Haco paced about on the roof of the great hall at Termila, biting at her nails. She had seen the explosion of light outside Termily, and she now anxiously awaited the return of Adir. He was the fastest of the twelve still in Termily, so she had sent him immediately after she had seen the burst of light. She knew that brilliant glow was not fire based in nature. She knew fire and all of its glorious incarnations. “No… this has to be it”, she said to herself.

The ground shook for a moment and then Adir landed on the roof near her. Haco was unfazed by the power Adir displayed before her. She nodded her approval to him. In his arms, he held a red headed woman. Her blue eyes fiercely glared back at her. Haco had to hide her sudden intake of breath when she saw the yellow stone embedded in the woman’s forehead.

“Adir! Thank you for rescuing one of our people. My dear, you are safe now. I am Haco. It is so nice to meet you. What is your name?” Haco said, with a smile on her face that didn’t quite meet her eyes.

“Haco? Is it really you?” the woman asked in surprise. The woman’s demeanor suddenly changed from hostility to surprise, and Haco could see her reputation was not lost on her. Haco raised a hand, signaling to Adir. Adir placed Ann on her feet and stepped back, crossing his arms.

“My name is Ann. Why did you bring me here?” Ann said.

Adir spoke before Haco did. His voice was like gravel although not too deep. “Lady First, there was another girl with this one. They had killed a man.”

Haco bit her lip. Clearly she was dealing with a situation more nuanced than she had anticipated. She looked closely at Ann and suddenly recognized her. This was Vina’s friend. She recognized her as the crying woman by the burning house. There was indeed a third woman with her.

“The girl with me was just a merchant I was buying from. She sells unique ingredients that are normally forbidden inside the city. We were attacked by some man throwing acid about. I managed to stop him from hurting us”, Ann said.

Haco pressed her nail back to her lips, resisting the urge to bite on it. She had gotten the notification of deception, but chose to ignore it. No doubt the other girl was also Vina’s friend. “What was her name again?” she thought to herself. “E… something.” She knew she would curse Vina for killing Ebba at moments like this. The truth was too valuable and she hated not knowing exactly what was going on.

She put her charm back on again, “It is nice to meet you, Ann. I am sorry you’ve had such a bad evening. As you no doubt know, I take the safety of our towns and cities very seriously. I thank you for making the surrounding area that much safer.” Haco paused for a moment, letting her words and tone set the mood. When Ann seemed to somewhat relax, she continued, “Forgive my rudeness, let’s go inside where we can be much more comfortable.” She gestured for Ann to follow her.

Haco led the way with Adir bringing up the back. As she walked down the stairs, Haco bemoaned her shoe choice this evening. All this running around was giving her blisters. Between the death of Ebba, the recruitment of Vina, and the unknown situation in the City of Valanire, she was not able to enjoy the party she had planned tonight. However, with this Ann girl, she had a chance to make her sore feet worthwhile.

When they arrived in the great hall, the party was still going strong, Haco instructed a few of the staff to grab some drinks and food. All together they headed to a nearby study, with the most luxurious furniture the crafters could make in Termily. She sat down in a large armchair and gestured for Ann to do the same.

“Ann, I am sorry if this is a sensitive topic, but I must ask you something. I can’t help but notice you have an aspect bonded to you.” Haco grabbed the shoulder of her dress and brought it down to show a blood red stone attached just above her heart. “And it looks like no aspect I have ever seen. Is that the rumored and legendary Aspect of Light?”

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Haco saw Ann’s face move through several emotions. “Is that pride, fear, or concern?” Haco thought to herself.

“Yes. I am bonded with the Aspect of Light”, Ann answered.

“My dear, that is absolutely wonderful news. We have been fighting The Darkness for so long. Fire and Flames can only take us so far. Wherever have you been hiding?” Haco asked, her voice filled with genuine relief and excitement.

Ann merely shrugged. She watched Ann look around, noticing that she avoided answering. “Probably to prevent another lie”, she thought to herself.

“Regardless, you are here now. What do you know of The Darkness?” Haco asked, lounging further into her chair.

“I’ve read what is in the library. The Darkness can possess people and force them to do things.”

Haco nodded, “That is the short of it. It can do even more than that. When someone dies, it can also capture their shadow. It gains their knowledge and another completely loyal soldier.” Haco paused to take a drink. “The shadows have trouble controlling unwilling people, however they can do it when necessary. Instead they prefer to control creatures. Maybe it is easier to corrupt a creature than it is a human. We don’t really know why.”

Haco took a deep breath and sighed. “The fact of the matter, Ann, is we are losing the war. The Darkness grows each day. It pushes further and further into the lands we control as well as the lands owned by the Adventurer’s guild. We sometimes work together, but we can only slow it down. We cannot stop it. When we kill a creature, the shadows leave the body. We believe it reports back to The Darkness and is then reassigned to a new body. We cannot kill the shadows, only those they control. Are you able to utterly destroy the shadows?” Haco asked, looking into Ann’s eyes.

Ann took a minute to think before responding, “My aspect does not destroy. It can’t destroy anything. It sets things right. It sets them to how they are supposed to be. It can fix the wounded or remove things from this world that aren’t supposed to be here, but it does not kill.”

Haco considered her words for a moment, “I suppose the difference is unimportant as long as the shadows are gone from our world.” She turned to the big man in the room, “Adir, what is her attunement?”

Adir placed a large hand on top of Ann’s head and she flinched away. “She’s 98% attuned.” he said.

Haco smiled. It was rare to find someone so well attuned to an aspect. Now if only this girl would help them, “Ann, how would you feel about working with me? It seems we have a vacancy amongst the twelve. I will not require you to kill anyone or anything. I merely ask you to make right what The Darkness has done.”

Ann seemed to consider her words for a long moment and Haco was willing to allow it. She had no idea if she could ever find someone as attuned to the Aspect of Light as Ann was. Even if she were to take it from her, Haco had a feeling her own attunement to the aspect would be quite low. She was aware enough to know she was not a person who made things right. This arrangement did not sit right with her, however, and as the moments went by, her mood soured.

Finally Ann answered, “I would like to help, but I don’t really know how.”

Haco nodded her head robotically as she imagined Ann’s future as the world’s savior. “I completely understand, my dear. We will start you off slowly”, she said. Haco’s mind continued its ruminations and her emotions began to stir. She realized in that moment what was about to happen.

“I’m so sorry now, Ann. I must address the next bit of work I have tonight. Adir, would you be kind enough to find Ann some accommodations and set her up with Carda in the morning.” Haco paused for a moment, considering a thought that suddenly occurred to her. “In fact, Adir, why don’t you remain with Ann as she learns how to save us. There’s something poetic about the Aspects of Light and Might working together.” She gave Adir a look and he nodded his understanding. Ann was not to be let out of his sight.

Haco took her leave and nearly raced upstairs to her room once she was out of sight. Her numerous aspects were responding to her mood in a manner she could no longer control. She held fire in her hands as she climbed the stone stairs. She desperately tried to burn her emotions away. However, her soul screamed in a fury she couldn’t manage as she barely made it back into her empty stone bedroom before losing control. She lashed out at the stones in a rage hot enough to super heat them. Her decorative dress and shoes turned to ashes, revealing her heat resistant armor beneath it. She gushed out flames violently around her as the room grew to extreme temperatures and the stones glowed red in the heat. The waves of flame coming from her body licked at the walls.

“It should have been me, Trina!” she screamed, fire burst forth from every inch of her body. Her head hung down then. “Not Ann.” She sat down on the scorching hot floor, not feeling even a bit of its heat. “It should have been me”, she whispered as she wrapped her arms around knees, desperate to feel a warmth she hadn’t felt in centuries.