Elloreah slept fitfully through the remainder of the night. She seemed to be prone to nightmares. As morning broke and the birds started twittering in the predawn light, she shifted uncomfortably and sat up blinking, disoriented once more. He watched her take in her surroundings with groggy puzzlement before her gaze fell upon him.

"Aleric?" When he did not answer, she shook her head, laughing softly. "I had the strangest dream..." She trailed off, studying him. The realization seemed to finally dawn on her. "Mingan." She hesitated for a long moment, a rush of emotions passing over her fair features. She took a deep breath, steadying herself. "I thought for a moment... You looked like..." She narrowed her eyes, as if seeing him for the first time. "It is strange indeed. You do resemble him, in a way..."

He furrowed his brow, unwilling to let her draw him in further. He hadn't slept, and wished nothing more than to finish this tiresome journey. "Are you up to travel?"

She felt along her side gingerly before climbing slowly to her feet. Leaning on the tree as she tested her strength. "I will be well enough for the journey."

"Good. I need to test these markings on you." He fished a bit of charcoal from his pack.

She stared at him for a moment, mouth open in protest, and decided better of it. She pulled the jacket more tightly around herself. "Where do you intend to mark me?"

"An arm will do well enough for now." He took the bit of coal, made a quick mark on his hand then wiped it off to demonstrate.

She nodded and slowly slid out of the jacket, shivering slightly in the chill morning air. She rolled up her sleeve, pushing it up as far past her elbow as she was able. "Is this enough?"

He took her by the wrist, pausing momentarily to turn her forearm slightly, entranced by the way her skin shimmered in the daylight. Ethereal. He thought, was a perfect label for such a creature. While the glow was enchanting, the sprinkling of freckles came as something of a surprise. He was rather fond of freckles, and though at first they seemed random, upon closer inspection, the freckles formed a sort of pattern, a subtle veining.

"Dryads often have bark markings," she told him, her voice soft, full of shame. "The spells that hid them...."

He shook himself, realizing he'd paused. He clenched his jaw. He let his guard down again, let her draw seep in and entrance him. "They'll soon be hidden here as well," he said sharply and made a few swift marks, checked his book and made a few more. Satisfied, he carefully touched the marks and muttered a few words of magic, the old language that named all things.

She flinched slightly, and he tightened his grasp on her, moving onto the next one. Once the fourth rune had lit and faded, he studied her. Her features had changed subtly. Her eyes, an inhumanly luminous green were now closer to hazel and no longer overly large; her hair was subdued to a natural red, with undertones of browns and golds; her skin, still pale and freckled, but gone was the bark-like veining and shimmering glow.

She would pass for human now. Though as he considered her, he realized she was more appealing, no longer unworldly. She appeared young and all too human. He worried at that. He did not know her well enough to predict how she would use such a form. There is no time, he decided. Remembering her powers, he set the other runes in place. He had worked through the night, settling on a combination of runes that if spelled out in the correct order should restrain her abilities to manipulate and influence.

He paused, considering for a long moment. The best way to know if it worked was to test it on himself, to see if that glimmer of influence, her inherent ability to draw people to her was stronger without his own protective shields. As uneasy as opening himself to her influence made him, he knew it was unlikely she could do much more that she already had. Not with The Wolf's power so close to the surface.

With that thought, his decision was made. If his more human side was not affected by her nature, then perhaps she would be safe enough to bring into the ranch, safe for those whose nature would be triggered by her unguarded abilities, and safe for those humans she might draw into her spell, consciously or not. With a whisper and a hand to his chest, he lessened the power of his own protections.

The pull was slight, just a vague draw. It felt no stronger than a simple sense of sympathy, and not nearly as strong as when she'd touched his runes. She was just a pale, redheaded, human girl. He took her hand, and she stared up at him, her gaze uncomfortably intense. She was silent, as she'd been the entire time he'd worked. The pull increased only slightly, resulting in a vague desire to hold her hand a moment longer.

He released her hand. "Good. These will work," he told her before reactivating his own protections. "But we must set them into your skin. These will wipe away too easily."

Her brow furrowed. "Set...Set them how?" she asked, staring at the coal markings along her arm.

"With blood."