't understand what had changed but suspected it might have been the trip to Faerie and it would fade away with time, but when she turned, she found Versalis looking at her throat, a crease forming between his eyebrows.
"It's you. Everything always comes back to you," he whispered and she shook her head, not understanding. "You're always the link. The special twist no one ever expects. Your blood allows him to walk in the sun."
The words didn't make any sense to her and she shook her head again.
"It was Faerie, it has to be," she said, refusing to accept that she could have any effect on the vampires in such a way. "If that was possible it would have been discovered by now. The vampires lived in Faerie and fed off the Fae in the past."
"But you're not just a member of the Fae. You're a mixture of many creatures in this world combined," he said and she frowned at him, refusing to believe him.
Jaia had vanished, crossing the room and flinging the door wide.
Scrambling after him, they stood in the sun and watched Jaia bathe in the warmth and light.
"Maybe it's you... Being close to a king? You can walk in the sun," she said, watching her friend almost glow with his paleness.
"No Etani, it's not me. You're the one changing all the rules," he breathed in her ear.
Refusing to accept that, she stepped out and approached Jaia, his eyes finding her and he took her into his arms, hugging her tightly.
She had to wonder though if Kai would be this happy and if he would be willing to test the theory or not.
They had spent the rest of the day in the sun, relishing the warmth of it and their freedom, however short that freedom might end up being. None of them had any delusions about their being free forever, eventually someone would find them, it was just a matter of time.
The plan was then set to start Etani's training, something she was anxious to get to as quickly as possible but they had decided to wait for the next day, both to give Jaia time in the sun and to give them all time to scope out the area for possible spies.
When none were forthcoming, the three settled in and training began the next morning.
***
Training with the vampires was exceptionally hard, especially when they were still so powerful, but she was determined to get through it and her prior experience meant that she was a fast learner.
They pushed her body to the absolute limits until she was screaming in pain, forcing her to bend and contort her limbs to make her more flexible, forcing her to punch and kick harder and faster, teaching her how to move and lunge.
Jaia was not only an incredible fighter, he was also an expert at how things were supposed to be. He critiqued her until she got it perfect, scolded her when she got it wrong and then praised her when she got it right. He was an expert swordsman and she was learning that too.
Her change made her lethally fast, her appearance a distraction and her body a weapon, her mind sharp and her attention focused even when Jaia tried to attack her from behind one day, she heard him as Versalis had lunged with his sword and Jaia had kicked for her back. She had crouched and thrown herself backwards in a perfect arc, landing on her feet with her sword at Jaia's throat and he grinned, incredibly pleased with her.
They kept so busy none of them noticed the passage of time, fighting daily and talking of an evening, feeding off each other when they needed it and Etani hunting when the blood of her companions couldn't satiate her.
They never noticed all six months that had passed until they were finally, eventually found.
They had been training, Versalis and Etani in the clearing moving with lightning speed to try and land a blow on one another when something had clicked and she had caught Versalis by the wrist and thrown him over her shoulder, catching the arrow to her upper chest instead of his taking it to the heart.
She gasped at the quivering fletching and looked up to see a guard looking horrified.
"Jaia!" she screamed, knowing they would be after him too and it was all the warning he would need.
They had come for them during the day, knowing that he would be easy to kill with his sensitivity to the sun. Her scream hopefully would allow him to be spared, it had however given the guards time to come down on the pair of them.
Versalis had landed hard, not expecting the move and while he was down, a black metal net had been thrown over him.
He screamed as the net burnt his flesh where it touched and she had moved to rip it off him, arms coming down around her.
Her training immediately kicked in and when a grinning man came before her, reaching for the arrow in her chest. Planting one foot on his chest, she used him as a springboard, throwing herself and the guard behind her to the ground. Landing with the grace of a cat, she ripped the arrow free and twisted, using it to stab through the eyehole of a helmet.
The man dropped and she picked up his spear, grinning wildly at the hesitation of the guards.
She didn't recognise their armour but they seemed to be mythical creatures of some description or other.
Deciding to come at her as a set, she spun the spear and drove it into the ground. Catching hold of it, she used it to lift herself up off the ground and drive both feet into the chest of the middle guard, springing off him in a smooth arc to land left foot first, pulling the spear out of the ground with her and turning, launching the spear across the clearing into another guard.
She had begun to laugh, relishing the actual fight as she turned back to two of the four remaining. One was stupid enough to not be wearing a helmet and his tanned, reddish face was pale with fear.
Grinning at him, she started forward, leaning forward into a handspring that had her airborne and hitting his chest backside first. Wrapping her legs around his neck, his backwards fall pulled her upright.
Two small knives had been strapped to her thighs and she drove them both into the sides of his neck, his landing on his back had her landing on her knees and she rolled forward in a tumble to flick herself back onto her feet.
***
Spinning, she threw the tiny blade into the mouth of one of the last remaining guards before turning on the last two. Neither looked overly interested in trying to come for her.
With the small knife still in her hand, she watched the two, her breathing coming in heavy pants with the exertion of the fight and with her eyes still on them, she paced slowly sideways towards Versalis, who was whimpering quietly. Crouching, she gripped the edge of the net when he cried out and she spun, driving the knife forward and up.
With a clang, the tiny blade broke and the knife spun off into the grass and she looked up. An enormous man was standing before her, smiling as his hand drew back and he punched her hard in the face.
Her body hit the ground and she rolled, avoiding a brutal kick that would have broken her ribs had he struck her. He followed after her and so she rolled again, tucking her knee and flinging herself onto her feet, her posture defensive with her arms up in front of her body, ready to defend or deflect.
She didn't get time to move when a soft whistle sounded behind her and she jerked, moving like a startled cat and spinning to find a small puff of feathers in the back of her thigh.
She reached behind her, she plucked the offending little dart out, squinting at it but she couldn't see what was on it. Her world tilting and she swayed as whatever it was on the dart hit her brain.
Throwing the dart onto the ground, she sucked in a slow breath to calm herself. The more she panicked, the faster the toxin would work.
"Now princess, glad to see some things work on even you," the man said gently but his voice seemed to echo in her ears and she struggled to understand what it was he had said.
Doing her best to focus on him and not the two copies of him that appeared and vanished at will.
"What?" she asked, her voice slurring and she knew she was in trouble.
The man before her appeared to be a giant of some sort, hairy and wild looking. Clad from head to foot in armour that seemed to be tailor fit for him.
"Who are you?" she asked, trying for a civilised conversation but as there were now three of him and they were beginning to glitter, she was having trouble figuring out who to speak to.
"Lord Pharley," the men said and she squinted, trying to remember if she knew that name. She did not.