The past few weeks have been nothing but trouble.

Too many things were good and too many things were bad to label her time as anything but chaotic. The problems with the Towers... WestEnd... training with Janet... Juri's return... the lack of another... all wrapped around no sleep. This did not equal a healthy Guardian. Lets not forget the responsibilities back at home. Between all of this... she still managed some time at the Inn. But now.. she didn't like herself. She was short, and didn't think before speaking. Bad habits to develop.. so.. lately she had tried avoiding the place. It was hard.. because if she didn't get a chance to speak with others.. she was bound to lose her sanity. Try as she could.. it was becoming harder and harder to keep closed door around her heart. Too many people in and out of it for her liking. But... she was managing to find some peace on all of this.

Storm got to help Lydia and Erin on Tuesday with their new shop. And it was a bloody blast! That's what she was needing... just to spend spend time with the ladies. No Juri... no.. well, no one else. She was able to use her gift for good... like painting the ceiling. And, she had managed to enjoy herself, who knew? She was covered in blue paint... and had the biggest smile on her face. She even went to the Inn shortly after that. and nothing drastic happened, thank the Goddess.

And earlier today, she had gone to Erin's luncheon.. in a dress! A sight to see. Even though she hadn't the faintest idea of why bothering to celebrate this 'holiday' she went support her friends.. and again, managed to have fun. But really.. why a holiday to celebrate love? Should that not be everyday? She met a few new people.. and had a good talk with Lydia... or, attempted to. Lydia and Erin seemed to be the best things she had as of late.

She was still training with Janet in the early hours of each day. At least that was her time of peace. Her true element was in her physical training. And learning of it. There was no better way to clear the mind than sparring. And Janet was the perfect partner for such things. Even though Ewan has shown some interest in Storm showing and training him.. that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. They were both so busy...

And now, before training, she was on the lookout for Vanion, studying his Temple with earnest. She could feel that this was going to be a bigger problem than she thought. It was going to affect everyone, not just the Elementals.

She had just returned from the Isle of Twilight, and was currently preparing herself for training with Janet. She was dressed in her blacks, something only Janet has seen. She was sitting in the middle of her living room, trying to meditate. It was common between Elementals to meditate to the Goddess before any real training. It was a great way to clear the mind. Unfortunately, Storm was just so tired that it was more than heavy meditation... it was sleeping lightly.

The unaware Elemental was in a lighter sleep than Korigan thought. It it was a matter of what was going on inside her mind that saved her life.

As many knew the Elemental lacked the ability to dream. She usually only recalled resting her head and closing her eyes... before the brief rest was over as she opened her eyes. Her accidental nap was starting that way... her mind a dark, blank silence, before the background became white, and Storm experienced her first dream.. if that is what you want to call it.

"Storm my daughter." The Goddess called out. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever heard. Like a warm gentle breeze on a summer day.. comforting and relaxing. She could live in the voice forever.

"Yes, my Goddess?" The white was so bright it would harm anyone's eyes. But instead, it was the color of comfort. She resisted the urge to lay her face against it, to feel it's warmth.

"There are... so many things.. I need to share... The voice was fading, and so was the light. Storm ached for her creator to return, and mentally reached out. She received a small jolt, and her eyes flew open. She didn't have any time to think, but react. There was someone inside, just above her. She started to move violently, throwing off her target enough for the dagger to come crashing into her shoulder, rather than her heart.

She cried out in pain as the dagger fixed it's thirst within her flesh. Who was here... why could she not move fast enough? She was a bloody Air, she was the quickest thing around. Oh, how it hurt. Even in her flesh, it bit her to her soul. She didn't have time to dwell on pain or feelings, it took her everything for her leg to lash out and take her victim down.

She couldn't make him out... or at least she thought it was a man. He went down, but quickly made his way to her. She scurried out of his reach, and went to access her gift, expecting her grey eyes to light the room and let her see....

And there was nothing.

She was in such shock, that the man took advantage of her, and straddled her to the ground. Her delayed reaction was enough for her to lose the battle. She struggled and squirmed, knees bucking up to get his back, and her arms strained against his. His face was so dark... like the darkness itself.. what was going on? She swallowed down panic, and simply fought for her survival.

The man outweighed her plenty, and took full advantage of that. She may have endurance, but he had sheer strength, and it only took a blink of an eye to move the hands from her arms, to her neck. If she could only see how big his grin was... how absolutely delightful he really was. He wanted to speak, to add fear in her eyes. But he could do no such thing... it would give everything away. He then started to squeeze her lovely, bronzed neck. Like a man full with his bloodlust, he started to strangle her.

When his hands gave their deathlock around her neck, she started to feel that panic again. She was just so tired... so much weaker than she ever could have realized. Who was this person? Why could she not call forth her element? She started to choke, as her hands went to his to try and remove his grip. She scratched till his hands bled... but still he would not budge. Blood was oozing from her wound onto her flooring, staining with her ultimate signature. Black started to haze the outside of her vision.. No! Not like this! Never like this! She took a blind swing out, the last of her energy, and hit the face of her doom. It was enough for his death grip to slacken, and she breathed in deep, before she struggled against him, and they became a tumbling mass of limbs, hits taken and given, before they rolled onto a wall with a 'thund'.

She started to cough up blood, violent bruises already appearing as a ring around her lovely throat. The man took his last blow to the wound of her shoulder.

And everything went black.

She slumped against the wall, and there was silence again, save his heavy breathing. He wiped his lips, hands reflecting blood as he stood up. Where ever his dagger was, he didn't have time to look for it. He glanced around, seeing her blood everywhere - she didn't have much longer to live.

He wanted nothing more than to finish the job with his own hands. But, there are some things worse than that... like burning to death. Yess... the smell of burning flesh seemed like the best ending for the Air.. if only she knew.

He walked out of the cottage and shut the door behind him. No obvious look of disturbance. He had to walk far enough away to drop the Stone.. only for a moment. Instantly he felt the rush of the fire refill him, and his grin grew. A few quick strides to the cottage, golden eyes glowing white within his rage. She deserved nothing better.

He grinded his teeth and set forth a burst a white flames, it was like spontaneous combustion as his flames took home on the cottage. It wasn't until a few moments later, it was over the entire home... It wasn't big to start with, and it was pure white fire. The house... and Storm.. would be nothing but ashes in a few short minutes.

Without a word, he turned on his heels and ran, bending down for the Stone of Darkness, before taking his leave.

He had already started the night off well.

Assadar had just barely come into town. He had been there all of two days. While near the docks, he felt the faintest whispers of elemental power. If it was strong enough to catch his attention, than it just might be something that he should check out.

Assadar walked off the street and sat down near a building, and began to concentrate. All of his training to find an elemental guardian that could help him, and tonight he would find what he wanted.

He was too excited. His training taught him to throw out his emotions when concentrating on elemental power. If emotions got involved, he could possibly destroy something... or someone. He began to go into a trance. He was focusing his energy to find the source. It was coming in stronger. It was south of him... He concentrated harder... Southeast... There...

He got up and started to head towards his location. The closer he drew to the source, the stronger it became. Then he saw it. The location of where he was headed was a house that had seemed to be lit on fire. He ran faster toward his goal. Then... it was gone. Just like that, the strongest elemental source of power he had ever felt was gone... fading away into nothing. How was that possible?

He swore to himself in elvish.

Where had it gone? He slumped down. He would get the authorities, but he did not know where that was. He stood up. He could handle this.

He began to concentrate... hard. He put his hand up. He could bring the flames down. He saw in his mind the flames lowering. Sweat started to slide down his forehead. He began to feel his energy drain. His brow furrowed. He had never attempted anything like this before. He had played with fire in his training, but nothing ever this big. He opened his eyes to see the flames retreating. However, he was to weak to celebrate. He had to concentrate... The flames seemed to be getting smaller... Sweat was pouring from his bead now. He was being drained to fast. The last of the flames were retreating... Then it was all black...