When next she woke, it was to an angry voice.

“What were you all thinking?” Yelled the familiar voice of her father.

She cracked open her eyes and saw quite the sight. The entire camp was surrounded by two dozen guardians. Mel, Bal, and Zack were all standing at attention in front of her father.

“You could have gotten killed and my daughter nearly did.”

Sandy thought that while it was true, it was a low blow. She could see the impact on her friends’ faces.

Sandy threw off the blanket and said in a rising voice. “Quiet. You do not take that tone of voice with the guard, and you will not take it with us. Yes, we could have died, but ten of the forest were killed and brutally ripped from their bodies. If you even hint that we should not have tried everything in our power to stop it, you are no longer my father.” Righteous fury filled her voice.

She could see several of the guardians standing around the camp nodded in approval. That was to be expected, since their whole purpose in life was to protect the forest.

Her father had the grace to look ashamed for a moment before continuing more softly. “I am sorry if that sounded like what I was saying. I allowed my fears to take control when I heard you were unconscious after a battle with a lich. I felt I had let you down. A father is supposed to be there to protect his child.”

Sandy sighed. Her own anger was blown away by her father’s soft words. She didn’t reply but instead ran to embrace her father who hugged her back fiercely. “I thought I lost you. I am so proud of you.” Her father whispered.

The sound of a throat being cleared brought them back to their surroundings. They both turned to the grinning face of Captain Julius, leader of the Guardians. “I don’t wish to interrupt, but we finished scouting the area and wish to go over our findings.”

“Of course.” Both Sandy and her father said at the same time, separating from their embrace.

“The crystals in the chest are Sarak Stones.” Captain Julius said.

My father sucked in his breath. “How is that possible?”

“Wait.” Sandy said. “What is a Sarak Stone?”

Her father reluctantly said. “One hundred years ago, a human lich, Sarak Thalas, created a stone that absorbed the spirit from a creature. He then used it to increase both his own power and the power of other undead creatures. He lived in the far North. A party of elves, humans, harrow, and dwarves worked together to destroy him and all knowledge of the stones. Now it looks like somehow the knowledge has survived.”

“Indeed. The only good news we have is the damage was limited to ten trees. He had twenty stones in the chest. Also, we have word from a patrol which engaged and sank the mage’s ship. There was only a minor fire mage on board, which the two water mages on our ship handled with no problem.”

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Sandy said. “I don’t understand why this mage would take such a chance to pull the spirits from some trees. Wouldn’t the spirits of many other creatures be a much better and less risky source of power?”

Julius answered. “You are correct, if all he intended was to get some spirit energy. We think he was trying something much darker. The spirits of the forest are linked together, even when taken from the trees. We think he was going to use the spirits he took as a channel to draw on the entire forest. That would make him extremely powerful and virtually unstoppable.”

Sandy shivered thinking about how close he came to succeeding.

“The guardians will be here the rest of the day to cleanse the area and make sure there are no more surprises. You should head back with your father and get some more rest. It sounds like you really stressed out your body with your casting.”

Sandy watched as the guardians quickly broke down the camp and handed everything to Bal, Mel, and Zack to put in their inventories. Her father asked Gail, the head of his guard, to open the portal. Gail held her staff forth. The black gemstone in its tip glowed with red fire as a portal irises open in front of them. They quickly moved through the portal. Even a mage as strong as Gail would not be able to maintain it long without a ritual spell circle to anchor it on this end.

As Sandy stepped through into the entry hall in her family’s manor, tension she did not realize she had flowed out of her. It was nice to be home. Her father made arrangements to get Bal and Zack back with their family. Mel saw them out and he would then no doubt head to his rooms in the west wing. Her father asked her to join him in the study for a conversation she was sure she would not enjoy.

After giving Zack and Bal a hug, she followed her father into the study. They both took seats by the window overlooking the garden. Roth, their butler, brought tea and some pastries. After Roth left, they both sat there in silence, enjoying the view and tea. Sandy had the odd thought that a human viewing this scene would find it strange that they would just sit there without trying to fill the silence with conversation. Elves, however, lived for centuries and this spilled over into everything they did, from plans that stretched hundreds of years to simple things like having tea. There was no rush to talk. They both enjoyed each other’s presence and the beautiful setting.

Her father did surprise her when he started talking. “I don’t want to rush you, but I know you are tired and you should rest.”

He sighed. “I don’t want to yell at you for what you did. It turned out what you did was more important than your life, which is a hard thing for a father to admit. Especially about a daughter only in her fiftieth year. It is a hard thing to acknowledge that my daughter is growing up.” Her father said with a smile.

Wow he surprised Sandy and she found herself tearing up.

“Now don’t go tearing up on me now or I will do the same Sandra. I mean Sandy.”

Now he truly shocked her. Even though her name is Sandra everyone called her Sandy, since she spent so much time on the beach collecting shells for per ability. Her father had always hated that nickname.

Her father got up and pulled her into another hug holding her as they both cried. They remained like that until Roth cleared his throat, causing them to break apart with a small laugh. Sandy couldn’t remember the last time she felt so close to her father.

Her father let her go and walked her up to her rooms. Sandy went in after saying good night and took a long hot bath before getting into bed. As her eyes began to close, she realized the experience had clarified something for her. She would not be following in her father’s footsteps. Instead she would become an adventurer, at least for a few decades, she thought with a smile before sleep took her.