the night was dark. The stars shown lightly in the moonless sky. Princess Rina yokuba stood off in the shadows watching the entrance of a club. "what you want to do? Hes not here." a females voice crackled through her earpiece. Rina reached up and touched her finger to the back of the piece. "hold ur ground Sonya we'll be on them soon enough but I want him to see the damage we can do." rina whispered into the device. "hold it I got movement over here." a males voice crackled "alright he is on his way there kiddies. I repeat the target is heading over." the voice said with satisfaction. Rina's heart jumped. So the prisoner had told the truth the prince of demons would be in this trashy s***hole. Rina felt her hands itching with anticipation to kill. She may be a princess of the legion but when it came to killing her peoples worst enemies the Slayers she was among the fiercest and brutal of killers in the clan. She tightened her fingers around her dagger feeling the curve of the hilt. Her bow was strung across her back the quiver strapped to her leg. She reached down with her free hand and felt one of her arrows. She kept her eyes peeled and soon her target landed in front it the club. His hair was wild and the color of onyx. Rina felt her body automatically jerk forward slightly in anticipation. She wanted to kill him. With every bone in her body. He had caused so much death. But then didn't all Slayers? They were cruel and devilish creatures with yellow eyes and sharp elf like ears. They seemed to revel for sadness and pain. Laughed at funerals, pulled pranks and were just cruel at certain times. About 30 years before the Slayers had aided the vampires attack on the legions and ever since the two clans had fought. She had heard of a powerful warrior named shade that served the prince however the prince had just arrived alone. 'perfect.'thought rina. "alright guys this is it. Get in get out kill no one. " rina said into the mic. She snuck around to the side of the building and waited until the door guard was down before she climbed onto the roof. She silently made her way across the roof to an opening. She skillfully notched an arrow in her bow and trained the point on her target. The prince sat next to a man ignoring the woman hanging on him and listening to the booming music.  "in position. " came the voices of her team mates. "alright ..... Go." rina breathed as she released the arrow it flew forward but to her disbelief the arm of the prince flicked forward and caught the arrow. Windows busted and doors burst open as her comrades charged into the building. Rina sat for moment her eyes locked with those of the demon prince. Time seemed to hav stopped completely. Rina felt herself drop into the room. "retreat!!!" she shouted. The others waisted no time in retreating. They were gone within seconds. Rina however was surrounded by Slayers with no way out. It had been a trap. The damn prisoner had been a set up. "Rina!!!!!!" a voice screamed in her ear. "go! Just get outta here tell baytuno it was a trap just GO!!!" Rina Hissed into the piece before she ripped her dagger from it's sheathe and backed away from the surrounding Slayers. "well. Seems we have been joined by the legion." the prince was saying twirling the arrow in his hand. He was still standing and began to make his way forward. Rina Was seized from behind and the dagger snatched from her grip and the ear piece ripped from her ear. She struggled against the hands that held her but they held fast. "so tell me young maiden how...convincing was our puppet? From the looks of things it was  very." he sneered in her face. She could only glare in disgust. "hey hey hey!!!!! Shade check this out." another man laughed as he examined the dagger. The prince held out his hand to receive the small dagger. He then grinned widely. "well boys! We have a delivery make." he yelled raising the dagger over his head for the rest of the men to see. They let a shout of excitement. He stepped forward and grabbed hold of her nape then suddenly her vision went black.

20 year old shade stood silently in front of his father. The unconscious princess lay on the couch in the shadows to the left of his fathers desk. "and your sure the dagger is correct about it's master being princess yokuba??? his father demanded eyes fixed on the girl. "positive." shade replied nodding. "return her." his father said after a long silence. Shade jerked and his eyes went wide. "wh-what???" he demanded in disbelief. "we've caused those people enough pain." the old man said getting to his feet. He walked over to the window and stared out at the falling rain. He. Could see his sons disbelieving and confused face as he stared at the dagger. Finally he turned. "this is our chance to get help. The vampires have turned on us and the lycans are out of our reach in there current state. We need the legions help Shade." the old man explained. Shade clutched the dagger his eyes darting to the princess. She had tried to kill him and now she was being released? 'well she won't make it to the line.' Shade thought running a hand through his hair. "Alright. So how do we do this exactly? Just put her in the woods and leave her?" shade joked grinning. "No. You will escort her to the line. You KNOW she will not survive. You will escort and protect her until you reach the line." his father ordered standing straighter. Shade felt his entire frame shudder in anger. He glanced again at the girl then whirled and stalked out fuming.

Rina woke to the sound of a strange voice. She cracked her eyes a little and watched as the prince stood fuming in front of the desk. "you will escort and protect her until you reach the line." his father was saying. 'are they talking about me?' rina wondered. As soon as he walked out she stirred. The older man was Nashid the leader of the Slayers he turned to her a pipe clutched in his hand. She sat up slowly her hand feeling for her boot as she kept her eyes fixed on Nashid. "it's futile princess you see we striped you of weaponry." he explained. Her hand met the hilt of her short dagger but in order to appear innocent. He appeared satisfied. With a speed that surprised even herself, rina whipped out her hand and slung the dagger forward. She didn't wait to see if it hit it's target. She lunged off the couch and snatched her Dagger from the desk and pivoted slamming out of the room. She got to the end of a long hallway and turned a corner and slammed into a rockhard chest. She fell back onto her a** and looked out letting out a groan. Nashid stood there next to his son. "shade meet princess Rina yakuba. Princess my son prince shade." Nashid said with a smug look. Rina slowly got to her feet giving the prince and his father a look of utmost hatred. Her look was returned by shade whom went so far with his hatred to pull up his lip and flash her fang. "so then the rumors of you being a warrior are true then." Nashid asked after a moment of heated  looks. Rina turned her blue eyes on Nashid. "so the rumors of there being a strong handsome guard for the prince isn't." she replied. Shade straightened. "that strong devilishly handsome gaurd is the prince himself." shade growled. Rina turned her eyes on him and felt herself hesitate. His eyes were no longer yellow but instead they were hazel. She didn't speak instead she straightened and looked away. "well then anytime your ready shade will escort you to the line." Nashid finally said. "let's go." rina growled. Shade nodded and turned. Rina began to follow then stopped. After all they were releasing her. She turned and with a little optimism she bowed to Nashid. He bowed low in return. Then quickly she turned and followed shade. She followed him in silence the rest of the day and finally they stopped to make camp. "how long will this take?" Rina demanded. "a few days." he replied in a clipped tone. Rina growled. She didnt want to camp with this slayer she wanted to kill him she wanted his blood his head on a platter. When his back turned she grasped her hilt tightly however the anticipation to kill him did not kindle and this frustrated her even more. As much as she hated it as they had traveled she had caught herself admiring his wide muscular chest. Liked how he appeared relaxed even when he was being cautious. His body was built to perfection. Every line every muscle was in perfect synchronization like a dance practiced thousands of times. She internally chided herself. This was her ENEMY!!!!! The grandson of the man that had betrayed the legions and now suddenly the Slayers alpha was trying to regain the legions trust?? Sure if Nashid hadn't pulled the Slayers out of the war the legions would have been wiped out but these were SLAYERS!!! Betrayers, liars, thieves there was no end. Yet rina didn't feel threatened by this man. Sure he was p**sed almost as much as she however her anger was quickly evaporating and it was taking alot of energy to try and keep her anger going. A flutter of wings made her look up. She watched as a large black hawk came down and landed on a fallen log. She stared at it curiously.

Shade sat on a stump arranging logs for a fire. He looked up to see Nuka his bird companion staring at the girl. His father had called her rina. He watched her slowly approach nuka she kept her eyes on him usually a sign of aggression however nuka merely seemed as curious as she. It made his ears twitch when she slowly raise her hand and held it out to him. At first nuka just looked at her, then slowly he shifted his weight and held out a claw as if to shake hands. Rina moved closer and bent her arm and pressing the skin to nuka's outstretched claw. His foot closed as he pulled her closer then he stepped off of the log and onto her arm. At this unimaginable sight shade froze. Never had nuka reacted to anyone before male or female. Shade fixed his eyes on her face his curiosity and wonder must have showed on his face because when she looked over at him she blushed and quickly looked away turning her back toward him. Her shyness made him almost want to smile. Almost however he internally kicked himself. 'legion. Tried to kill you man.' shade thought fiercely however he couldn't stop himself from his admiration. Clearly disgusted with himself he shook his head then turned back to what he was doing.

After a minute the hawk spread his wings and lifted himself inti the sky. Rina watched curiously as he drifted. Over to shade and landed on his shoulder. Watching them she felt a small pang of jealousy. One thing Slayers had that legions didnt were familiars. Animals that could alternate between two different forms. For the hawk his other form was a black griffin.