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</div></div><br/><br/><div style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family:Jim Nightshade"><span style="font-size: 22px"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#b30000">THE KEEPER OF THE KEY </span></span></span>​</div><br/>(Alchemy)<br/><br/><br/><br/>She smelled him before she saw him.<br/><br/>Ylva would not mistake his scent, and at first it brought to mind happy memories. Kathar had been her first love, the first man she had ever trusted with her heart. He was not alone in the idea that someday they might lead her pack together. The good memories quickly fell away and Ylva remembered the last time she had seen him. His hands and face splattered with blood, her parents bodies at his feet, as the village burned behind him. He must have caught her scent as well, as the wind blew through the grove of trees she hid in, toward him. Kathar had lifted his amber eyes and they glinted in the firelight.<br/><br/>She had managed to stay ahead of him, for awhile, at least. For the last few weeks she had stayed in this village, acting as a healer for those that needed such a service. It had been enough to supply her with a place to sleep and food to eat, since their own healer had been slowing down with age. Ylva had acted as an apprentice to the sweet older woman, but she knew that time was over.<br/><br/>He stood in the middle of the marketplace. The sun was high in the sky, but the temperature was still moderate and the air crisp, signaling the coming of fall. His amber gaze was on some pretty thing tending to a cart full of fresh fruit. He smiled at her, his charming grin hiding the predator that lay beneath. Were it night time, the woman would likely realized there was something off about<i>his</i>gaze, but in the light of day, he just seemed handsome and fully human.<br/><br/>Ylva did not wait for the wind to turn this time, she spun on her heel and headed for the nearby tavern where she had been staying. She started with quick steps, but after a few of them, she forced herself to run. Once she got to her room, she gathered up the few items she felt necessary, and then rushed back out of the Tavern, quizzical looks following her as she went. Ylva had been mild mannered and friendly among the humans of the village, gentle and sweet, because that was what they wanted and expected. Seeing her in a frenzy was certainly out of character.<br/><br/>Ylva did not even notice them, but continued to see if she caught his scent again. It was not coincidence, it could not be. He had come here to kill her, as he had her parents, likely out of some revenge he desired. Kathar's exile had been of his own doing, but she knew he did not feel that way. She was not sure how he had amassed such a force that he was able to take her village and burn it to the ground, but it was not a detail that mattered in her current situation. She needed to escape. She could not be caught.<br/><br/>Once her feet met the dirt of the road again, she began to run as fast as two legs could carry her. It was not as if she could shift in the middle of the road, the screams of shock and surprise would lead Kathar right too her. So she ran, as far as and as fast as she could. She did not stop until she was several miles away and certain he had not pursued her. Ylva stopped and bent over, panting out her breath. She was used to running, but not on two legs at this distance. She knew she needed to find a way to mask her scent and end the trail, or else it would not matter how far she had come. Once there was breath back in her lungs, she forced herself onward, to a nearby river.<br/><br/>The water was a biting kind of cold as it lapped against her ankles, but it would be enough to dilute the trail she left behind. He could still catch a hint of it on the wind, but it would not be enough for him to pursue her. She stayed in the water, walking along, as long as she could stand and then Ylva had to allow herself to rest on the shore. With her knees curled up against her chest, she tried to figure out where to go next. The forest in this are was dense, but the sun still peaked through the trees in glimmering beams. The nearest village was still several more miles away, and it was likely to be the next place he would look. She stood up to look around, shifting from where she had been sitting, and then whizzing of an arrow filled her ears.<br/><br/>It landed where she had been sitting a moment before, it would have hit her in the leg, had she still been sitting there. Ylva whipped around to see that Kathar had tracked her, despite her attempts at escape. The arrow was not meant to kill, his aim had always been deadly when he wanted it to be. He had intended to maim her and slow her down in both forms she possessed. His intent was capture and he was about to nock another arrow.<br/><br/>Ylva had no choice, she turned and tried to run, but knew instinctively she was not likely to get very far...