The blood was rushing to Raven's head rather painfully. The slow upside down crawl along the rope was straining her recently injured arm.

Through her clean brown shirt a dark stain was slowly blooming on her left sleeve. The bleeding wound made her move more cautiously than Fern.

The other girl had already made a head start on her and was making quick progress across the swinging rope.

As she was hanging from the rope the winds around them made the effort only harder to keep her hold.

Copying Fern's movements Raven moved her leg over the other to hook it back on the rope. The same applied for her hands that grasped the expanse further towards the opposite side. Hooking her other leg now she slowly closed the distance by a metre.

Only a hundred more to go...

The prospect of continuing her progress for an extended period of time made a lack of motivation seep into her.

Below, the clouds rushed past. The wind was blowing from the sides making the rope swing on a tandem.

Gritting her teeth the winged Angel girl ignored the stiffness of her arm and picked up her speed.

The faster I cross the drop the faster I will be on solid ground again.

Up ahead Fern was almost gliding up the inclining rope. The girl had crossed more than four fifths of the distance and now used her upper body to pull her to the more elevated Congress.

Flapping of wings distracted her momentarily as she turned to the side. Fury was gliding around the rope. The massive Nightmare looping around and performing aerial acrobatics with skill.

The movements looked effortless. A magnificent display of flexibility she would have never imagined the animal to possess.

But there was a lot that she hadn't thought possible with the Nightmare. One example was the bond between them that was growing stronger each day.

It felt like Raven had known the flying beast from years before. In reality it was less than a week of them meeting for the first time.

Since Fern had mentioned the strength of Fury's claw Raven carried it along on her body. It would be a good weapon of defence if ever it needed to be. Although Fern hadn't shown any signs of threat or concerning behaviour Raven couldn't just dismiss the possibility of it being present nonetheless. So, the sharp claw was strapped tightly to her waist with spare bandages just underneath her breasts.

It had felt weird too, strapping the claw on. Since she stepped foot onto the desert sands she couldn't bear wearing her bra. It felt restricting as the straps crossed tightly over her sheathed wings.

She had her own theories of the altitude and magnetism of the atmosphere to play a part in it. If the magnetic field was stronger here than on Earth then the wire in her bra would react to it. She had taken it off and stored it in the bags as soon as Fury had settled down when Raven was conscious.

Focusing again after being sidetracked she saw she had not long to crawl. The wind was pulling on her shirt making it flutter in the gust.

Pain in her arm made her uneasy and she sped up a notch.

That was when the beat reached her ears. It was becoming familiar to her now. She had heard it often enough to recognise it.

They were still far away but approaching fast. They were in favour of the wind pushing them on towards Raven and Fern.

Fury zoomed past her up onto the other side as she caught hold of the moist muddy dirt of the other island.

Two hands clasped her upper arms. One dug painfully into her wound. The nerves screamed and an equal pitch escaped her mouth as she voiced her body's agony.

"Sorry, sorry!" Fern apologized.

The beat advanced, moving ever closer to their still exposed position.

Finally Raven's feet were away from the edge on the slippery, although sturdy, mud.

Fern again seized her arm, this time only the healthy one, and began dragging her away.

Raven hadn't noticed the great towering trees before. Their heavy foliage would provide them with perfect cover.

She hadn't seen them before as they had observed the float from beneath. Their position hadn't allowed them observe the top.

They had breached the tree line when her whole environment changed. The hot sun was gone, the wind was gone blocked by the thick leaves. And she hated it.

Back home in the Rockies the forests were more spacious. The trunks weren't intertwined in each others roots, there were gaps amongst the canopies and there wasn't the oppressive sweet scent of millions of orchids and decomposing leaf litter to overwhelm her senses. Her home was pine needles and crisp air. Definitely not a bloody rainforest.

All in all it felt claustrophobic.

Fern had plonked down on the wet ground. Sweat was beading on her brow and yet she suppressed her heavy breathing.

She motioned as much to Raven when she pointed at her chest, then her nose, then the direction of the patrol as it was close to passing them by and finally to her ears.

If they really tried the patrol could hear their breathing.

Slowing her heartbeat wasn't easy. She managed but it wasn't easy.

Fury had settled down too, close to Raven.

Not a single sound was heard from the trio. Somewhere deep in the forest a monkey of some sort made a ruckus and a bird of prey answered in high pitched screams.

The Angels neared, the trio held their breath in a tension filled silence, and the Angels flew past.

They waited more before their breath was slowly released.

In a whisper Fern said to head further into the jungle.

Wet droplets were falling in unrhythmic patterns onto their skin. Sweat mixed with water, ran down Raven's back. Foam was forming between Fury's hindquarters as the tiny feathers rubbed together. And all sorts of sounds overwhelmed Raven as the jungle resumed it's former form of life.

It seemed the atmosphere itself had held it's breath at the Angels' passing.

Ahead in the brush a twig snapped and Raven and Fury slowed down. Her new dagger was quickly in her hands and her bow ready to be used if necessary.

Up ahead, Fern motioned silently to keep following. Another twig snapped and a low cough spread through the dense leaves.

The sound was not animalistic. The humans, or Angels, or whatever it was that stalked them was not hunting but guiding.

Movement at her side caught her eye and a flash of black skin disappeared as quick as it had appeared. Another flash, this time as white as the clouds on a clear summer day.

They were surrounded. Bows and spears blinked at her from the covers. Owlish eyes watched, observed and analysed.

It was a few hours before they broke into the small clearing. Not once had Raven seen an entire body of their escorts. Only flashes. Now, hundreds upon hundreds of women were assembled in the trees.

Perched on branches, baggy trousers and a breast sling their only clothing. Mud protected their exposed skin from insect bites and every single one held a weapon.

Fern's war mates.

A tall dark skinned woman emerged from the trees to cross the openness. Her hair was a white blonde colour and short. It only reached her ears.

Beyond her, every other pair of eyes watched the black Nightmare in uncertainty. After all, Raven remembered, they were called Nightmare for a reason.

The massive creature beside her took a step back. Her head at Raven's shoulder and her solid body curved around her back, protective.

The women seemed to all take a shocked breath before simultaneously emerging from the safety of the forest. Weapons were lowered and slack in their hands and watching the creature in awe. With hope shining brightly in their eyes.

The warriors looked up to their leader, expecting something.

Raven's green eyes moved back to the silent watcher. The dark eyes stared at her with intelligence and observance.

"Greetings Fern on your safe return. Was your travel successful?"

The woman's voice wasn't loud, yet the trees amplified it so every person would hear. It was melodic and directed at the stunning girl which had lead Raven here. Still, her piercing watchful eyes never left Raven.

"Yes, Anaka. I have the Glooms. Where is Isla? I can make the drink now, how bad is it?"

"It's not too bad, but better be safe than sorry." Anaka's attention was still on Raven. "How did this get here? She's Earthen, she doesn't belong to our skies."

The hostility in the warriors voice didn't surprise her. The woman's hair was somehow familiar to Raven, like an itch in her brain telling her something important about it but not fully comprehending it's meaning. It demanded attention and authority. It was commanding, but beautiful none the less.

Fern was fumbling with her hands, the full glare of the dominant woman upon her lowered head. The jungle had stilled around them and held it's breath, waiting for the lightning to strike.

"Th..the Twin soldiers collected her when they were hunting the Nightmare. I don't believe it was a coincidence. She found me in the middle of the Training Dunes, they had no effect on her when I was suffering the full force of the mirages. There's a reason for everything Anaka, you know that more than anyone else."

The time it took for Raven to blink, Fern was already sprawled on the floor. An abrasion forming on her barely covered chest.

Raven hadn't even noticed when she had changed her top from the shirt she had on earlier.

Raven didn't help Fern. Her full attention was on Anaka. The woman faced her again before turning on her heel and walking away.

"You can stay, but you can't leave. I refuse to let you risk our lives with stupidity."

Raven wanted to do nothing else but leave.

Now though, it didn't look like she had much of a choice as she in turn turned her back on Anaka and followed a submissive Fern into a well camouflaged tent.

The occupant was lying on a cot with linen sheets separating the two spaces for privacy. Her eyes were tightly shut and her stomach was heavily swollen with child.

"Oh, I understand the urgency for the fungi now. What exactly does it do?"

"We grind it into a paste and add water. She has to drink it for pain relief and antibiotic purposes. She's been battling an infection for a month now. This is her only chance of survival." Fern was quiet as she spoke. Even in their low tuned voices the pregnant woman twitched in awareness.

The drink was quickly made with the blue glowing button mushrooms, or Glooms as Fern called them. Raven lifted the woman's head and tilted for easier consumption.

Just as all the liquid was swallowed the woman started screaming.

Loud, agonized bellows of pain and misery.

"Someone shut her up, pronto!" Anaka's angry call was heard through the flaps. The heavy material muffled the sound but not the woman's wails.

Anaka burst through the tent flaps and immediately grabbed Raven by the throat.

"What did you do, grub?"

Raven didn't answer. Her cool and indifferent stare only agitated the elder woman more.

"I said: Shut. Her. Up Fern! NOW!"

Anaka's unfairness raised every last hair on Raven's body until electricity flowed through her blood. Her wings twitched in an attempt to break free but iron control kept them subdued.

"She's going into labour bitch! And if you don't cut her child out of her she won't make it and neither will the child!" In the back of her mind an unknown voice told her to stand up for herself. She didn't like Anaka her gut telling her the same thing.

"There is no way that I will cut a child out of her womb, ever! It is against our ways Earthling!"

"Then she will die."

Raven was back outside in the dense and stifling jungle heat in less than three seconds. She wouldn't stand by when a person in authority refused to help a woman in need.

Mid stride a harsh grip viced around her injury. A deadly hiss lashed through Raven's teeth and an angry growl Raven hadn't heard before came from Fury who had waited patiently for Raven's return.

Anaka's annoying raspy voice heated her ear as she snarled into it. "Fine! Help her."

It was a plea.

One that Raven intended to hold against her as a favour for repayment after it was fulfilled.

Without further ado Raven unstrapped her bags, glared at Anaka and strode back into the deathtrap known as a tent.