The sound of raucous laughter tore through the stillness of the forest, shattering what little silence existed. A small bundle tossed carelessly beneath a tree stirred at the sound and sat up, moving to face the source of the disturbance, a large, dull coloured tent. A pair of glittering yellow eyes settled their gaze on the tent and narrowed, casting a feral, angered look on the female, dirt covered features of the bundle. She moved a little more, and a soft clink could be heard as the chain shackles about her wrists and ankles hit. Four men tumbled out of the entrance to the large tent, and by the rugged, ill-mannered and unkept look of them, they were ruffians or bandits. The chained woman's unusual amber eyes flared with anger as she watched the small group of rough men joking and laughing amongst each other as they saddled up four horses, seeming oblivious to the small heap of rags, dirt and hair glaring at them from beneath a tree that was her. As she stared on, the four men mounted their respective horses and rode as one away from the clearing where their camp was made, leaving her once again alone to her thoughts.

The strange young woman narrowed her eyes to yellow slits of fire once more as she watched the men ride off. She growled quietly to herself from her spot beneath the tree until she could no longer sense the pound of horse hooves upon the ground. These horrid man-creatures thought to imprison her, Cerai'lin, how dare they! She turned her still angered attention to the chains binding her feet and hands. Her shrewd gaze studied the shackles intensely, as if she could make them fall off by will alone. They were so heavy she could hardly move them, let alone rise from her place upon the forest floor, and her slender wrists were bruised and cut, as were her ankles. She had a slender, petite frame, but still well toned, though this was hard to tell beneath the layer of dirt and grime that covered her body and ragged clothing. The large volume of dark tresses that was her hair was piled unceremoniously upon her head, small bits of leaves and twigs poking out into visibility. It was plain this imprisoned woman was not being looked after by anyone.

Cerai'lin looked up sharply from her chains at the sound of a gruff laugh. Another man stood at the entrance of the tent, his cold, unsympathetic gaze leveled on her. He was better dressed than the previous four, and clean-shaven. His steely blue eyes watched Cerai's every move, meeting the angry yellow glare she gave him and laughing once more, a sound that chilled Cerai to her fragile bones. He began to move closer to her, his steps silent like a hunter, the predator stalking after its prey. All Cerai could do was shrink back against the tree, the look on her face implying his mere presence was too vile to tolerate.

Upon seeing her actions, the man's bark of a laugh filled the clearing once more. This creature, oh, she was a catch! She'd certainly fetch a pretty penny for him at the auction, despite her funny elongated ears. His men, the fools, had first thought she was some horrid beast when they had found her in one of their traps. But he, Keharn, he could see more. She had been covered in dirt and leaves from her fall, and looked to be all hair and grime when Keharn first looked down upon her, but after hauling her from the pit, he found she wasn't a four-legged beast after all, but rather a female that walked upon legs as they did. Even though she was on the whole much smaller than any of the women of his realm, he could tell that beneath the rags and dirt, she had much the same anatomy and build, and that made her worth something to him. She had the most unusual and intense eyes that he had ever seen, and they seemed to change colour with every passing moment, though, for the most part, they remained a brilliant amber yellow. His men had wanted to kill her then and there for what they called her "vile ugliness," but Keharn had decided otherwise. There was something about this pointy-eared, yellow-eyed creature that he felt he could profit from, and so Keharn and his men continued on their journey, lugging along extra baggage in the form of a filthy creature with angry yellow eyes.

As the tall, well-built man gazed down at his chained prize, he spoke to her for the first time since her capture. His full voice rang through the forest to reach her sensitive ears, and much to her surprise, the low baritone sounded almost pleasant despite the harsh laughter she had just heard from him.

"What are you?" he questioned, "Where did you come from..and how did you wind up in my trap? It's designed to catch animals, but there you were in it, ruining a perfectly good setup."

Cerai'lin tilted her head to one side as she listened to him, a quizzical look reflecting in her eyes as they appeared to turn a shade of blue. This man thing spoke strange words she did not recognize, but he seemed to be asking her questions, that much she could tell by the inflection of his voice. For some reason, though she did not recognize the words he spoke, she felt as if she had heard them before, they seemed almost familiar, as if she should know them, or had at one point in time, but had long since forgotten. When he finished speaking, she had managed to curb her raging temper enough to speak in an almost civil manner.

“What do you want with me?” her musical voice rang out, though hoarse from lack of use, “Why do you keep me chained like some animal?”

Keharn blinked his blue eyes at her as he listened to her enchantingly beautiful voice. He was mesmerized almost beyond thinking as he gazed into her shimmering eyes, now green in colour. He closed the space between them and knelt by her side when she finished speaking. Cerai tilted her head once more when he moved closer to her and knelt, then winced. His movement and closeness had caused his thick scent to surround her, and it was almost suffocating. All at once, she remembered this man was her captor, and her eyes once more flashed yellow. Her reaction and the quick change of her eye colour confused Keharn, and he reached a hand towards her.

Cerai'lin hissed an angered warning at him as she narrowed her gaze to amber slits of fire once more. Keharn narrowed his own steely blue eyes, for he did not have to understand her words to note the change in her attitude. Without thinking, he drew his callused hand back, and in one swift motion, Keharn slapped Cerai across her face hard, then rose angrily from his spot.

"You would find it in your best interest to behave," he spat at her before kicking her hunched form roughly, "And chained you shall remain until you can learn to do as you're told." With that, Keharn swirled around on his heel and stomped back into the large tent, ducking a little to make it through the entryway.

Cerai did not so much as stir in her spot for several long moments. Her frail body was not designed to take such punishment as that she had received since she had awoken to find herself in this horrible realm. She let out a ragged breath that shook her entire body before she moved to sit up a little. The force of the man's slap had split Cerai's lip, and as she slid her tongue from her mouth to lick over it, she could taste the blood that had been shed. Her eyes remained narrowed and she began to growl as she had when the four riders had left. She shifted a little more, then flinched as a strong pain rushed over her body. That brute's kick to her side had hurt her, and badly.

She slowly moved her shackled hands towards the source of her pain located along her middle left side and let her eyes fall close. To any who would look her way, Cerai'lin would seem to be asleep, or perhaps in a deep trance, as indeed she was. From her delicate, grime covered hands flowed power, strong-willed and sharply focused power designed to heal her wound. The rib that Keharn had broken in his carelessness slowly began to knit itself together and mend, and after a few moments of quiet healing passed, Cerai's eyes flickered open, the gentle hue of purple interlaced with green fading to her usual yellow as she gazed about the unnaturally still clearing. She had not healed her wound completely for she wished to keep as much of her magic unused as possible, rather, she did only what she needed to do to facilitate a natural healing in a shorter amount of time. She closed her eyes again and leaned back against the tree she was under, a quiet sigh escaping from her still bloody lips.

Cerai'lin was scared and confused. Since she had entered this world, she had made a startling discovery: her gifts were no longer as strong as they once had been; she wasn't as strong as she used to be. In fact, it seemed to her exhausted mind that her power was slowly draining away, and every time Cerai called upon her magic, she couldn't get her power level back completely, and this frightened her greatly. She slumped over in her spot to curl up into a small ball beneath the tree, she needed rest, but more importantly, she needed to think.