Three kids, two young girls and an older boy, sat around a campfire. The girls sat on a picnic blanket while the boy sat on a log.

"Hey, Sis," the boy said. "You know the story about Iveus Conrite and Irael Blackblade, right?"

"Of course," one of the girls, with brown eyes and thick, unruly blonde hair that rolled down her shoulders replied, rolling her eyes. "Mom and Dad told us those stories since we were little."

"I don't…" the other girl, tan-skinned with light brown eyes and shoulder-length brown hair that was as straight as a pin said softly. "My parents don't really tell stories."

The girl and the boy stared at her for a moment.

"Well, Carey," the girl started, "Iveus and Irael were the two most feared Immortals that ever lived. You've read those Harry Potter books the Mortals wrote, right?"

"Yeah," Carey replied with a small giggle. "The plotline was good, but they were so off the mark."

"Take Voldemort's death count and multiply it by at least three," the boy said. "That's about what you got from those two. Iveus was a warlock gone bad, and Irael was a Dark Elf. They got married, and the stories say that they went nuts."

"Without any reason, they started killing innocent people, Mortal and Immortal alike," his sister spoke. "So many species almost went extinct."

"Some did," the boy said grimly. "Why do you think we don't see gnomes around anymore?"

"It took some really powerful sorcerers to hunt them down and kill them," the girl continued. "To this day, no one really knows how they did it." She turned to her brother. "Why are you bringing this up, anyway? I already know the whole story."

"Do you, Lisa?" the older boy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm pretty sure!" Lisa said, getting annoyed with her brother. The fire began to rise slightly. Her brother didn't seem fazed in the slightest.

"They say that the two of them have a daughter," he said with a smirk. "Half Dark Elf and half witch. Supposedly, she's this super dangerous chick that's going to destroy the world someday." With a subtle flick of his wrist that both girls missed, the fire went out.

Lisa and Carey shivered, though whether it was from the cold or from fear, the boy couldn't be sure. "That's not funny, Tre!" Lisa hissed, glaring daggers at him.

"It's not supposed to be," Tre replied, letting the smirk drop as his tone grew serious. "From what I know, it's true. Somewhere out there, the spawn of the two most infamous murderers walks free, probably plotting to kill us all as we speak…"

I opened my eyes to see the cracked white ceiling above me. I was stuck in another sleazy motel room, but it beat the alternative. Besides, it was cheap. I could do many things, but produce money out of thin air was not one of them. Conjuring wasn't one of my strong points.

Alright, maybe I should back up just a bit.

Years ago, there were these two Immortals: Iveus Contrite, a warlock, and Irael Blackblade, a Dark Elf. No one knows exactly why, but the two of them went nuts and started killing a lot of people. They targeted everyone, whether they were Mortal or Immortal. They attacked so relentlessly that the gnomes and dwarves became extinct, and even now, eleven years later, the vampires and the centaurs are still recovering. Iveus and Irael were beyond powerful. They were practically gods. There were rumors that they'd sold their souls to the King of Demons in order to gain infinite power. I'm not too sure about that part, but I'll get to that in a minute. Anyway, no one really knows how they were killed, but everyone's grateful for it.

Well, almost everyone. People called them many things: The Evil Duo, The Corrupt, the Deadly Pair… Me? I called them 'Mom' and 'Dad'. They were killed when I was five. I've been on the run ever since.

I know what everyone says. I know that they were evil, I've heard the history, I've seen the statistics. But I can't bring myself to hate them, even though they've committed countless atrocities. To me, they were simply my parents. They loved me, they took care of me, and they always made sure I was safe. And when they were killed, I knew I had to run. Even at that young age, I knew that they were doing bad things. I realized, when they were killed before my eyes, that if I didn't run, I'd face the same fate. So run I did.

All the Immortals out there think that I'm going to become just like them. I'm sure there's a cell in a maximum security prison with my name already on it. Or perhaps a space in the gallows. Who knows? There's only one thing I've learned for sure after all these years. I can only trust myself.

I sat up in bed and blew some stray hairs out of my face. Blonde. Good, my glamour was still holding. I had to hide what I really looked like, because my Dark Elf half was a little more prominent than I would have liked. So, luckily, I was good at glamours. They were easy enough to weave, and didn't require much energy to hold up. So little, in fact, that I could now keep it up in my sleep.

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, which appeared to be pale blue, another glamour. Glancing out the window, I saw that it was probably sometime in the afternoon. Of course, I'd been up late the previous night, trying to plan my next move. I was running out of time and would have to move on soon. I glanced at my charmed watch. I had four hours.

Up until I was thirteen, I would come way too close to being caught. I would stay too long in one place, and then they would find me. So, as a precaution, I bought a small, cheap watch and charmed it so that it would tell me how long I had before my pursuers caught up with me.

Who was after me, you ask? Typically the authorities. Local, national, international… All of them were gunning for me. I should have been flattered that they were all threatened by little ol' me, but my precarious freedom kept me a little preoccupied. And then there were the bounty hunters, the main reason I trusted no one. As a rule, all authorities had to announce themselves in some way, making them easy to identify. Bounty hunters didn't have to play by the rules. They could be anyone, anywhere, waiting to strike.

I stood and stretched before starting to pack what little I had. I didn't even have to enchant the bag to be able to fit everything. I looked down at my dark blue pajamas and snapped my fingers. Conjuring, I couldn't do, but altering an object, such as an article of clothing, was no problem. I only had to travel with two sets of outfits. I needed a spare just in case one got too dirty or wet and I didn't have time to fix it. A shimmer worked its way from my shoulders down. The thick, navy fabric gently split into two layers. The lower one reformed into a cami, turning bright pink. The outer layer turned a purple/gray color and the head hole elongated so that it drooped down over one shoulder, exposing the sleeve of the cami. Pale yellow sequins spread on the front to form a skull, while the eyes were filled in with pink ones. My bottoms thickened and changed to denim, and a zipper and button appeared in the front, turning my pajama bottoms into a comfortable pair of jeans. I had to physically put on the shoes and socks, since I didn't wear those to bed. I looked at my hair and used a simple spell to get rid of the bed-head. I could have used more magic to put it up, but I preferred to do this on my own. When I used magic, it came out a little too perfect, and I was always afraid that it would make someone suspicious.

I pulled the ponytail holder from my wrist and got to work on my hair. Once it was done, in a slightly lopsided ponytail, I grabbed my black biker gloves and sat down on the bed. I had to figure out what my next move was. It would be nice to have a plan as to where I was going so that I didn't have to rush out blindly. It would make my chances of escape that much more—

The hair on the back of my neck stood on end as a slight chill spread down my back and a surge of energy flip-flopped my stomach. Trust me when I say that it's a weird sensation to experience both at the same time. I whipped around and stared at the door, but it was still closed, and I couldn't sense anyone behind it. But I knew that magic had been cast nearby. Granted, it could be some local pixies pulling a harmless prank on an unsuspecting Mortal, but I really didn't want to take that chance. I glanced down at the watch again to see the minute hand moving faster than it should. In fact, in about thirty seconds, it should reach the end. I hated it sometimes. It was really helpful, but when fate abruptly changed, it was pretty much useless.

I grabbed my bag and pulled it over my shoulder, holding my free hand out, preparing to fire a hex at a moment's notice. The one good thing about being hunted all these years was that it helped me practice my reflexes and quicken my spell casting. Hexes usually took a good fifteen seconds to finish, but by now, they were instantaneous for me. The door burst open, and in the doorway stood a man in his late thirties with red hair and green eyes flanked by a pale woman with brown hair and red eyes and a man with a slight blue tinge to his skin, bright blue eyes, blue hair, and translucent blue wings. Magic radiated from the first man. So, a sorcerer, a vampire, and a faerie. No problem. I'd faced worse.

My palm snapped as I fired a hex in their direction. The two men managed to move out of the way, but the vampire had slower reflexes, since it was the middle of the day. The spell hit her in the shoulder, singing her skin and burning a hole through the T-Shirt she was wearing. I actually felt a little bad, since it was a Linkin Park shirt. But if it was me or the shirt, well… I didn't feel too bad.

The sorcerer was holding out a hand of his own, clearly preparing a spell. His mouth was moving silently as he built up power. Shit. If it was a spell with an incantation as long as the one he was using, I was probably screwed if it hit me. I placed both palms together, shoving magical energy from each to the other and back again, building up the power I'd need to break through the spell in case it fired before I could. I shoved both hands forward and let the energy go, surrounding the man with a glowing, dark red light. His jaw clenched together, proving that my silencing hex had worked. The concentrated energy around him began to dissipate.

I looked around to find the faerie and swore. I didn't see him anywhere. But when a glowing circle filled with intricate lines began glowing around me, I looked up to see that he had shrunk and was mere inches from the ceiling above me. That was the really tricky business about faeries. They could change their size, making them hard to keep track of.

I turned to run, to try to make it to the window, but I ran into an invisible wall that made up the circle. "Damn!" I hissed. I'd forgotten how good the Fae were with defensive magic like barriers. I turned back to see the vampire getting her bearings and the sorcerer starting to unweave my hex. It was powerful, so his ability to destroy it this quickly really said something about his level of power. Both approached me, and the faerie returned to its larger size, placing itself between me and the window. "Can't we just talk about this for a minute?" I asked, looking back and forth between the three of them.

"You leave destruction everywhere you go," the vampire hissed.

"That's because I'm trying to get away from all of you psychos!" I yelled. "It's not easy to escape a group of Immortals without causing a little damage. And no one's ever died!"

"Not yet," the faerie said darkly.

The sorcerer, having just finished with my hex, opened his mouth and said, "If you really don't have a reason that you need to be followed like this, then you should just come back with us for a trial." He had a thick Irish accent.

"Nice try," I said darkly. "But I know that my bloodline with be considered proof enough. A lot of people want revenge against my parents, so they'd want to take it out on me." None of them denied it. "Why can't you all just leave me alone?!" I yelled, and to my surprise, the building began to shake. Great. I was losing control again. This was really helping my 'You have no reason to come after me' pitch. The ceiling, already damaged enough, began to cave in, and as soon as some of the rubble fell onto the circle, a hole was made in the barrier. While the three bounty hunters were distracted by the falling building, I slipped out of the circle and around the faerie, out the window. I was on the second floor, but that was nothing compared to some of the falls I'd experienced. The Dark Elf blood in me made me a little more resilient than most.

As soon as my feet hit the ground, I took off running, desperate to get as far away from them as possible. I only had so much time before they got their bearings and came after me.

However, in my haste, I didn't notice the large man right in front of me.

I smacked straight into him and fell gracelessly on my butt. I stared up at the man. Tan skin, dark eyes, large muscles and tribe tattoos. Hereditary werewolf. This must have been their backup plan, just in case I escaped. Damn, these guys were smart.

Before I had the chance to get my bearings, I felt a thick, meaty hand wrap around my arm like it was a twig and pull me up. He shoved me inside a black van, and I suddenly felt light-headed, and the sigils on the ceiling and floor told me why. This vehicle had been protected by anti-magic charms, and for someone who relied on magic as much as I did would definitely be at a sudden disadvantage.

I was unable to move much, so I simply rested my head against the window, turning it slightly when the other three from before entered the van. The faerie was rubbing his head tenderly and the vampire was swearing under her breath. The sorcerer simply stared at me with a sickly sweet smile, with his hatred evident in his eyes.

"So, Akena," he said pleasantly, using my birth name. "Ready to finally face justice?"