"No! Absolutely not!"

"Goddess, either she can not remember or she is lying. We need the truth."

"We haven't even spoken with her yet! She may have remembered something in the night!" Lily paced in the council chambers, face flushed with anger. They watched her calmly.

"Something is not enough. We must see the entirety of the event. A simple memory probe-"

Lily slammed her hands down on the table. "You could do irreparable damage to her mind!"

Wisps of smoke drifted up from her palms, and Chairman Reet looked down at the singe marks her hands made in the wood of the table.

"Goddess, control yourself." Lily blew out a breath, her nostrils flaring. She began pacing again.

The soft, slimy voice of Chairman Jackel rose from the circle.

"Mind damage very rarely occurs, Lilith. The worst that normally happens is nauseau and fatigue. A night of good rest and she'll be as good as new. We would like to be able to give an explanation to the families of the fallen Hunters."

Lily continued pacing for several minutes, before finally stopping, her unhappy and angry eyes focused on the wood, her hands clasped behind her back.
"Runner, please summon Aeliana of the Dark Forest." She looked each Chairman in the eyes with her flashing green ones. "We will do this my way. I will ask the questions. I will stop you when I feel we've learned enough. And Chairmen..." She leaned forward and put her hands on the table again. "If you harm her, I will set you aflame."

***********************************************************************

A small panting boy approached her at the table, placing his hands on his knees. Aeliana looked at him with concern, handing him her cup of water and moving his bangs out of his eyes.
"Child, what's wrong?"

"The council and the Goddess would like to speak with you in the Room of Spheres."

Aeliana blew out a breath. Time to face it.

She nodded and stood, allowing him to take her hand.

"But we're walking there." He looked up at her gratefully.

********************************************************************

A loud knock came at the door, and Lily thundered "Enter."

The runner pushed open the doors and stood at attention.

Aeliana entered the room slowly. The ceiling was a dome, lined with a ring of narrow windows at the top. The men she saw at the Grand Hall earlier now sat around a table shaped like a C with a break in the middle to accompany a large, ornate chair upon which sat a very furious looking Goddess.

This can't be good.

Her eyes continued to spew anger, but her voice softened when she addressed Aeliana.

"Please step into the middle of the circle." Aeliana took several more steps forward and squared her shoulders, preparing herself. She instantly determined she did not like these men. Not one bit.

"Are you Aeliana of the Dark Forest?" Lily asked.

"I am."

"And were you present in the area when the Echelon's Hunters were murdered?"

"I was."

"Did you witness the actual event?" Lily looked at her earnestly.

"No."

"So you did not see the killer?"

"No, I did not. As I have already stated, I did not see what happened nor who did it. I was unconscious."

Lily sighed softly, her hands gripping the arms of the chair.

Suddenly, Aeliana felt a deep, painful throbbing behind her right ear.

They were trying to do a memory probe!

Lily's eyes closed as if she could not bear to watch.

Aeliana's brow furrowed in anger and she clenched her jaw. Too bad for you my Father had the foresight to properly train me.

Her eyes glazed over for a moment before her head snapped to the right, gaze piercing a bald Chairman who was staring at her intently.

Remove yourself. Her voice filled his mind as she forced him out of hers.

His eyes widened.

A dead silence hung in the air, then Chairman Reet slammed his hands on the table and stood.
"She has been trained! We must all do it!"

Lily's eyes flew open. "NO!!"

Aeliana's scream echoed throughout the room as a pressure unlike any other pressed upon her mind. Her memories began to play in rapid motion, backwards and forwards, voices scrambling in her ears. She dropped to her knees on the floor and held her head in her hands, using everything she had ever been taught to stop them, to slow them down, anything!

Get out of my HEAD!! With a massive push she shoved them all out, only to have them surge back in once more, efforts doubled. She was going to die.

Suddenly, a hot hurricane of wind swirled through the room. A massive ball of energy formed in the middle of the circle, and with a thunderous crack shot outwards, throwing every Chairman backwards. Aeliana whimpered and fell to the ground.

Lily's eyes blazed green fire, her hair loose and floating about her shoulders. Her bare feet stepped forward slowly and ominously, and an ethereal voice echoed among the chamber.

I warned you... that if you harmed her... I would set you aflame. YOU WILL FEEL THE FIRE.

Every Chairman in the council screamed in pain, clutching his head in an unseeable agony.

With blank, unremorseful eyes, Lily bent and easily lifted the limp girl into her arms. She walked slowly towards the doors, and with a wave of her hand they flew open to reveal the wide-eyed runner and everyone within hearing distance of the room. When she got to the doorway, Lily turned back to the council. She blinked silently and the cries of pain ceased. Once more, her voice echoed.
Think ye well on these events and these words: I am the Goddess of the Echelon. Touch my people again, and I will remove your minds completely.

She turned and walked out the door, slamming it shut behind her with a huge gust of air. She stared straight ahead as the crowd parted before her, worried eyes watching her and the beautiful woman she was carrying.

*************************************************************

Flying high amongst the clouds, Tira and Fiera's heads both turned in the direction of the castle at the same time.

Fiera, did you feel that?
Yes. Their bond grows stronger.

But what has she done?

My guess is her protection instincts are kicking in. Aeliana may be in danger.

Then we must go back. Iyah!

*************************************************************

Lily's bedroom door slammed closed, locking and sealing. She carefully laid Aeliana down on her bed, gently brushing aside the hair across her face. She was breathing normally, and the pain seemed to be gone.

Lily sighed softly and stood, gripping a bed post and closing her eyes. The fury of the moment gone, reason was setting in.

You lost it in there, Lilith.

Aeliana's haunting scream replayed in her mind and her eyes opened again.

No. They paid for her pain. Rightfully.

She sighed. Time to do some damage control. She shut the curtains to block the rays of light and fixed her hair before going back out into the chaos.

***********************************************************

It was nightfall by the time Lily was able to return to her room. Every hour she sent a maid to check on Aeliana, and each reported back that she was asleep. Exhausted from dealing with scared and confused people all day, Lily loosened her mane of hair and ran her fingers through it.

She turned to the woman spread out across her bed. She wrapped her arms around her waist and tilted her head slightly, watching her breathe. She loved all of her people dearly, but she had never reacted so cruelly. What was it about this woman that made her act in such anger? And this morning... her shimmering hair?

She climbed gently into the bed and peered down over the girl, studying her features closely.

Brown eyes popped open and the sound of metal scraping across metal ripped through the air.

The next thing Lily knew, the smaller girl was straddling her waist, a hand on her throat and a dagger pressed to her heart. Lily's heart began to pound hard... and not because of the dagger.

"... well this is an odd way to say thank you. And where were you keeping that?"

"You sent me in there!!"

Lily's eyes hardened.

"If I had known what they would do, you would have never come within a hundred feet of that room." Aeliana didn't move an inch. Lily, feeling no real danger in the present situation, her eyes began to wander down to-

"Lilith." Her eyes snapped back up.

"Yes."

"How did you do that? With the energy?" Lily's eyebrow quirked.

"I'm a Goddess." Aeliana's eyes narrowed.

"Okay... woman with the knife doesn't enjoy coyness." Lily tilted her head as much as Aeliana's hand would allow, eyes filled with curiousity.

"The real question here is how did YOU do that, with your mind? I've been going over it again and again and I can't understand. The Chairmen have some of the most powerful minds in the Echelon, due to years of practice and careful study. Many... many years. Those men are a fart away from death."

Really Lily, fart jokes? Lily thought to herself. Just because there's a beautiful woman on top of you doesn't mean you need to turn into an imbecile.

Aeliana looked at her strangely. "My... father taught me... You know I can HEAR you, correct?"

Lily's eyes widened. No you can't.

In fact, I can.

In a flash Lily snatched the dagger from her, throwing it in the wood of the doorframe where it stuck and wobbled. She bodily lifted Aeliana off the bed and held her against a wall, this time with her hand on the woman's throat.

"How? First you pushed the Chairmen from your mind, now you're a thought reader? Who gave you this power??" she demanded.

Aeliana stared at the tall woman quietly, her eyes dancing back and forth, a battle raging within her.

She reached out to the heavens in search of a dragon and his Rider. Tira.

Lily started, confusion in her eyes.

"Tira gave you-" She was cut off by Aeliana's finger to her lips. "Quiet."

The seconds passed like hours while she waited.

It was Fiera who answered.

Yes, Goddess. It is time.

Lily looked up, the confusion deepening.

"Time for what?"

Aeliana carefully pried Lily's fingers from her throat, looking up at her. Lily was suddenly caught by her beauty. Full lips pouted beneath a small nose and perfectly arched eyebrows curved over long, thick eyelashes tipped with gold.

Lily blinked.

Tipped with...

"He wasn't speaking to you, Goddess."

She watched with parted lips as Aeliana closed her eyes and reached down, lifting the charm dangling from the chain around her neck. Spreading the chain wide, she pulled it over her head slowly.

It was as if she was lifting a veil. Golden color flooded from the tips to the roots of her long, flowing hair. She gently lay the charm down on the table beside the bed and slowly opened her eyes.

Blue streaked with silver met green flecked with gold.

Lily dropped to her knees slowly, gazing up in amazement at the beautiful woman standing before her.

"Holy Goddess."