The Dark Rider pokes around the ‘camp’ and puts out tendrils of palpable Dark energy—obviously in search of the minions that are no longer there. He stiffens in one spot where the minions’ Dark energy has not completely dissipated from the ash…and seems to actually notice the ash for the first time…

He turns to look at the Veil and I can ‘see’ his blood-red irises even from this far, his Darkness is so strong…

He mounts his steed and starts riding towards to the Golden Veil. I unconsciously reach out and strengthen it in the area that we are in, so that he cannot see us—with his eyes, at least. I have no idea what his capabilities are of sensing us… We, of course can see OUT.

I stretch out my shield and engulf all three of us, ratcheting it up to a very high level…at this point, I am well-tapped into both Earth and Forest Magic…but at this level, I can still feel the slow drain of my own energy.

The Rider arrives at the Veil and reaches out to touch it. It sizzles as his fingertips barely poke through… We all jump. He is NOT supposed to be able to do that. He pulls his hand back and kisses his fingers…they are slightly burned. His eyes bore into the Veil; in an obvious attempt to see through…or sense through it.

Finally, he jerks his horse around and rides slowly off…

I follow his progress with my Earth ‘sight’ and once he has crossed the river and is well on his way back into the Dark Realm, I slowly let the power drain from my shield and compress it back to just me… I sigh audibly and feel faint.

Mori hands me a handful of moonfruit and I greedily gulp it down. After a few moments, I ask, “What in the darkest level of the Underworlds WAS that thing? I have never sensed anything that BLACK before.”

Mori and Miri sit next to me and start preparing our meal.

Mori says, “That was one of the twelve Dark Riders—Drakyre’s personal guard. You WON’T ever sense anything blacker—until you sense Drakyre himself. With the Riders, it is like a complete ABSENSE of Light—most minions have at least a little Light left them—not the Riders. With Drakyre, it is like he is SO Dark that he pulls the Light FROM you…like he is eating it. Or, so I have heard anyway. Not many have sensed it and lived to tell… Or they have been turned into a minion and CAN’T tell…”

She busies herself more with preparing the meal and Miri says, “That was quite the shield you put around us. Don’t do it again. Even I could feel your drain towards the end…”

Mori nods grimly, but remains silent.

I sigh again and say, “I had to make sure he did not get the idea that we had anything to do with his minions being gone… Even so, I am afraid that we have not seen the last of him…or his minions…”

The next weeks are boring relative to the events of that day. I am back to ruling on disagreements and settling disputes. I practice using my different Magics every day, and am getting more adept at combining them into new uses that have, to date, never been possible…

I feel myself getting stronger…and start to get the feeling of, well, invincibility… Not in a creepy way, you understand…not like Drakyre… No, I don’t want to take OVER the Earth…but I DO feel like I could take ON the Earth…and WIN…

That is why it comes as a complete shock to me when I am in the middle of a practice session with Mori and I simply go limp and collapse…

The world is suddenly dark…I feel weightless…like I am floating… No, maybe flying is the better word…

Things come back into focus and I am in the Dwarve’s cavernous castle…the Old Woman is there…alone…

She speaks, “Hello, Queen Nelle, I have summoned you so that we may speak. Do not be alarmed…only your Magical aura is here—your body is safe at your home, fully protected by an Earth-Magic shield. The Dwarves have been attacked by a Dark Rider and leagues of minions…we need your help…”

And, with that, I come to in my own body again. Mori is leaning over me, not able to touch me because of my shield. I blink, release the shield, and say, “It is OK, Mori… I mean I am OK…I think…”

I tell her about my experience and she frowns. She says, “I was afraid of something like this. She has a power over you that you cannot control. We will have to find a way to protect you against that…now that we know it exists… What do you want to do about the Dwarves? Let them rot for deceiving you?”

I shake my head and say, “No, I don’t think so. First, I made a promise…and…second…who knows what she can or WOULD do to me if I don’t come. I am not allowing anyone else to come with me, though. You and Miri need to stay in the Queendom—if a Dark Rider is attacking the Dwarven Realm, it is only a matter of time before they attempt to test our defenses again.”

Miri is having a fit, “Your Majesty, I CANNOT allow you to go alone!”

I give her a stern look and say, “Miri, this is a direct order from your Queen. You and Mori will remain behind to protect Lothi and the Queendom. I will move fast and assess the situation with the Dwarves. I can handle myself; you know that… But, I am not going to have ALL of us go into a trap…”

She bows her head contritely and says, “Yes, Your Highness.”

I grab my pack and quickly disappear into the forest. Several hours later, I am at the junction of the Elven and Dwarven Realms, and Borderlands to the Dark Realm. I raise the level of my shield and stretch my senses. I ‘see’ a large encampment of Dwarves on the Dwarven side…but pulled way back from the border. I also ‘see’ a black ‘hole’ where there is a large mass of Dark minions and their leader…already well across the border… The Rider is going from injured Dwarf to injured Dwarf on the battlefield and touching them… They are turning into horrible creatures…

I shake my head and say to myself, “He is turning them into trolls… Humans become vampires, werewolves, or zombies… Dwarves become trolls… I don’t want to find out what Elves become…”

I watch as the newly-formed trolls join the ranks of the minions, obviously still confused. The other minions are feasting on the dead bodies of the fallen Dwarves.

I shudder and circle back around so that I cross into the Dwarven Realm well behind the ‘new’ border to the Dark Realm. I have my shield at a very high level, but since it is just me under it, the drain is negligible. I enter the Dwarves’ camp unnoticed and make my way to the rear center, where I can see that the command tent is set up. I enter the tent and lower my shield, effectively becoming visible to all in the tent, but not unprotected from the weapons raised at me by the surprised guard.

Kir jumps and then ‘smiles’ when he sees me. He motions for a goblet of wine for me and says, “Welcome, Queen Nelle. I was not sure whether to expect you, or not. How many Elves are you bringing in your command?”

I take a small sip from proffered goblet and say, “It is just me, Kir. When I was somehow kidnapped from my own body, only to appear in front of your sorceress, to be told that you needed help…well, I am sure that you can understand my reservations. I needed to see what was going on for real…and whether this sorceress has any OTHER unbidden control over me… This is not the best way to foster trust between us Kir…”

He pales and says, “I had no idea she could do that… I thought our messenger had arrived and informed you… He left days ago…”

I shake my head and say, “I have not heard from your messenger; it seems he did not make it… Now, tell me what the situation is…other than ‘grim’, obviously…”

Kir tells me that a large band of minions arrived at the border to the Dwarven Realm several days ago, which seemed very odd to the Dwarves that they would join together that way. Then a Dark Rider arrived and the attacks began…

He says, “It is not as if they are really trying to invade as much as the Dark Rider is trying to injure us and turn us into his minion creatures… Bloody trolls…”

I nod and take another sip of wine. Then I say, “I saw that happening. The question is why does he want Dwarven minions…? Another Rider arrived at our border several weeks ago; in similar fashion. We were lucky and were able to turn back his attack…” I intentionally leave out the details. “I wonder if he was after the same thing? Elven minions…?”

Kir says, “Well, from this attack that would make sense; although, I don’t have an answer to your larger question… Why?” He takes a gulp of wine and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. Then he says, “We can’t kill the damned things. Our axes are indestructible and are immune to their magic, but they don’t seem to hurt them. They cut them easily enough…but they don’t kill them unless we are lucky enough to cut off a head…and sometime not even THAT works…”

I ask simply, “Are you using Dragon’s blood? My arrows are tipped with it… It is the only thing that I know of that will surely kill them…”

His eyes get big and he says, “How…how…? I don’t even want to know… No, we are not. It is not something that is just lying around in every cave, you know… We will have to secure some, though. Thank you for the information…”

At that moment, one of Kir’s officers comes in and says, “Sire, the Darklings…they are retreating… They are just leaving!”