Hearing her cry out, Darius glanced at Rosalina, worry in his eyes as knelt down beside her. "Are you all right, love?" he asked her softly.

Calista winced under the harsh eyes that fell upon her, understanding why the people now hated her so. She was the daughter of the Headmaster. It was her duty to look after them, and she had failed to help to alleviate their suffering.
Seeing the angry glares directed at the woman in his arms, Gareth felt his jaw tighten in rage as he just cradled Calista all the closer.

_________________


AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

Rosalina nodded as she got up with his help, cringing as her arm flared in pain. She looked to see a clear cut on her arm, obvious from a branch. "Sorry, I just tripped."

_________________
Where do you go when your running away,
The cost of stopping is too great to pay.
~Amanda (saw this written in a washroom stall at a movie theater)

Darius simply nodded, worry still in his eyes. "You're hurt," he murmured noticing the bright red mark on her arm.

As Gareth continued to walk through the village with Calista in his arms, the murmurings of discontent only grew worse.
"Finally come to see us starve to death, you little wench?!" an angry male voice shouted at Calista.
"Come to gloat over our bodies?" cried another
"See our children die?" shouted a female.
"This was my only child left!" cried a haggard woman as she carried the lifeless body of a little boy in her arms. "Look at my son!" she screamed as Calista turned her away and buried her face against Gareth's neck. "LOOK AT HIM!!! He's dead because of you!" she cried out in anguish as Calista slowly raised her head to glance over at the pale, prone form of the child.
"Where were you when we needed you?!" another hissed.
"You swore to look after us!"
"Yet you leave us in our most desperate hour!" another accused as tears of sorrow, guilt and regret trickled down Calista's pale cheeks.

_________________


AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

"Its just from a branch, thats all." Rosalina told him with a small smile. "Just need a cloth to stop the blood."

_________________
Where do you go when your running away,
The cost of stopping is too great to pay.
~Amanda (saw this written in a washroom stall at a movie theater)

Darius merely nodded as he pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket. "Are you sure, you are okay?" he asked her as he placed the small cloth over the wound to wipe the blood.

"Let her alone!" Gareth growled unable to remain silent any longer at the verbal abuse Calista was enduring. "She has not been well!"
"She looks fine compared to the rest of us!" one retorted.
"At least she has not been starving!" another echoed.
"You ungrateful wretches! After all she has done for this village, you would turn on her at the first sign of trouble!" he hissed as the air started to crackle with his magic.

_________________


AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

Rosalina nodded, unaware of the poison that had entered her body from that cut.

_________________
Where do you go when your running away,
The cost of stopping is too great to pay.
~Amanda (saw this written in a washroom stall at a movie theater)

"All right, if you are sure...but I want either Gareth and Calista to look at your cut later, to be sure there will be no infection," Darius remarked.

"I'm sorry," Calista whispered to the villagers, her body shaking with her sobs. "I am so sorry..." she murmured before turning away from them and burying her face against the mage.

The crowd started to back away as the air crackled with more magic, fearful of the mage's wrath. "I should strike you all down for what you have said to her..." Gareth snarled, his heart hardening with his rage as he felt Calista's tears on his neck and tunic as she sobbed in his arms.

_________________


AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

rosalina nodded and gave Darius a smile.

_________________
Where do you go when your running away,
The cost of stopping is too great to pay.
~Amanda (saw this written in a washroom stall at a movie theater)

Darius returned Rosalina's smile as he wrapped his arm around her waist again.

As Calista continued to weep, the mage's anger only grew which in turn only intensified the crackling magic.
"Don't..." Calista murmured as she sniffled against him. "Please don't hurt them..." she begged, not raising her head though she could feel the magic that circulated in the air.
"Rose..." Gareth murmured almost in awe of her tender heart.

_________________


AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

Rosalina leaned on Darius, feeling blissful.

_________________
Where do you go when your running away,
The cost of stopping is too great to pay.
~Amanda (saw this written in a washroom stall at a movie theater)

"Would you like to continue our walk, love?" Darius asked her as he kept his arm around her waist.

Glaring at the villagers, Gareth allowed his magic to crackle in the air, though he did not attack them because of his love's request. "Calista could not have aided you these past days. She has been weak herself, barely able to get of bed..." Gareth hissed at them. "Why do you suppose I carried her here? Because she can barely stand on her own power...much less walk. And yet, she insisted on checking up on you ungrateful wretches..." he growled, his hazel-green eyes darkening in rage.

_________________


AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

Rosalina nodded. "I would." She said.

_________________
Where do you go when your running away,
The cost of stopping is too great to pay.
~Amanda (saw this written in a washroom stall at a movie theater)

"All right, then let us continue, my love" Darius remarked as he kept his arm around Rosalina's waist.

The crowd just remained silent, too afraid to say or physically attack Calista with the mage present. Yet their hearts remained hardened against her, and Gareth's explaination, though it rang with truth, did little to soften them.

_________________


AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

As they walked, Rosalina failed to relise her tempature was slowly rising.

_________________
Where do you go when your running away,
The cost of stopping is too great to pay.
~Amanda (saw this written in a washroom stall at a movie theater)

As they continued to walk, Darius noticed Rosalina's temperature slowly start to rise. Yet he was not sure if the change was caused from the heat from the sun or something far more sinister. "Love," he remarked pausing for a bit. "Are you all right?" he asked, concern in his voice.

Seeing the coldness and malice in the eyes of the villagers, it took everything within Gareth not to attack them with his magic. "Please, forgive them," Calista murmured to the mage. "They are right to hate me."

_________________


AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

"I'm fine." Rosalina reasured Darius. "Very fine."

_________________
Where do you go when your running away,
The cost of stopping is too great to pay.
~Amanda (saw this written in a washroom stall at a movie theater)