It had been just over two hours since Lumia found me and brought me here to recover. Further underground, there were more elves and three of the hunters. As far as anyone knew, this small group was all that remained of the elves. Everyone else was either killed or captured.

I told everyone about Styrmir and Gerald explaining that the elemental had taken Silvia to taunt me. I also told them about Gerald’s ability to transform. The two were each formidable opponents, but we all agreed they had to be dealt with and whatever hostages they had rescued.

The first to speak after my tale was a hunter, a human man with unremarkable features. “Let me assist with the elemental. I may have a method of containing the creature.”

Raising an eyebrow, I asked, “care to share?”

The man shook his head. “It’s only an idea, so don’t get your hopes up.”

“Alright.” I nodded. “Lumia, please st—”

“If you ask me to stay behind while you run into danger I will chain you to a chair and never let you out of my sight again! You need every hand possible…especially mine." Lumia glared fiercely at me before turning away.

Melinda smiled. “I’m coming too. These hunters and soldiers can keep your sister safe while we go have some fun.”

“Actually, I think everyone should go,” said Naelina. “We don’t have any supplies and too few of us are capable of resisting an attack if we are discovered.

Another of the hunters frowned. I met him on the boat and learned his name—Zane—as well as his background. Zane was once a slave, he was sold by his father to a perverted noble. It wasn’t as though his father was heartless, but the family needed money. If they’d known then that Zane c would develop a mana core, then maybe his father wouldn’t have sold him. In either case I knew he must’ve held strong negative opinions about Gerald and his group.

“Zane, if you want to say something…” councilman Odel prompted.

The hunter uncrossed his arms letting them fall by his sides as he let out a slow breath. “I want to save everyone as much as the rest of you, but I can’t help feeling like you’re being too hasty. We need more information about our enemies base before we go charging in for battle.

General Ivor thumbed over his chin before quietly lamenting, “Reconnaissance would be a simple matter if we had not shunned the study of shadow as evil.”

“You know well why that field of study was rejected.” Naelina hissed sharply.

Appearing both hurt and stunned by her chastisement, the general retorted, “I thought you of all people would understand. Do you truly believe this senseless division of our people benefits us?”

I knew vaguely what they discussed, but my knowledge on the topic was limited to what I had learned before being sent to earth. At one time, Faerelle was home to all elves. Our people were strong and they excelled at all forms of magic. In those days, mages with the strength to rival dragons weren’t so uncommon. It was only a few years after Saint Mirin died before the tribes split.

“I don’t think you’re wrong, General, but it was the study of shadows that gave birth to forbidden magic.”

“That’s enough, you two. We should focus on devising a plan and save arguing for some other time," Councilwoman Sienna interjected. “Besides, I believe Prince Silvon’s new friend is a shadow mage.”

Melinda nodded curtly, "Yes, I am a shadow mage."

Councilman Odel spoke next. "Good then you will go ahead and scout the place while we continue to search for survivors."

I shook my head, “She isn’t going alone. We don’t even know where the camp is located or how many enemies remain. They could have lookouts and sentries as well. Besides that, the bandits fled into the beast plains. All we know of those lands is what Lumia spotted on her flyover."

"That's true," said General Ivor. "But we can't keep going in circles about this, we need to decide on a plan and act."

Naelina sighed deeply, but didn't argue further. Instead she looked toward me. First Sienna, then Ivor, Odel and the hunters turned toward me as well. Melinda was already looking at me and Lumia was beside me. Placing her hand on my shoulder, Lumia spoke softly. "Silv."

The weight of their expectations settled over me heavily. I wasn't sure they were all turned to me for leadership, a day ago half of them barely acknowledged my existence. Hours earlier Odel had pointed out my inexperience and the council members had, for the most part, yet to accept or acknowledge me. But now here they stood waiting for my decision.

As always, Lumia's presence calmed my nerves. She didn't need words or even gestures to express her support, her emotions conveyed clearly to me through our bond. My thoughts went to Mirina and Silvia. I got the impression that Styrmir wanted something from me so I didn’t think my mother was in immediate danger, but Mimi needed her—I needed her.

There were also the other captured elves to consider. There was no telling what things were like for them now, or how long before they’d be sold off. As I thought more about it, I realized two things. First Lumia hadn’t spotted their camp when she flew into the beast plains. That meant it was either a fair distance away, hidden somehow, or given their sudden appearance it was possible they had a large scale teleporter.

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I didn’t want to consider the last possibility. If that was the case then they could be anywhere by now. In either case all the options meant an expeditious response was necessary to avoid losing the trail.

“Lumia, Melinda, we need to leave immediately, the rest of you make preparations then follow us. Once we find the enemy Melinda and I will gather what information we can and Lumia will guide the rest of you,” I said.

Councilwoman Sienna nodded then asked, “What happens if you and Melinda get caught?”

“I’m confident we’ll be fine, but if it comes to it, we can defend ourselves.”

There was a brief moment of silence; then one by one, everyone expressed approval for my plan. I was shocked. Even though they looked to me for an answer, I wasn’t expecting all of them to just accept my decision.

With little more discussion, we finalized a plan and once everyone understood their role, the impromptu meeting came to an end. I gave Mirina a hug and kissed her forehead before sending her off with Naelina.

Once again, I was impressed by how well behaved my little sister was, although I felt regret at the circumstance that forced her to mature so quickly. I never thought I’d miss her little pouty fits and over the top reactions to everything. Now instead of being cute, she seemed almost adult-like.

As Naelina guided her away, my little sister stared back at me with wet eyes. She didn’t speak, but I could read the fear and anxiety on her face. “Don’t worry,” I said. “I’ll bring mom back, that’s a promise.”

Mimi sniffled as she dried her eyes. “Okay Sammy…” She said, her voice trailing off as she continued mumbling to herself.

Turning to Lumia I asked, “Are you ready to go?”

With a determined but soft smile she nodded slightly.

I turned to Melinda next, but before I could speak, she said, “You don’t have to ask. I’m always ready, whenever you need me.”

I was pretty sure she meant that in more ways than one; Lumia probably thought the same because she shot Melinda a threatening glare.

As the three of us made for the exit, councilman Odel hurried to intercept us. “Silvon,” he said in a hushed voice as he placed an arm over my shoulder, “do not forget what I said earlier. Even under normal circumstances a leader must be cautious, but you must be more so.”

“You mean because of my inexperience?”

The wrinkles over his eyes raised quite dramatically in response to my question. He shook his head and answered firmly, "No." His tone became serious and he spoke even lower as he added, "about traitors…”

I hadn’t forgotten, but it wasn’t a priority of mine especially since it seemed that the likely traitors were already gone. In either case, I nodded before saying, “Thanks for the warning, but I don’t really trust any of you.”

“Good, but every leader needs allies. You’d better decide who yours will be.”

I didn’t even need to think about it. “I already know who I want by side, but councilman, when did I become the ‘leader?”

Again his eyes widened with alarm. The old man was quite animated and apparently easily excited. “You were born into the role or did you forget that you’re our prince?”

Rolling my eyes, I answered, “Of course not. It’s just that before now, you all ignored me and treated me as if I was still a child.”

“The Queen's orders,” he said resolutely, “none of the council was to have contact with you officially stepped into your role. I believe she wanted to give you time to acclimate to Aeros and form your own opinions about the world and our politics before any of us could start trying to influence you.”

Hearing his explanation I felt a bit guilty. I was still a bit bitter about my mother keeping me in the dark and out of important meetings; I never considered that she was trying to protect me. Now I couldn’t even thank her…

“Don’t get hung up on past things, Silvon. I suspect your mother knew, the moment you came back, that Vale would return soon after.”

I nodded. I could tell that both Lumia and Melinda were ready to leave, and frankly so was I. Saving Silvia was the top priority and to do that, we needed to find the retreating bandits as soon as possible. “Thanks again for your advice, but we need to hurry. I’m sure you understand.”

Stepping back from me the councilman nodded. “Go on, Silv. Just remember to be careful.” With those words he walked away clearing the way for Lumia, Melinda and me to leave.

***

The pinkish orange of the first sun’s light bathed the land in its early morning glow as we rode in the direction the bandits fled.

Although they were called the beast plains, from a bird’s eye view—or in this case, a dragon’s eye view—I could see that the trees and claw shaped rock structures grew more and more dense until they formed a sprawling forest.

Despite the dense foliage, there were clear lanes carved through the woods. They were trails used by large beasts during annual migrations, but they also served as crude roads.

“Look there ,” Melinda shouted, pointing to a charred black and smoldering wreckage left abandoned in the middle of one of the lanes.

A little more than half the structure had been completely burned away, but I quickly recognized it as a wagon. Both wheels were missing from the right side, along with a portion of the chassis and the thick hide that should’ve been stretched over a set of metal ribs. The ribs were partially intact; but sliced clean through with a single straight cut.

At a glance, I couldn’t be sure how the wagon ended up in such a state, but the cut edge of the ribs was still red hot so I knew this had to have been left recently.

There were a few corpses around the wagon, three human and one elf, but no survivors remained. A blood trail led west, into the woods. An elf likely tried to escape, but whoever it was they were seriously injured. Even if the bandits didn’t pursue, I was sure the elf had died.

The destroyed wagon should’ve been large enough to hold at least ten elves comfortably, but probably held more than that. I prayed that at least some of them got away, but we didn’t take time to investigate.

“They aren’t far, we should land and hurry after them.” Linus said as she drifted towards the ground.

I hopped down from her back before she landed. I pushed mana into my legs to help absorb the impact, then I used accelerate. Mana ignited every part of my body, giving me strength and increasing my processing abilities.

Without waiting I dashed forward, leaving Lumia and Melinda behind. At full speed my feet barely touched the dirt road and my arms pumped with incredible force. I must've been moving about as fast as a car, a speed my adventuring clothes weren't designed to sustain. My muscles flexed beneath my shirt and I could feel my lungs working overtime to keep up with my body.