• NOTE: READ FIRST PART BEFORE THIS ONE IF YOU WANT IT TO MAKE ANY SENSE AT ALL.

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    "Warren." Gallaway whispered in her brother's ear. He barely stirred, but his eyes still flickered restlessly.

    She groaned helplessly and bounded to the window where the sun was just rising.

    Drat. Father's going to be up right about now. She glanced back to her brother, then again to the sun. She let the drapes fall back over the window and she made her way silently back to his side.

    "Warren!" She urgently murmered, but again to no avail.

    "Warren." Gallaway sighed and sat on the floorboards next to the low bottom bunk.

    "Gallaway." The boy muttered back, still startlingly motionless.

    "You'd better get up quickly. I can already hear Father in the living room, and he's waiting." Gallaway worriedly peeked at the blanket that served as their door.

    "Gallaway, I can't move." He took in a troubled breath, then weakly looked up with his eyes only. "You're going to have to tell him so. I apologize right now for however he might harm you." He seemed to be having trouble breathing the more he talked. Gallaway shook her head disbelievingly, covering her mouth to stop a startled gasp.

    "It hurts too much, Gallaway. I know it will make me sound like a wimp to him, but it's the truth. I just can't move." He closed his eyes with obvious pain. He shifted his arm with some difficulty, and after a few moments, his hand was under his pillow. He pulled out a small leather package, then slid it slowly across the bedsheet.

    Gallaway examined Warren's placid face, then gingerly plucked the package from the bed.

    "What is it?" Gallaway asked quietly, carefully turning the leather-covered thing over and over.

    Warren attempted a shrug, but flinched when the movement reached his injured side.

    "Mother told me to give it to you when Father hurt me bad enough that I couldn't even move. She drove it into my mind, so that I wouldn't forget. And I haven't." Warren breathed in again and closed his eyes somewhat peacefully.

    Gallaway stared at the package, and finally tugged at the leather strips that bound it. They fell away with a little encouragement, leaving the thick wrapping loose.

    She glanced up at Warren biting her lip, then peeled away the first layer. The rest fell away easily after that, as if that first piece was holding the whole thing together.

    Inside was the most beautiful thing Gallaway had ever seen in her life. Inside the package was a stone the size of a small soap bar, rounded so that it was a nice oval shape. It sparkled even though there was no obvious light in the room. It was clear, but a dark blue color, with flecks of gray and green embedded in the heart of it.

    "It's gorgeous, but... how does this help you at all?" Gallaway asked with a voice teetering on the edge of hysteria. Why would their mother leave them something so useless as a stone?

    "She had me chant this a million times." Warren cleared his throat roughly, then continued, "'When you find this package, know it's only a rune. To the sun immediately, summon those you need. Avoid the peril that you can, to see me once again.' That's all she said, and then she was gone by morning. You were too young to understand, but I always assumed she had died."

    "She didn't die." Gallaway insisted and stood. "'To the sun immediately, summon those you need?' We have to take it outside!" She started to the doorway, but stopped immediately when she heard their father grumble restlessly in the next room. She looked back at Warren with panic in her eyes, then took a deep breath and pushed the blanket out of the way.

    "Gallaway, where is your brother?" The man sounded angry, but was trying hard to block it. His face was utterly worried and scornful at the same time as he noticed the dark spot on her cheek.

    "You hurt him, Father. He can't move." She said bravely, holding her chin straight in defiance.

    "Can't move?!" He roared, storming past her into their room, tearing the blanket down in his rage. Trembling, Gallaway stood frozen, chin still facing upward. Yet she heard no sounds of rage in the other room, only quiet murmerings.

    She finally looked toward the barren door and softly padded to see what was happening. She peeked through the door and saw the man kneeling by Warren's bed. Was that tears she saw on Warren's face? He had never cried before.

    "I already gave it to her, Father." Warren said quietly in a pained voice.

    "Dammit, Warren. Why? She doesn't need to come back now." The man said angrily.

    "Yes, Father." Warren paused to take a breath. "She does need to come back. You know what Gallaway is, as well as I do. She needs to be with her own kind."

    Her own kind? Gallaway thought and stepped forward, pushing down on a squeaky board. Both men's eyes flickered to Gallaway.

    "Gallaway," Warren started, staring at his sister's wide, frightened eyes.

    "What do you mean, her own kind?" Gallaway asked, tears brimming her eyes. "Do you mean I'm not human? That I'm not even part of this family??" She said, her voice getting louder and louder with each question. Both men stayed silent until she was out of breath and the tears were flowing freely.

    "Don't be rediculous. Of course you're part of this family." The father said impatiently, standing straight.

    "You're the same as our mother." Warren added quietly from behind the older man.

    "So she wasn't human? Please, explain all this!" Gallaway's voice broke as she shuddered violently where she stood.

    The older man looked pointedly at Warren, then pushed past Gallaway to leave in a hurry.

    "Well?" Gallaway said with a shaking voice, stepping closer to hear the story.

    "She wasn't human." He gave in, then paused. "Can you help me turn over? I can't see you very well." Gallaway wiped her tears with her palm and realized she was still carrying the stone. She set it on the small night table and carefully took his shoulders, shifting him just so even though he grimaced when she turned him.

    "So, she wasn't human. What does this have to do with me?" She asked and settled on the floor in front of him.

    "You are one of them too." He said, eyes distant as if he were reading off a book behind her.

    "One of what?" She spit out, stroking the back of the hand that was extended toward her on the bed. He shook his head slightly and ignored her question.

    "That's why she left, to be with her own kind. She left you here to protect me, and also because you were too young to go with her. She knew that Father beat me, and she knew he would try to do the same with you."

    "Warren, what am I?" She stuttered, wiping another tear away. He finally focused on her face, and his eyes softened a bit.

    "What do you think you are? You never bleed, but you sure as hell can get a bruise. You are faster, more graceful than any other girl in the village, and you're more connected to nature than I've ever realized. You're the most beautiful girl anyone's ever seen, and you have a certain flair that no one can miss."

    "So I'm different, but how does that make me less a human?" Gallaway stared relentlessly into her brother's eyes.

    "You are... my protector. My guardian angel. My little elf." He tried to smile, but the pain twisted it and made it more of a smirk.

    "Elf." She breathed, staring at his frail hand. He nodded once, a very small gesture, but definately one of agreement.

    "I'm only half-so, so I'm much more damageable than you are. But I have the gene." He looked at the stone with only his eyes, and Gallaway followed his gaze. "That's the way to bring her back. Get it out to the sun, summon those you need." Warren closed his hand over hers and stared up at her. Gallaway sniffled and watched the stone glisten from its spot on the table.

    "I will. And I'll help you somehow." She insisted and squeezed his hand, then stood and grabbed the stone. It tingled lightly in her grasp, but she ignored it as she bounded out the front door with only a glance from her father.