What an awesome story! Well, not for Elyran or Maraki at this point in the story, but you have written a masterful piece, because you really get attached to the characters and completely absorbed into the story. You have a great plot line set up and your story has just the right combinations of despair, love, and a kind of tenderness to the way that the characters react. Both your main characters are amazingly well-written and I have really gotten attached to them, which brings me up to the cliffhanger! NOOOO!!! I must read more, we were just at the tension point I will be waiting impatiently for the next chapter, and thanks for writing such a great story!