<em>Elaina</em>whispered the voice in her head. He was gone. How long she had been here, she didn't know. Time had stood still, or it had seemed. Hours? Days? Strange rituals, ancient rites, a stone slab that had, thousands of years ago tasted blood when Amen-Khofae was at the height of it's power, tasted blood again. She'd been the centerpiece of his ritual, and she had gained much from it, and indeed, the tables had seemingly turned somewhat on him. His mark had been left on her, the essence she had received was stronger than it should have been. In fact, it had destroyed him. However, the stupor that the sudden influx of power and essence had caused within her, had given his men time to make their exit. His henchmen had pretty much gotten away although the remains of one were festering on the ground, the mercenary adventurers that her father had hired ended up tracking her here, deep in the southern jungles, amidst the decaying jungle and hidden stone ruins. They hadn't actually found her yet, but they were close.<br/><br/>She could feel them. Her senses were sharper, and she could feel...blood. In a single day, she'd lost her maidenhood, her mortality and her human-ness, the last not completely gone, but not completely intact either. Her body was still getting used to the changes that Ne'drak had forced to manifest within her. He was denied the enlightenment that he so richly desired, and she in turn, was reborn, with some of his knowledge and skills. Somehow, in his destruction, his gift to her, which was his final act, had transposed some of his knowledge and skills into her. In a sense, his desire to make her body a vessel for him had worked. The end result was not as he had expected however, and instead, he had given her a new lease on life, only with skills and intuition that had taken him centuries to acquire. It was a lot for her body to take in, and it slowly processed it as his blood merged with hers.<br/><br/>It was hot, but didn't seem to bother her. There was blood on the altar, some of hers, some of his. It was drying, the familiar brown-rust color adding to the ancient lines of the same that already stained the slab. The jungle was alive, and she knew that she was within a larger complex. Perhaps an ancient temple, perhaps a palace complex. It was hard to tell with the plants and canopy overhead covering so much of it up.<br/><br/>One thing she knew. People were near.