“What’s wrong Tae? The Redcaps aren’t after us, are they?” Venika asked in concern.

“No, the Redcaps have a specific feel to their presence in the forest, but something is following us and will likely catch up soon at the pace it’s going,” I quickly explained, looking back toward the presence that was growing ever closer. “We can either pick up the pace or wait and see what it is. It could be hostile, but I can’t be sure. It feels different than the rest of the forest, a presence that I’m not familiar with that doesn’t really belong here, it feels very wrong. It doesn’t feel like a player, so it’s probably a monster that I am not familiar with.

Nishalle and Lissany quickly took up guard positions around Kinara and me, my sister frowning as she looked through the darkness of the woods around our wisp-lit location. “How far is it?” she asked.

“It’ll catch up before we reach the village. We strayed pretty far in our search for Salem. I’d say that we’re still a good twenty minutes from Haven, even at a fast pace. Whatever is following us is catching up fast, I’d say less than ten minutes away,” I informed the others before focusing on my connection to the forest again. It was moving fast, it would catch us in another five minutes if we stayed still like this. Then I saw something that hadn’t been there when I had checked a moment before. It was enough to shock me out of my connection to the living mana of the forest and make me curse. “Shit!”

“Language Taelya,” Venika scolded me before asking, “Is it that close?” She began drawing in mana in concern.

“Sorry,” I replied sheepishly before shaking my head and drawing in mana as well. “No... I mean yes… it’s right behind us. If I hadn’t stopped us though we would have walked right into an ambush. Something just spawned between us and the village, there are over twenty distinct presences hiding about a hundred meters ahead of us.”

“So, what do we do?” Kinara asked a bit nervously. She had yet to see any real combat yet and though she was learning quickly she had no experience with combat magick in a battle setting.

“You have a teleport spell, right? Could you poof us back to Haven or the Glade?” Rei asked.

“I really need to come up with a mass teleport spell, Venika and I both know a teleport spell, but it’s limited to just us and what we’re carrying,” I explained with a sigh. “Other people are too much for us to bring with us, especially for Venika. So, while we and Daenyss could get there safe, the rest of you would be screwed. I am not going to leave any of you just to get through this alive. We all make it out, or we go down fighting. This situation isn’t looking great though.”

“Rock, meet hard place,” I heard Lark mutter.

My eyes widened and I couldn’t help but grin. “Lark, you’re a genius! You and Kinara stick close to me and Lissany for safety, Nishalle and Lissany will protect us. Kinara, try to stick to single target spells if you can, AOEs are going to be too destructive and I would rather avoid friendly fire or causing too much destruction to the forest. Salem, you’re still weak and you have no magick training or a focus for your power, yet so I want you and Brynna to climb that big redwood there and stay hidden. Take the wisps with you and try to keep them calm. Everyone else, there may be a lot of close combat, but try to use your guns if you have a clear shot, once we know what we’re dealing with. Until then everyone hides in the brush. Liss, you’re pretty quick, you have lots of stamina, and you’re the one of us who can take the most damage, so how do you feel about being bait?”

“I don’t mind if it keeps everyone else safe,” my Guardian said with a grim nod. “What do you need me to do, Your Highness?

“I want you to run up ahead and trigger the ambush that is likely to be waiting and then I want you to taunt them into following you and book it back here as fast as you can to join us. Then you can introduce rock and hard place, and we can ambush them both while they duke it out.”

“This plan is crazy,” Rei accused before breaking into a huge grin. “I love it!”

Brynna had escorted Salem up the large redwood tree where they were now both safely hidden from sight with the wisps, and the rest of us were hiding behind the cover of some nearby moss-covered stones and thick brush. I had also taken the opportunity to try out my new wind-whisper spell to apprise Amoiraishe of our situation just in case everything went to hell, and to ask that she and Sheriff Shaw call a meeting of all players that evening, or the next if we didn’t happen to make it out of this mess.

I couldn’t help but think that when this fight happened, it was going to be crazy. Many people probably would have preferred fighting in an open space, but I figured that all of these trees would provide decent cover and allow us to make easier use of hit and run tactics. Lissany had been gone over five minutes and I could hear her off in the distance yelling at someone or something. A quick use of my Nature’s Call ability showed her heading back toward us, with the intended ambush hot on her heels. And as for our pursuer from earlier, it was practically right on top of us.

It wasn’t surprising that our speedy pursuer was the first to enter the clearing. What was surprising was what it was. The creature that had burst through the trees and was now sniffing around for its prey was vaguely lupine in appearance, stalking the spot where we had discussed my plan on all fours. It was over twenty feet tall at the shoulders with pitch black fur, glowing red eyes, and razor-sharp claws as long as my arm. Acidic drool dribbled from a muzzle filled with fangs and a pair of massive tusks to sizzle on the ground. Bone spikes as long as I was tall jutted from the creatures back.

“Holy shit, it’s a Vhasjin’dhur!” I gasped out, barely able to keep my volume at a whisper. Kinara and Venika were both wide-eyed beside me and I could hear similar curses coming from the both of them as well. As much as I really would have liked to tease Venika about her use of foul language, I figured that in this case it was warranted. Only the three of us, and maybe Brynna, had any idea of just how monumentally screwed that we really were.

The Vhasjin’dhur are chaos beasts, descending from a time before even the Fae walked the Earth. The Goddess Danu had created the Four and the Fae that followed after, to bring a form of order to the natural world and maintain the balance of the elements and the flow of mana. The chaos beasts though were rumored to have been created by the Fomorians, chaos gods that had preceded the Tuatha Dé Danann. They thrived in chaos, they spread it and appeared in times of great turmoil or natural upheaval, and I suppose that the apocalypse following the breaching of the veil would count for that.

What had me concerned the most though, was that my monster lore stated that after many long wars between the Fomorians and the Tuatha Dé Danann, before the last of the Fomorians had met their end, it had imbued the Vhasjin’dhur with an instinct to destroy the Tuatha Dé Danann or anything related to them. To put it mildly, those things eat Fae for breakfast and they could smell us and the power we exude. We had some powerful Fae magic-users in our group right now, and two of us were Yseil’dhraí. All Fae bear strong ties to Danu, but with Yseil’dhraí women it’s more than that; we’re her daughters, her chosen people, and we wear her marks to prove it. Kinara and I were both in very grave danger.

The chaos beast was sniffing its way straight toward our cover and I instinctively shrank back into Rei’s arms. He didn’t know what exactly was wrong, but he knew enough to hold me close and whisper, “It’ll be okay, we can handle this.” I shook my head as I tried to push away the terror that threatened to overwhelm me. It was too close, its nose snuffling the brush, and its tusked maw close enough to snap us up.

Lissany chose that moment to enter the clearing, her massive war hammer in hand and a horde of loincloth-clad Goblins, screaming and swinging swords and clubs right on her tail. “Bad dog!” she shouted as she leaped toward us and brought the hammer down square on the beast’s nose with a painful sounding crack. The beast yelped in pain but didn’t have time to do anything more than that before the Beastkin girl struck again with a mighty backswing of her hammer that caused the weapon’s head to explode as it struck the creature’s jaw. It was staggering from the first blow and now its jaw hung uselessly and its massive tusk on the left side of its face was broken off.

There was a moment after Lissany struck that second blow where everything seemed to have stopped. Then time resumed and everything seemed to be happening at once. Over two dozen Goblins arrived on the scene only to stop and stare in fear and disbelief at Lissany and her large opponent. Everyone else had been in motion as soon as Lissany landed her second attack except for me and Rei, as he held me and I shrunk back while frozen in terror, and Kinara who had begun to scream in fear. Venika peppered the Vhasjin’dhur’s face with a scattershot spell and Daenyss had summoned her AK-47 and opened fire at its face as well. Pete and Nishalle both went for its throat, though they only landed glancing blows as the chaos beast staggered backward from the other attacks. While all of that was happening Lark began singing and I felt a rush of energy as her magical buff took effect on the party.

It was a combination of that energy rush and Kinara’s scream that brought me back to myself. Kinara was under my care and I was not going to let anything happen to her, or anyone else that I cared about, while I still had breath in my body. I felt for the living mana of the forest around me and then I commanded it. Roots and vines erupted from the ground beneath the Vhasjin’dhur, swiftly entwining around its legs, neck, and anywhere else that they could gain purchase, binding it firmly and pulling as hard as they could in all directions. The chaos beast was powerful, and it was resisting, so I poured every bit of willpower and mana that I could muster into the task.

Lark was still singing and the energy that she was providing was helping to keep me focused, but the goblins had gotten over their surprise and had apparently stolen my plan as they moved in to attack while we were still preoccupied with the Vhasjin’dhur. I couldn’t afford to let this thing loose, we needed to kill it quickly so there was no time for finesse or worrying about every Fae on the continent knowing that I was using Nature’s Call. Lissany had surprised and stunned it and now I needed to do my part to finish it off. “Good job Liss. Best. Guardian. Ever. Lissany and I will handle this big fucker everyone. Lark… keep the buff up. Daenyss and Rei, cover fire. Don’t let the goblins get too close until Liss and I are done. Kinara… help the others with the goblins. Nishalle hit from the shadows and keep Kinara safe.” I gritted my teeth as I spoke, showing my determination to the younger Yseil’dhraí as I worked at containing the large beast and trying to rip it apart.

Daenyss and Rei already had their weapons ready and took out some goblins that were heading straight for us and Lark. Kinara stopped staring at me and Lissany, shaken from her fear and awe, and quickly nodded as I began to see a similar determination reflected in her own eyes. “You got it Taelya.” She was already preparing a scattershot spell as she and the others went to intercept the goblins with Nishalle at her side.

Lissany drew her sword as the others ran off and slashed deeply at the chaos beast’s throat. It healed fast though, it was already healing from the damage that she had done to its muzzle. She was giving it everything she had, and I felt that I could do no less, so I continued to put every bit of power that I could into my control over the forest around me. I could sense something else approaching, but I was pretty sure that it was a player, though it didn’t seem to be one that I was familiar with. Maybe one of the Fae nearby that felt me exerting my control over nature?

The others seemed to be doing well enough with the Goblins, though I was only vaguely aware of this with my mind so set on my current task. Venika and Kinara were both taking out single targets when the opportunity arose, though Venika was doing it from above them, where it was safer for her and harder for the Goblins to see it coming. Daenyss and Rei were shooting anything that came close enough for them to get a clear shot without risking a friendly fire incident. Pete was in the thick of it cleaving Goblins apart with his claymore while Nishalle kept an eye on Kinara and moved through the shadows of the darkened forest to quickly dispatch any who got too close to the pink-haired Yseil’dhraí.

Lark was busy singing and I could feel the energy flowing from her music into me. I could also feel when it stopped, and it took every bit of power I had to keep the Vhasjin’dhur from breaking free. A trio of goblins had gotten past Daenyss and Rei, by rushing between them, the cover of trees, and our other party mates, where they couldn’t dare shoot without risking a friendly fire incident. Daenyss had reacted swiftly, pulling the small dagger from the ornament in her hair and throwing it to pierce the chest of one, but that still left two more. They rushed the Bard and she stepped back, barely avoiding a slash from a sword. The blade caught the cord of the pendant maintaining her glamour though and sent the enchanted jewelry to the ground as Lark staggered backward, fear and surprise on her now un-glamoured face as she scrambled back into a tree trunk thirty feet away from me.

The others were too far away, couldn’t see her because of trees in the way, or were too busy to do anything to help, as another trio rushed Daenyss and Rei and I was torn between helping Lark and finishing the beast off. I was barely managing to keep it from breaking free and I was gathering mana from the whole forest just to do that. No, I couldn’t let it free, I needed to finish it and help her. With renewed determination I put every bit of power that I had remaining into my efforts, tightening around and pulling at its legs and neck and finally ripping it apart.

I fell to the ground too exhausted to even move as the large beast expired in an explosion of blood. “Liss… help Lark...”

My Guardian started to run toward the Bard, but someone else arrived before she could. A darkness like a shadow moving swiftly through the darkened trees. Whatever it was it was damn fast and agile and appeared humanoid. It bounced from a tree almost too fast to follow and I heard a gunshot a nanosecond before one of the goblins’ heads exploded. The mysterious figure grabbed the other goblin and threw it aside before it could grab Lark and then leaped on top of it almost before it hit the ground. “Hands off my girlfriend,” a masculine voice hissed before he crushed the life from the Goblin's throat and tossed it casually aside.

It was a Beastkin his hybrid form, a black panther from the look of him. Golden eyes scanned the forest and once he seemed satisfied that the fight was over and the others were finishing the last of the Goblins he approached Lark as the others approached me. “Brynna and Salem, it’s safe to come down now! Sis, Lark are you both okay?” Nishalle called out as they all gathered in concern.

“Peachy, just a bit tired… and covered in blood,” I admitted wearily.

The strange panther Beastkin shifted to his human form, that of a young and fit Latino man roughly the same age as me in the game, with handsome features and short hair with black panther ears atop his head. He was approaching Lark now, sounding a bit exasperated as he said, “Geeze Robyn, you’re lucky that Moira used a spell to send me here to help when I arrived. You couldn’t have waited until I could join the game with you before getting neck-deep in trouble? How am I supposed to keep you safe if I’m not…”

Whatever he had been about to say was cut off by Lissany. She was staring at Lark, who now looked very different than when she was wearing her glamour. In place of the blonde blue-eyed girl that we all had come to know was a Latino girl with dark brown eyes and long wavy hair dyed electric blue. “Omigod! You’re Robyn Reyes!” my Guardian squealed in excitement.

Kinara squealed nearly as loud as Lissany had. “I can’t believe this! This is like, the coolest thing ever!”

They were both right, Lark was really Robyn Reyes, if she did indeed keep her own looks on entering the game. Looking back on it the clues had all been there, the emancipation from her parents, her very vocal dislike of drug and alcohol addiction, and her passion for environmental and equality issues. Robyn Reyes had grown up and still lived in Vancouver, but she was pretty famous all over the world as a pop star since she had gotten discovered on Youtube when she was thirteen.

Robyn wasn’t one of those teen sensations that vanishes or falls into alcohol or drug abuse, in fact, she was very outspoken about her negative view on addiction. That and her involvement in fighting for the environment, equality, and standing up to her parents’ abuse had earned her an almost rabid following of fans who loved her for her activism as much as for her music. The only thing negative thing that people could ever say about her was that she wasn’t a great dancer, unlike a lot of the pop idols out there. It was widely known that she had two left feet so her videos never really showed her dancing.

“Umm look guys, I’d rather this not get out publicly in the game, I’ve really been enjoying hanging with you and just having fun, so could we please just keep this quiet?” the pop star asked uncertainly.

“Of course!” Lissany and Kinara half-shouted simultaneously. Lissany then added, “it’s cool that you’re here playing with us and that you’re our friend, but I can understand not wanting all that attention all of the time. I love your music, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say that you’re one of my personal heroes, but that just means that we should try to treat you as a friend and not as a celebrity, you don’t seem like the type who wants fans following them everywhere and this is supposed to be a vacation for you.”

Kinara nodded and they both reached out to hug the famous pop-starlet. Robyn let out a sigh of relief and hugged them back. “Thanks, girls, I don’t have a lot of real friends in real life. I have a lot of fans and people who want to be my friends, but usually, it’s for the wrong reasons. The last week has been great, just being able to be me and have fun with people who seem to like me for who I am instead of what I am. Maybe we can figure out some way to hang out in the real world once this is all over.”

“We do like you for who you are,” Kinara insisted. “You’re one of us and sure you being famous and such an awesome singer is so cool, but that’s just icing on a really great cake.”

“We won’t tell anyone about who you really are, it’s our secret and we’ll keep it in the family,” I assured her, yelping briefly as a blur of pink light assaulted me with affection. A quick glance showed that both the other wisps were back with their chosen caretakers as well, with Venika's sitting atop her on the ground. “Hey, sis can you see if you and find her pendant so we can get her glamour back on before heading to the village?”

“On it Tae,” Nishalle replied as she looked for the object in question.

It didn’t take her long to find it with her superior night vision, and as I set about magically mending the chain so Robyn could wear it and become Lark again, the celebrity in question kissed the panther Beastkin. “Thanks for the save sweetie. So how did the misdirection go?”

“The fan that we got to be your stand-in is now flying to a paid vacation in Hawaii with her parents and the signed copy of your new album, just like you asked. It took the media two days to figure out that it was a fake that I was going around town with and they have no idea where you really are. We should keep her in mind for the future, she’s a nice kid. She was happy just to help you get away from the media for a bit, and with that wig on she looked so much like you that I almost fell for it,” the Beastkin replied with a grin.

“This is my boyfriend and self-imposed bodyguard Roberto Cruz,” Robyn explained as I handed her the repaired pendant and she placed it over her head and around her neck to return to her ‘Lark’ form. “He was supposed to join the game with me but we didn’t want the media knowing where I was so he had to wait a few days to give them a false trail to follow.”

“You can call me Rob,” he said with a shrug, “I chose the name Rob-cat for the game so it should work fine. I’m not the one who needs to worry about a secret identity.”

After that, we made all of the necessary introductions, had Rob and Salem both join the party, and welcomed them to the family as we discussed continuing on our way toward Haven. I was exhausted and could barely walk, but I figured that it would be best if we continued on our way before something else happened. Still, Nishalle and Rei both insisted that I rest for ten minutes with my fiancé watching over me like a hawk while the others looked for loot and chatted amongst themselves. I did manage to use my wind whisper spell to let Amoiraishe know that we were safe and what had happened, though the use of it left me feeling like I was going to pass out after my previous exertion from the battle.

I was still tired as we got underway, but I had some things that I wanted to think about, and I figured that it might take my mind off my shaking legs. With Grell still in the party, despite his current absence, and our new recent arrivals we now had a full party with twelve people. As we made our way to the village I was thinking that it might be a good idea to do some training exercises as a group, especially after what had just happened. I was also thinking that it might be a good idea to split the party into two set units of six for some training sessions as well, in case we need to split up for any reason or attack enemies on multiple fronts while in the field. Venika would be a good leader for the other unit if I could figure out a good composition for each unit to divide our strengths equally.

Lissany was walking several paces ahead of the group while Nishalle brought up the rear. Something was bothering my young friend and since I was trying to be a kind of big sister to her I decided to talk to her about it once I had finished my pondering and walked ahead of the others to join her while I absently petted Willow, who was snuggling in my hands. “You know Liss, I can tell if anything doesn’t really belong in the forest, it should help us to avoid further problems,” I started conversationally.

“Yeah, but you’re tired from all that effort earlier, so you should be resting. I’m not even sure how you can walk after the way you collapsed. No more magic until we’re safe at the Glade. I don’t smell or hear anything yet, so hopefully, we’ll be safe until then,” she said with a frown.

“We should be safe,” I agreed. Then, lowering my tone so that it hopefully wouldn’t carry to back to the others, I asked, “So why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you? Is it about Lark?”

Her ears twitched as they strained to hear my voice. “No, Lark is cool, and I meant what I said. Besides, I think if anyone could use a vacation from the real world it’s her. Have you noticed the way that Kinara has been looking at us since the fight?”

“Do you mean the whole hero-worship thing?” I asked with a shrug. “That’s not exactly new for her, she’s made it pretty clear during our lessons that she idolizes me and she obviously likes you a lot and is a bit in awe of your abilities. It’s not surprising that what you did back there would make her more interested in you. Hell, I’m in awe of the way you attacked that thing while I was too scared to move.”

The Beastkin girl sighed and replied in a hushed tone, “Yeah, she’s told me and Lark that you’re like the big sister she always wanted. She worships the ground you walk on since you started teaching her magick. She’s… umm… kind of been doing that hero-worship stare at me too since we met. She’s been watching me intently since the fight, but when I tried to talk to her while you were resting she got all awkward and ran off to help check for loot. Do you think I scared her?”

“I don’t think so Liss, but why don’t I give her a big sister talk and see if I can find out what’s going on?” I offered, reaching over to tousle her hair.

“Thanks, Your Highness,” she replied with a relieved smile.

“Liss, I told you that when we’re alone you can call me Taelya like everyone else, I’ll go talk to her and send your Mom up here to keep you company.” I ruffled her hair and fell back and after letting Venika know that her daughter might need her company I drifted back to join Kinara. I was happy to see that Salem was learning about the basics of being Fae from Daenyss and Brynna as I passed them toward the back of the column. I thought that it would do both Daenyss and the new Moss Maiden good to have a friend in a common situation and for Daenyss to be in the position to help someone going through something similar to what she had gone through, with similar self-doubts.

Kinara didn’t even seem to notice me until I ruffled her hair and said, “Hey kiddo, what’s got you down?” Deep brown eyes looked up at me in confusion for a moment before the pink-haired Yseil'dhraí, let out a sigh, and looked away. Whatever it was, she was reluctant to talk about it. I wasn’t about to give up though, something was obviously bothering her. So I pressed, “Is it about the fight? That was your first real combat situation and it wasn’t exactly an easy one to start with. You were pretty scared there, so was I when that Vhasjin’dhur showed up. I think you handled yourself well though.”

“Not like you, you were amazing. I wonder if I’ll be able to use Nature’s Call like that someday. And Lissany, she was…” she trailed off uncertainly.

“That was kind of normal for Lissany, throwing herself into certain danger to protect the rest of us. It’s what makes her such a great Guardian. She’s kind of worried that she scared you though,” I told her gently.

“I… What?! No! I was scared, but not of her, she’s amazing and sweet and I really admire her. I like her a lot. I’m just… not sure how to ask her…” Kinara stumbled over the words as she looked at me with a pleading expression on her face.

“Ask her what?” I inquired, uncertain about what she was getting at.

The Summer Court Yseil'dhraí’s cheeks turned as pink as her hair. “You know… for a lock of her hair, for the sahir kien. Why do you not wear yours? It would keep people like Narek from getting any ideas.”

It took my implanted memories a moment to fill in the blank and I cursed that I only ever seemed to get this kind of information when something was said to jog those memories rather than when such information might actually prove useful. She spoke of the lover’s braid. It was an old tradition among the Fae and not practiced much in modern times outside of the Yseil'dhraí. When a Fae has someone that they feel that they share a soul-bond with, someone that they have devoted their soul to, even should they share their body with others, then they both wear the sahir kien which marks them as favored lovers, or consorts in the case of those partnered with Yseil'dhraí females.

Basically, the sahir kien is just the Fae equivalent of a promise ring or wedding ring, a simple braid of the hair of both partners worn around the right wrist of each of the involved parties. It shows that they have been claimed heart and soul and, while a bit of friendly sex is fine, they are already in a committed relationship so nothing more is possible or desired. That little bit of trivia would have saved me a lot of trouble with Narek since it’s considered extremely rude to court another while they wear the sahir kien. I resolved to bring it up with Rei as soon as possible. By not wearing it I was giving off signals that I was available.

That didn’t help with the current problem though. Kinara was either genuinely in love with or crushing hardcore on Lissany, enough so that she wanted to make the offer of a commitment to her. “Rei and I have yet to make ours,” I replied, “we will be doing so soon though. Lissany is great, but you’re only fourteen Kinara. Don’t you think you may be a little young to choose your consort now? You still have almost four years until your Jhashaira” I didn’t mention anything about Lissany not being Fae. For one, I didn’t believe that love had any racial preference and for another, my intended consort was a Kitsune, so who was I to throw stones.

“This isn’t about physical attraction Taelya,” she insisted. “I will not let such thoughts and desires have a place in my mind until my Jhashaira, as is proper. I really like her, I admire and respect her and the more time I spend with her the more I feel that she is someone special, someone, that has already claimed a place in my heart and soul.”

“Then ask her, but she doesn’t know our ways, so explain to her what you are asking and what it means, then let her decide. She may need time to come to that decision though,” I advised her gently, trying not to let my warring thoughts show on my face. I wondered once again just how much of this was a game to the young Yseil'dhraí. There were things that she knew, ways that she instinctively acted or reacted that suggested that this was more than just a role that she was playing. I had gotten similar feelings from Naerysse, Maekin, and Sahnae as well, and especially from Amoiraishe over the course of the game so far.

Inklings of suspicion formed, not for the first time, in the back of my thoughts, making themselves known before I shoved them back in the dark recesses of my mind. This was a game and I wanted to enjoy it. If I allowed those suspicions to see the light they added up to something that didn’t make sense, or perhaps far too much sense for me to accept. I could shine a light on those thoughts and get answers when I had more information and not just wild instincts screaming at me. For now, I just wanted to spend time with the people that I cared about and enjoy my little fantasy.

Sisterly advice given I returned to Rei’s side, leaning on him for the strength that I currently lacked as the lights of Haven shone through the trees, heralding our return to the village. When we left the woods Amoiraishe and Sheriff Becky Shaw were there waiting for us along with the representatives from the other Courts. Amoiraishe wrapped me and Nishalle both up in a hug before we even knew what hit us and I saw that Kinara was getting the same treatment from Maekin. “I’m glad you’re all back safe, you’ve made me so proud. All of the players are waiting in the Town Hall. Are you sure that you want to do this tonight? You and Salem should both be resting, given what you have been through. You can barely stand Taelya.” The last was said as she pulled back a bit to look me over in concern.

“I’m sure Mahair,” I insisted, trying to look more energetic than I currently felt. “We should get this over with, people need to know what’s coming and we need to prepare for the future.”